The Thesele Consortium has signed a binding agreement to buy Bidvest Car Rental (BCR) from JSE-listed Bidvest Group, subject to approval by the Competition Commission.
The agreement will see BCR continue to provide its services with no disruption to its public and corporate customers, while expanding to new areas and lines of business with the support of the Thesele Consortium.
“We would like to thank the Bidvest management team and the board of directors for their support in ensuring that BCR is transferred into a safe pair of hands.
"We have communicated the change in ownership to our key strategic partners and have received their unanimous support for the transaction,” says BCR CEO Paulette McGhee.
BCR is one of the three largest car rental companies in South Africa. It started trading in South Africa under the well-known Budget brand in 1968, converting to a proudly Bidvest domestic brand in 2015. It offers a range of services, including car rental, a chauffeur drive service, door-to-door transfers, van and truck rental, coach charters and the Snappdrive keyless fleet service.
“The entire car rental industry was severely affected during the various levels of the national lockdown and we estimate that the industry as a whole contracted by 50% in 2020.
"Despite this setback, our trading figures show a recovery that is both faster and more robust than initially expected,” says McGhee.
BCR has emerged from the disruptions of 2020 and the early part of 2021 as a profitable and cash-positive business.
“We thank Bidvest for their support in completing this transaction. We share their commitment to a seamless transfer of ownership and will support the BCR management team once the transaction becomes effective," comments consortium leader Thesele Group executive director Oliver Petersen.