Volkswagen significantly increases offer for car rental company Europcar | Financial

Volkswagen is joining forces with the Dutch car importer and mobility group Pon and the British investor Attestor in the planned acquisition of Europcar. An earlier proposal of 2.2 billion euros was rejected by Europcar.

Several owners of the car rental company are now said to support the higher offer from the Volkswagen-led consortium. With the incorporation of a car rental company, Volkswagen would acquire technology and infrastructure in the field of mobility services, among other things.

Europcar ran into financial difficulties at the end of last year. Creditors then forgave more than 1 billion euros in debt and got their hands on the company in return. Car rental companies suffered greatly from the corona crisis in 2020, because they are largely dependent on tourists who rent a car on holiday. International travel was virtually impossible without urgent reason during the corona crisis.

Europcar was previously owned by Volkswagen. The car manufacturer sold the rental company to investor Eurazeo in 2006.

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