AutoNation Shareholders To Receive One Share of ANC Rental Corporation
For Every Eight AutoNation Shares; Record Date is June 16, 2000;
Distribution Date is June 30
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of
AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN) today granted final approval of the tax-free spin-
off of ANC Rental Corporation to AutoNation shareholders. In the spin-off,
each AutoNation shareholder of record as of June 16, 2000, will receive one
share of ANC Rental Corporation for every eight shares of AutoNation owned.
The Board established a distribution date of June 30, 2000. The distribution
is subject to customary conditions, including government approval and closing
of the financing necessary for ANC Rental to operate as an independent,
publicly traded company.
As of the distribution date, ANC Rental Corporation will be an independent
public company and has applied to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the
symbol "ANCX." ANC Rental Corporation comprises the Alamo, National and
CarTemps USA vehicle rental companies. AutoNation will continue to trade on
the New York Stock Exchange under its symbol "AN."
AutoNation emphasized that a stockholder vote is not required in
connection with the spin-off and that holders of AutoNation's common stock as
of the record date do not need to take any action to participate in the spin-
off. The Company also said that the spin-off does not impact shareholders'
ownership of existing common stock as shareholders will continue to own their
AutoNation stock in addition to receiving shares of ANC Rental Corporation.
AutoNation Chairman H. Wayne Huizenga said, "The spin-off of ANC Rental
Corporation rewards AutoNation's shareholders with a tax-free dividend of
shares in a second public company."
AutoNation Chief Executive Officer, Michael J. Jackson, said, "With the
spin-off complete, AutoNation will be the largest pure-play automotive
retailer in America. We are very pleased that management's full focus, and
attention can now be placed on our automotive retail operations. We are also
taking this opportunity to re-state our commitment to building long-term value
for the shareholders of AutoNation."
AutoNation, Inc. is America's largest automotive retailer, on and off the
web, with more than 400 new vehicle franchises in 19 states and more than 200
web sites. AutoNation is a Fortune 100 company (#63) with more than
$20 billion in annual revenue, including $1 billion of Internet-related
revenue through the sale of 46,000 vehicles last year. AutoNation's sales of
vehicles via the Internet are expected to reach $1.75 billion this year, once
again making it the largest automotive retailer on the Internet.
ANC Rental Corporation is one of the world's largest car rental companies
with annual revenue of approximately $3.5 billion and an average daily fleet
of about 339,000 vehicles in 1999. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
ANC employs approximately 22,000 associates worldwide.
Certain statements and information included in this press release
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company
to be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.
Additional discussion of factors that could cause the actual results to differ
materially from management's projections, forecasts, estimates and
expectations is contained in the SEC filings.
SOURCE AutoNation, Inc.