Enterprise to buy parent of Alamo and National

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. said Friday that it had agreed to buy Vanguard Car Rental Group Inc., the parent of National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, combining the largest and fourth-largest U.S. car rental companies by revenue.

Terms were not disclosed. Enterprise generated $7 billion in revenue from U.S. rentals in 2006, while Vanguard generated $2.14 billion, according to trade publication Auto Rental News. The combined company would have more than 1 million vehicles.

Avis Budget Group Inc. and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. ranked second and third, respectively, in U.S. rentals in 2006, while Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. ranked fifth.

St. Louis-based Enterprise and Tulsa, Okla.-based Vanguard, which are privately held, said the transaction would combine complementary businesses. Enterprise specializes in in-town rentals and in renting replacement vehicles to people whose vehicles are damaged in accidents. Vanguard mainly serves airport customers.

In a statement, the companies said “inevitably there will be duplication” but did not say how many jobs might be cut. They have not settled on a management team or decided where the combined company would be based.