Aug. 7–A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved the sale of ANC Rental Corp.’s assets, nearly 21 months after the Fort Lauderdale parent of Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental Systemsought refuge from creditors by filing for Chapter 11.<\/p>\n
The sale to Cerberus Capital Management, a New York hedge fund with $9 billion of capital under management, is subject to a final bankruptcy court order — a formality at this point. The deal is expected to close by the end of next month.<\/p>\n
“I feel great that it’s done,” said William N. Plamondon III, ANC’s chief executive, in a phone interview. “Employees now know there is a future for the company and an opportunity to go forward, and that’s what it was all about.”<\/p>\n
ANC employs about 1,700 people in South Florida and 11,336 in the United States.<\/p>\n
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath approved the deal at a hearing in Wilmington, Del. Cerberus will pay $230 million and assume $2 billion in debt secured by rental vehicles cars and $60 million in nonvehicle debt.<\/p>\n
“We are pleased by the judge’s decision approving the transaction and we look forward to rebuilding the brands,” Cerberus spokesman Dick Auletta said by phone. He had no further comment.<\/p>\n
Cerberus, which targets underperforming companies to turn around, will operate the Alamo and National brands under the name Vanguard Car Rental USA. ANC, created in 2000 when the car-rental operations of AutoNation were spun off as a separate publicly traded company, will eventually cease to exist.<\/p>\n
Car-rental industry veteran William Lobeck, who has been assisting Cerberus in the transaction, was on a plane Wednesday and couldn’t be reached for comment. Cerberus wants Lobeck, who ran Alamo and National when they were part of AutoNation, to oversee the brands again.<\/p>\n
ANC filed for bankruptcy Nov. 13, 2001, two months after the terrorist attacks. For ANC, already grappling with a downturn in the economy, the drop in travel after the attacks was too much to overcome.<\/p>\n
At the time of the filing, ANC was Florida’s 12th largest public company with $3.5 billion in revenue in 2000.<\/p>\n
Despite its problems, ANC sought bankruptcy protection with the intent of reorganizing its debts. It consolidated Alamo and National into a single operation at 176 airports around the country. It trimmed staff. It closed Alamo’s local-market division, geared to customers whose primary vehicle was in the shop. It also reworked deals with its National franchisees.<\/p>\n
The moves weren’t enough for ANC to complete a turnaround and the decision was made in January to find a buyer for the assets.<\/p>\n
Cerberus was eventually selected from a group of prospective bidders.<\/p>\n
The proposed sale initially prompted objections from the unsecured creditors’ committee, which expressed doubts that it generated the highest offer, and others. However, ANC was able to overcome those objections.<\/p>\n
Plamondon, who has served as ANC’s CEO since Jan. 1, declined to discuss his future with the company.<\/p>\n
“My job was to get it sold, and now we’re just making sure we run the company well in the interim period,” Plamondon said.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
To see more of The Miami Herald — including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings — or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http:\/\/www.herald.com.<\/p>\n
(c) 2003, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder\/Tribune Business News.<\/p>\n
ANCXQ, AN,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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