Advantage Rent a Car won bankruptcy court approval to settle a battle with former owner Hertz Global Holdings Inc. over leased vehicles and is now seeking to borrow more than $100 million to help build its own fleet of rental cars, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Edward Ellington on Thursday signed off on the settlement with Hertz, which removes a significant obstacle to Advantage's future operations and will help pave the way for its proposed sale to a Canadian private-equity firm. Federal regulators ordered Hertz to spin off Advantage in connection with its $2.3 billion acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. Under the spinoff, Hertz agreed to lease 24,000 vehicles to Advantage but disputes arose over the agreement, prompting Advantage to seek chapter 11 protection in November, shortly after the divestiture was finalized.
