Hertz agrees to buy rival Dollar Thrifty for $1.2B

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the world's largest car rental company, said today it has agreed to buy rival Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for almost $1.2 billion in cash and stock.

Hertz said the deal will give it an additional 1,550 additional locations, boosting its total to 9,800. It said it will boost its leisure rental business in Europe and elsewhere.

Hertz said its bid values Tulsa, Okla.'s Dollar Thrifty at $41 per share, a 5.5 percent premium to Friday's closing price of $38.85. The offer is made up of 80 percent cash and 20 percent Hertz stock.

Recently, shares of Tulsa, Okla.'s Dollar Thrifty have been trading at their highest prices in almost three years.

The stock was trading at $2 a little over year ago, and was valued at less than a dollar in early 2009 because of lower demand for rentals and falling resale prices for vehicles, along with the problems facing its main supplier, Chrysler.