Advantage Rent A Car - History - Bankruptcy and Acquisition By Hertz

Bankruptcy and Acquisition By Hertz

In December 2008, Advantage filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closed about 40% of its U.S. retail locations, citing "a simultaneous drop in leisure travel, with greatly increased costs, and frozen credit markets" (presumably an effect of the 2008-09 global economic crisis). 440 workers, or almost half its workforce, were laid off at the time. Advantage was at that point privately held by disgraced Minnesota auto dealership mogul Denny Hecker (who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence).

On March 31, 2009, the assets of Advantage were purchased by The Hertz Corporation for $33 million, successfully outbidding Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Minnesota bankruptcy court, including the Advantage logo and website (Hertz stated its intentions after Enterprise had previously announced they would acquire the assets). The Advantage website was modified to match (or closely mirror) some design and operational aspects of the Hertz website. By fall 2009, Hertz had rebranded its "Simply Wheelz" economy subbrand with the acquired Advantage trademark properties, and had largely withdrawn the former service.

Hertz described its plans to use Advantage for "...further expansion into the price-oriented travel demographic", "...providing Hertz a second brand to sell to corporate accounts and to market with key travel partners" and "...extending the useful life of vehicles in Hertz's rental fleet for Advantage's fleet needs".

Read more about this topic:  Advantage Rent A Car, History

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