LASTMINUTE.COM is to buy Holiday Autos in a cash plus shares
deal worth £39.7 million.
The car rental broker, which was founded above a Saville Row
tailors in 1987, is the latest high-profile acquisition for Lastminute. In the
last year it has bought rival Travelselect.com, owner of Globepost, and the
Destination Group.
The initial deal will see Lastminute issue new shares and
hand over £16 million in cash.
Holiday Autos co-founder and current chairman and chief
executive Clive Jacobs will become executive director and vice-chairman of
Lastminute and pick up an additional £1.6 million loyalty bonus if he remains
with the merged business for a year.
Lastminute claimed it would be able to find savings of at
least £4 million. The combined group will have a turnover of £400 million.