Hertz Global Holdings, the world's largest car rental company, is set to launch an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, pricing more than 88 million shares at between 16 and 18 dollars each.
The offering comes less than 12 months after a group of private investors acquired Hertz from Ford Motor Company in a 15-billion-dollar transaction. Ford had previously taken Hertz fully private after a 1997 IPO attempt.
The company reported a sharp drop in earnings, with net income falling to 76.1 million dollars for the first nine months of the year, down from 325.3 million dollars in the same period previously. The decline was attributed largely to debt taken on during the buyout.
Some analysts suggested the offering price may need to be reduced to draw sufficient investor interest. Jack Ablin of Harris Private Bank noted that markets tend to view private-equity-backed IPOs with less enthusiasm than true startup offerings.
Hertz currently operates at roughly 7,600 locations across approximately 145 countries.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.