Vanguard Files For Public Offering

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Vanguard Car Rental Group Inc. filed registration forms to take the private business public. <br/><br/>The Tulsa-based car rental company run by the husband of Tulsa's mayor filed

Thursday, August 3rd 2006, 12:22 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Vanguard Car Rental Group Inc. filed registration forms to take the private business public.

The Tulsa-based car rental company run by the husband of Tulsa's mayor filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering intended to raise $300 million.

The company didn't disclose how many shares would be offered, nor did it provide an estimated price range.

Vanguard, which operates National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, intends to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ``VCG,'' according to forms filed on Wednesday. Fifteen Oklahoma-based businesses trade on Wall Street but that number is about to drop as Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee Corp. readies to merge with Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum.

Bill Lobeck, the husband of Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, and Cerberus Capital Management bought the former ANC Rental Corp. out of bankruptcy in 2003. Lobeck moved Vanguard from Florida to Tulsa in 2004, when Taylor was the state Secretary of Commerce.

ANC blamed its bankruptcy in part on the downturn in travel after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The financial results filed by Vanguard reflected the volatile nature of an industry reliant on vacation travelers.

In 2005, the company generated revenue of $2.9 billion and income before income taxes of $184.8 million. For the three months ending March 31, Vanguard generated total revenues of $701.8 million and income before income taxes of $19.2 million.

Net income in 2005 was $105.3 million, down from $171.7 million the previous year, according to the filing.

Although Vanguard operates in 82 countries, it generated about 77 percent of its 2005 rental revenues in the United States, according to the federal filing. In the United States, the company operates primarily on or near airports.

In 2005, 54.3 percent of Vanguard's U.S. rental revenues were derived from operations in five states _ California, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada and Texas. Reductions in leisure travel to these destinations could harm the company.

Natural disasters, such as the 2005 hurricanes on the Gulf coast, not only affect leisure travel for car rental, but also can wreak havoc on fuel prices, the filing noted.

As of March 31, Vanguard employed 10,500 in the United States and Canada.