Features
28 nov 22

ALD-LeasePlan merger approved by European Commission

The European Commission has approved the €4.9 billion acquisition of LeasePlan by ALD, paving the way for the creation of one of the world’s largest vehicle leasing company with a fleet of around 3.5 million vehicles.

Competition authorities approved the merger of the two international leasing giants within the European Economic Area (European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), with specific local conditions in Czechia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway and Portugal, where the merged companies would have enjoyed too strong a market position.

Forced sales

As a result, ALD has agreed to sell its operational leasing businesses in Ireland, Norway and Portugal, and sell LeasePlan’s businesses in Czechia, Finland and Luxembourg. ALD must also allow any purchaser of the businesses to run them as a competitive force, providing a transition period of up to three years during which the new owner will have access to IT services and used car platforms.

A statement from the European Commission said: “These commitments remove the overlaps existing between ALD and LeasePlan's activities in the national markets for operational leasing where the Commission had identified competition concerns. Following the market test, the Commission concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.”

UK approval

Earlier this month, the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK also cleared the acquisition.

Internationally, LeasePlan has a presence in 29 countries and ALD in 43 countries.

ALD expects to launch the rights issue for the acquisition before the end of this year and close the acquisition in Q1 2023.

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Authored by: Jonathan Manning