ROME: Avis Budget Group Inc. has agreed to buy Italian rental car company Maggiore Group in a $170 million deal that will make Avis the largest vehicle-rental company in Italy.
Maggiore, which has operated in Italy since 1947, is the country’s fourth-largest vehicle rental business with more than $160 million in annual revenue and 140 locations.
Avis plans to launch a dual Budget-Maggiore brand, though the company will continue to rent vans under Maggiore’s AmicoBlu brand.
The Italian vehicle rental market has been resilient and profitable, particularly in the peak summer season, and I’m excited that we will be able to acquire this business at a multiple that will be accretive to our earnings,” Avis Chief Executive Ronald Nelson said in a news release.