Volkswagen-led consortium acquires 87.38% stake in Europcar

According to foreign media reports, Volkswagen Group said on June 15 that its consortium, Green Mobility Holdings, has acquired an 87.38% stake in French Europcar, enough to give the consortium control of the car rental group. But the stake is below its 90% target threshold.

Shareholders have until June 29 to choose to subscribe for shares, VW said.Volkswagen, its consortium partner asset manager Attestor Limited and Dutch mobile communications group Pon Holdings BV, have made an offer to Europcar of 0.50 euros (about $0.5209) per share, an additional 0.01 euros per share if 90% of shareholders accept the offer .

Image credit: Europcar

The consortium aims to acquire more equity, giving it greater leverage for strategic decisions, but under French takeover laws, an acquirer only needs at least 68 percent of the shares to control the company.Christian Dalheim, CEO of Popular Financial Services, said: "Europcar's remaining minority shareholders now have one last chance to accept an attractive offer."

Dahlheim said last month: “We want to get as many shares as possible, but it’s not necessary. We can make all business decisions with our current 68% stake. We think from a customer’s point of view, Car sharing is an important business, but it can only be profitable if it complements the car rental business.” Dahlheim also said that Europcar will need hundreds of millions of euros of investment to upgrade its IT infrastructure, which will come from The car rental company's own cash flow.