However, according to court documents, a new deal must obtain the consent of the FTC on or before De

This is highly unlikely. I thought the chances were slim of Advantage reorganizing under its current air travel tickets ownership, but it appears that an Advantage sale is a foregone air travel tickets conclusion. Per bankruptcy court documents, air travel tickets Advantage is headed for auction on Dec. 9. The bankruptcy court is looking to approve the sale by Dec. 17 and close it by Jan. 3, 2014. This is happening fast.
Apparently, there are three bidders at present. Get to know this name: Catalyst Capital Group. Catalyst is a Toronto-based private equity investment firm that has emerged as Advantage s debtor-in-possession (DIP) financier. Catalyst has been approved by the court to provide up to $46 million air travel tickets to keep Advantage afloat for now.
Catalyst calls itself air travel tickets specialists in operational restructurings. By becoming Advantage s DIP financier, Catalyst has two cards to play. First, Catalyst has put itself air travel tickets in a position as the stalking horse bidder for Advantage, according to court documents filed yesterday. Apparently this $46 million (or less, depending air travel tickets on obligations) air travel tickets will be used as a credit bid for the company. As a stalking horse bidder, any other bidder must come in higher than Catalyst s bid. And if another bid wins out, Catalyst gets paid a $3 million break-up fee.
There has been talk that Hertz has been in advanced negotiations as one of the bidders to get Advantage. Some in the investment community air travel tickets believe the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would allow this sale, because it doesn t traditionally scrutinize deals under $50 million, as is the case here.
However, according to court documents, air travel tickets a new deal must obtain the consent of the FTC on or before Dec. 17 and fall within the meaning of the FTC s final order on the Hertz/Dollar Thrifty merger. That consent decree ordered Hertz to divest of Advantage and other airport concessions. Under those terms, it appears unlikely Hertz would meet the anti-competitive test the FTC applied originally.
At this point, we don t know. Could Enterprise Holdings or Avis Budget Group step in? It would seem either of those two companies would have to go through the FTC s scrutiny air travel tickets for anti-competitiveness market to market, similar to the original deal. Market-share issues abound.
What about Sixt, a foreign player with the resources and operational excellence of Hertz but without air travel tickets the issue of market dominance? Sixt is a premium car rental company acting like a discount brand in the U.S. for the moment it doesn t need another discount brand alongside it. Sixt may be able to take over those vacated Advantage airport locations air travel tickets under the Sixt brand. But if Sixt had the appetite to make such a big corporate push, you d think it would have pushed harder this year to open more corporate airport stores, which it hasn t done.
Remember when Richard Branson s Virgin Group sent a letter of interest to the FTC in June regarding Advantage, as the FTC seemingly waivered on approving the Hertz deal? Virgin air travel tickets Car Rental backed up by its world-class brand is very intriguing, air travel tickets but we haven t heard from Virgin since then.
In the deal to place Advantage under new ownership after Hertz, air travel tickets Australian private air travel tickets equity firm Macquarie Group was to provide the financing needed while Franchise Services air travel tickets North America (FSNA) would operate Advantage. From public documents, it appears that Advantage was severely underfunded from the beginning of the Macquarie partnership.
It s unlikely we ll ever really know why Macquarie didn t provide the resources to give Advantage a fighting chance. But to put it in perspective, Macquarie Group made $7 billion in 2012, while its initial stake in Advantage was $15 million. It can afford to walk away, especially to avoid being associated with the word bankruptcy.
This is uncertain at this point. The Advantage sale is proceeding as a 363 sale, in which the new buyer will take the company free and clear of all liens. It s an asset sale, which means the buyer would only take the parts it wants and the prize is the airport contracts, under Advantage or another air travel tickets name. Really, it depends on how Catalyst Group proceeds.
What is ironic is that the FTC tried to engineer a solvent Advantage for competitive air travel tickets reasons. When the FTC made its final consent decree in July, you would think that the FTC would ve sniffed out Advantage s colossal problems. It didn t, or at least it allowed the sale to go through. It didn t take long for Advantage to fail.
Understanding that U-Save operators own their own businesses air travel tickets as franchisees, at this point, the bankruptcy won t affect them. The bankruptcy is limited air travel tickets to a division ( Simply air travel tickets Wheelz ) of its parent company, FSNA. FSNA will use the Advantage sale to pay off creditors and move on.
Chris Brown is the executive editor of Business Fleet Magazine air travel tickets and Auto Rental News. Through these publications, online air travel tickets newsletters, trade events and associations, Chris covers all aspects of the fleet world, including fleet management, manufacturer fleet activities, the fleet leasing industry, vehicle remarketing, rental industry news, car rental taxation and legislation.
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