A consortium led by German car manufacturer Volkswagen has secured a 93.6% stake in car rental company Europcar, announcing plans to remove the company from the Paris stock exchange following the completion of the takeover.
Volkswagen, along with consortium partners Attestor Limited and Pon Holdings BV, had offered 0.50 euros($0.52) per share for Europcar, with an additional 0.01 euro per share offered if 90% of shareholders accepted the bid.
With the required number of shareholders taking up the consortium’s offer, all remaining shares will now be purchased at €0.51 under a “squeeze out” procedure, with Europcar set to delist from the stock exchange on July 13th.
The deal sees Europcar return to the Volkswagen fold after 16 years, having been previously sold by the carmaker to French investment firm Eurazeo for €3.3 billion.
Volkswagen Financial Services CEO Christian Dahlheim praised the capabilities that the acquisition would add.
“We are really excited that our customer-centric vision of future mobility materializes with the closing of the Europcar transaction. Its dedicated team brings important capabilities and assets to the table that help us to realize our plans swiftly,” he said in a statement.
Dahlheim also laid out how he sees the acquisition playing a role in Volkswagen’s evolving business model, with the firm looking towards future trends of lower vehicle ownership and higher temporary use.
“Our expectation is that by far most people will still prefer individual mobility by 2030, but it will be more about using and less about owning vehicles. Our new mobility platform will perfectly respond to this trend with a highly flexible and convenient offering at our customers’ fingertip,” he added.