The endgame is in sight: ALD Automotive has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire LeasePlan for €4.9 billion (USD $5.5 billion).

ALD has been circling LeasePlan for some considerable time and serious merger discussions were unveiled in October by GlobalFleetManagement.com. The merger now looks to complete by the end of 2022.

The new company will be known (at least for now) as NewALD and will give the business extensive global reach with a total of 3.5 million vehicles under fleet management.

ALD says that such a massive scale-up in its size will enable the Societe Generale-owned leasing company to become a truly leading mobility provider on a global scale with greater breadth of products and a better geographical reach.

Importantly, ALD says that the new combined company will help it create a digital model that can compete on both service and costs with captive finance companies as well as new tech players breaking into the market.

Confidently, NewALD expects to become, “the partner of choice for corporates to support the transition towards Electric Vehicles (EV). By establishing new global partnerships around new services for EV, NewALD would accelerate the deployment of multi-cycle, flexible, and multi-modality solutions and ensure faster time-to-market for innovative sustainable mobility solutions." 

NewALD said it expected to lift annual fleet growth to at least 6.0% post-integration.

Tim Albertsen, chief executive officer of ALD, and the CEO of NewALD, commented: “Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in our history as a first step towards creating NewALD. In the context of today’s transformation of the automotive and mobility sectors, which is proceeding at an unprecedented pace, this proposed transaction is instrumental in the creation of a leading global player in mobility. 

“By combining the multiple strengths of ALD and LeasePlan, gaining size, joining forces in digital, and creating a leading provider of sustainable mobility solutions, we would transform our industry and be best positioned to deliver even better solutions and value propositions to our enlarged client base. This transaction would create multiple opportunities to the joint management teams and talents of both companies across geographies, underpin our focus on sustainability with a clear path to zero emissions mobility, and not least deliver strong shareholder returns over the cycles. We are all very excited about the prospect of being part of this new venture.”

NewALD plans to integrate both companies swiftly, establishing an Integration Management Office (IMO) which would, “adopt an appropriate, pragmatic, and efficient integration strategy,” said the company built on a two-stage process.

This involves the integration in the top 12 countries within 18 months of closing and then moving progressively from the interim model to fully digital operations.

Tex Gunning, chief executive officer of LeasePlan, added: “The combined business would be instrumental in moving the automotive industry from owner-ship to subscription models and zero-emission mobility. By joining forces with ALD, we combine the best talents in the industry with the investment power needed to meet the next gener-ation mobility needs of our customers. 

“From day one, NewALD would be operating one of the largest fleets of electric vehicles and will continue to set the standard for ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) in the mobility industry.”

The purchase was led by TDR Capital.