Ford Completes Sale of Hertz

In late December, Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., announced it completed the sale of the Hertz Corporation, which includes Hertz Equipment Rental, to an investment group of private equity firms. Composed of Clayton Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group, and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, the investor group purchased the equity of Hertz in a transaction valued at approximately $15 billion including debt.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was entered into last September, Ford received $5.6 billion in cash for the sale of its 100% ownership interest in Hertz. As a result of the sale of Hertz, Ford will recognize a pre-tax gain in the fourth quarter of 2005 that is estimated to be in the range of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion.