Enterprise Holdings and PSA Peugeot Citroën announced today that they have entered into an agreement whereby Enterprise will acquire PSA Peugeot Citroën’s car rental subsidiary, Citer SA and its Spanish subsidiary Atesa.

Through its regional subsidiaries, Enterprise Holdings owns and operates the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands, as well as its flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand in North America. The company also operates the Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand in the UK, Germany and Ireland, and a licensee network that operates the National and Alamo brands throughout the Americas.

Citer’s Deep Coverage
With a fleet of approximately 30,000 vehicles, Citer SA has deep coverage through locations in the main cities,
railway stations and airports in France and Spain, two key European markets in which Citer ranks among the leading vehicle rental companies. PSA Peugeot Citroën emphasized the strategic opportunity that the transaction represents for Citer, which will be able to step up its development while benefiting from Enterprise Holdings’ leadership.

The transaction has received a positive opinion of the Works councils of PSA Peugeot Citroën and Citer SA. It is subject to regulatory approval and certain other customary closing conditions. The transaction should be completed by the end of 2011.

Enterprise Holdings’ Strong Track Record
Since entering Europe in 1994, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car operations have expanded rapidly, and now include 4,000 employees in the UK, Germany and Ireland. Today, the Enterprise network includes more than 200 branch offices in Ireland and Germany and, as the largest car rental business in the UK, more than 360 branches located within five miles of 75 percent of the UK population. This acquisition further expands Enterprise Holdings’ European presence into France and Spain.

“With no overlap or duplication to our current operations in Europe, this will be a great strategic fit,” said Enterprise Holdings’ Chairman and CEO Andrew C. Taylor, whose family has owned and operated the company since 1957.

“The more than 1,000 employees at Citer and Atesa have built successful rental car operations in France and Spain, and we look forward to the prospect of welcoming them to our team.”

“It’s also important to note that more and more of our customers are asking us to expand our footprint in Europe,” Taylor continued. “Joining forces with Citer responds to those travelers’ needs and opens up new markets that are highly complementary to our existing European operations. Over the years we’ve learned that when we listen to our customers, they lead us to opportunities, and this certainly is one of those opportunities.”

As President and Chief Operating Officer Pam Nicholson noted, Enterprise Holdings has a strong track record of successfully acquiring and integrating companies in a way that maximizes the potential of both parties. “After we acquired the Alamo and National brands in 2007, we took our time to leverage the collective expertise and get the 2 integration process right,” she said. “We intend to use the same careful and disciplined approach to ensure that local and airport car rental customers in France and Spain likewise benefit from a well-integrated, thoughtful and disciplined long-term strategy.”