Hertz Global Holdings, Incorporated — which includes certain subsidiaries of its operations in the United States and Canada — has been cleared to emerge from reorganization under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court by the end of June of 2021, as an official press release announced that the Bankruptcy Court confirmed the Plan of Reorganization of the company.
Hertz Cleared to Emerge From Chapter 11 Bankruptcy By the End of June 2021
Adversely affected by the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware were filed by Hertz Global Holdings, Incorporated back in May of 2020 in an effort to create a strengthened and more robust financial capital structure that best positions the rental car company for the future as it navigates its way through what could be a prolonged recovery for both the travel industry and the global economy overall.
Hertz Global Holdings, Incorporated is contemplated to emerge from Chapter 11 as a publicly-traded company, with up to approximately 80 percent of its shares owned by the holders of its unsecured funded debt obligations in the United States.
“As a result of its restructuring efforts, Hertz will emerge from Chapter 11 with a substantially stronger balance sheet and greater financial flexibility than it had prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Hertz to file for Chapter 11 relief in May 2020”, according to the official press release. “Hertz’s Plan will eliminate over $5 billion of debt, including all of Hertz Europe’s corporate debt, and will provide more than $2.2 billion of global liquidity to the reorganized Company. Hertz also will emerge with (i) a new $2.8 billion exit credit facility consisting of at least $1.3 billion of term loans and a revolving loan facility, and (ii) an approximately $7 billion of asset-backed vehicle financing facility, each on favorable terms. The Plan provides for the payment in cash in full to all creditors and for existing shareholders to receive more than $1 billion of value.”
Some of the 30 subsidiaries of Hertz Global Holdings worldwide which were included in the filing are:
- The Hertz Corporation
- Thrifty Car Rental, Incorporated
- Dollar Rent A Car, Incorporated
- Firefly Rent A Car LLC
- Hertz Car Sales
- Hertz Aircraft, LLC
- Donlen Corporation
About Hertz
Walter L. Jacobs founded Rent-a-Car Incorporated in Chicago in 1918 at the age of 22 with a fleet of a dozen Model T Ford cars to rent to customers.
John Daniel Hertz, Senior — who was born as Schandor Herz in Slovakia in 1879 — founded the Yellow Cab Company in Chicago in 1915. He purchased Rent-a-Car Incorporated from Jacobs in 1923 and renamed the company Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System. By 1925, Hertz was generating annual revenues of approximately $1 million with what became a coast-to-coast rental network before Hertz sold the company to General Motors in 1926.
In the years before John Hertz purchased the rental car company back from General Motors, Hertz offered the first advanced reservations; a new program called Rail-Drive through which Hertz provided a rental vehicle for vacationers right when they stepped off the train; released the first rental car charge card in 1926; opened its first rental car location at Midway Airport in Chicago in 1932; introduced the first one-way rental plan in 1933; and opened its first European location in France in 1950.
In 1972, Hertz introduced the #1 Club — which is now known as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards — that was a computerized data system that allowed club members to use Express Service. The service eventually expanded its benefits, allowing club members to bypass the airport counter and move directly from the airplane to a Hertz rental car in 1989. The 1990s brought the on-board navigation system NeverLost and the first Internet web site for the company.
In 2013, Hertz developed and expanded its portfolio of rental car brands at approximately 10,300 locations across the globe with the combination of Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly.
Additional information pertaining to the 100-year history of Hertz is found here.
Summary
At the time that this article was written, the stock price of Hertz — symbol HTZGQ — is $6.85, which is up $4.79 or percent earlier today alone on the news; but it was as low as 40 cents per share earlier this year and was $1.27 per share back on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. The stock price suffered a precipitous fall from its all-time high of $106.15 on Friday, August 22, 2014 to $7.71 on Friday, June 9, 2017. Current shares of the stock are expected to become worthless once the company emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
Hertz is far from being a perfect company — especially with its stealth perceived significant devaluation of its Hertz Gold Rewards frequent renter loyalty program last year and its draconian points usage cancellation policy…
…but I am glad not to see its demise, as the services of Hertz have provided me with good value overall over the years — such as the multiple times when my original rental car rate would automatically be reduced in cost or when I saved hundreds of dollars on a single car rental.
However, recent rates for vehicle rentals have been significantly more expensive overall due to the shortage of vehicles. I intend to write an article pertaining to examples of that.
All photographs ©2017, ©2018, and ©2020 by Brian Cohen.
