Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said it is withdrawing its offer for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. in light of current market conditions and Dollar Thrifty's plan to buy back stock, though it plans to reassess the offer once antitrust clearance has been granted.
Dollar Thrifty shares were off 6.7% at $57.55 premarket, while Hertz was inactive and closed Wednesday at $11.01.
Hertz said it still believes a merger with Dollar Thrifty is in the best interests of both companies and it is still in talks with the Federal Trade Commission to secure antitrust clearance for the deal.
Once it gets clearance, Hertz said it will reassess the appropriate price and other terms based on the share repurchase program, Dollar Thrifty's performance, and market conditions at that time.
Earlier this month, Dollar Thrifty said it hadn't garnered any acceptable offers in its long-running buyout saga and instead would buy back stock, although analysts at the time said they still expected a bid by Hertz will eventually be successful. At that time, Dollar Thrifty reconfirmed it wouldn't accept any proposal that didn't eliminate antitrust regulatory risks.
Dollar Thrifty last month sent letters to Hertz and Avis Budget Group Inc. asking for "best and final" buyout offers by Oct. 10, effectively putting a deadline on a bidding process that had run for more than a year.
Shortly after the request, Avis said it would drop its more than year-long effort to acquire the company, leaving Hertz as the sole bidder. Meanwhile, Hertz in May had offered about $2.2 billion, topping Avis' $1.7 billion bid.
Analysts have said the main hurdle to win approval from the Federal Trade Commission involves a divestiture of Hertz's Advantage brand, which the company bought out of bankruptcy in 2009.
