PRESS RELEASE

ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION ON EIGHT LONG-TERM CAR RENTAL COMPANIES

The Italian Antitrust Authority has launched an investigation on eight long-term car rental companies and on their Associazione Aniasa to ascertain the existence of anti-competition agreements that are prohibited by Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The investigation involved Ald Automotive Italia, Alphabet Italia Fleet Management, Arval Service Lease Italia, EuropeCar Italia, Hertz Italiana, Lease Plan Italia, Maggiore Rent and Win Rent. In 2014 the overall turnover of this market stood at approximately €5 billion.

The investigation will seek to establish whether the companies coordinated their respective marketing strategies by an exchange of sensitive information. There is also the possibility that the trade association Aniasa (the National Association of the Car Rental Industry and Automobile Services – Associazione nazionale industria dei servizi automobilistici e dell’autonoleggio) assumed a coordinating role. To establish the circumstances, officials of the Antitrust Authority today performed a series of inspections in the offices of the companies involved with the assistance of the special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Revenue Corps (Guardia di Finanza).

If the allegations are confirmed, they would reveal a shift in the competitive dynamics of the largest companies in the long-term car rental market in Italy. These actions could be the result of a horizontal agreement in the form of an agreement or a concerted practice to avoid proper competition between the various operators.

Rome, 29 July 2015