Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo, {{NYSE|F}} is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, and incorporated on June 16, 1903. According to Fortune magazine, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota Motor replaced Ford as the world's number two and three automobile manufacturers by revenue in 2004. For many years before that Ford was global number two behind General Motors. Ford remains one of the world's ten largest corporations by revenue.

News in 2005

On September 9 2005,Ford to sell Hertz for US$5.5-$6b: reportCorporate-buyout group also to assume car-rental firm's US$10b debt Ford Motor Co will sell its car-rental firm Hertz to a group of corporate-buyout firms for US$5.5 billion to US$6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

Related Topics:
September 9 - 2005 - Hertz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Changing hands: Hertz is ideally suited for private-equity investors, which prefer firms with steady, strong cash flows, upon which they can then pile on significant debt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said Hertz's fate could be determined as soon as today.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It said the private-equity firms, including Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, would also assume Hertz's debt. It totals more than US$10 billion, according to recent regulatory filings, of which around half is long-term debt.The buyout firms will spend as little as US$3 billion of their own funds and borrow as much as US$12 billion to finance the purchase and the assumption of debt, the Journal said.A winning bid by the Clayton Dubilier group would hand a rare defeat to a competing group of private-equity firms - including Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H Lee & Partners - people familiar with the matter told the paper. Both Ford and Hertz declined to comment.The two groups have been pitted in an intense auction for Hertz. At the last moment, despite Hurricane Katrina potentially harming prospects for the car-rental business, the price tag actually rose, participants in the process told the Journal.The newspaper said Ford had considered taking the company public, and it is possible Ford's board could return to that course at the last moment. The cash-strapped car maker wants to reduce the debt on its balance sheet, and it would no longer have to consolidate the debt of the fleet operations after a public listing.Ford also faces a renewed need for cash, as sales of profitable sport-utility vehicles have slowed.But selling Hertz outright would bring Ford more money more quickly than a public offering. And the company is ideally suited for private-equity investors, which prefer companies with steady, strong cash flows, upon which they can then pile on significant debt, the Journal said.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~