The Federal Trade Commission has approved an application by Franchise Services of North America Inc. (FSNA) to sell assets — it acquired from Hertz Global Holdings Inc. — to The Catalyst Capital Group Inc.
The FTC’s 2012 settlement required Hertz to sell its Advantage rental car business and other assets to a Commission-approved buyer (FSNA) in order to resolve charges that its proposed $2.3 billion acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. would have been anticompetitive. The FTC’s settlement requires FSNA to get the FTC’s approval for three years before selling any of the Advantage assets it acquired.
On Nov. 5, 2013, FSNA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection through its direct subsidiary Simply Wheelz and sought to sell Advantage, which has continued to operate during this process. Following a bankruptcy auction held in December, Catalyst was declared the winning bidder for the Advantage assets.
The bankruptcy court approved Catalyst’s acquisition of Advantage — subject to FTC approval. And now the FTC has approved FSNA’s application to sell the Advantage assets to Catalyst following the public comment period.
The Commission vote approving the application and responses to commenters was 3-0-1, with Commissioner Joshua D. Wright not participating.
