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Letter to the Editor

Ford Looks to Sell Industrial Equipment Arm of Hertz

Ford Motor Co. is considering the sale or partial spinoff of the construction and industrial equipment rental arm of Hertz Corp., its wholly owned subsidiary.

Ford, the world's second-largest automaker behind General Motors Corp., has said it hopes to raise about $1 billion this year through the sale of some noncore assets as part of a multiyear turnaround plan aimed at returning to profitability after posting a $5.45 billion loss last year.

Ford said in a statement that it has retained J.P. Morgan to help evaluate the possible sale of Hertz Equipment Rental Corp., one of the world's largest rental suppliers of heavy equipment.

The statement placed no value on the sale or possible "partial disposition" of Hertz Equipment Rental, which operates in Canada, France and Spain as well as the United States.

But the sale would reduce funding requirements for the acquisition of equipment at Hertz, which had committed credit facilities totaling $3.4 billion at the end of last year.

Ford said in its recently released 2001 annual report that Hertz was planning to launch an asset-backed securitization program some time in the second quarter of this year.

Hertz, the world's No. 1 rental car company, posted a loss of $58 million in the fourth quarter, compared with year-earlier earnings of $56 million. Ford has blamed the loss primarily on lower car rental volumes after the Sept. 11 attacks and the U.S. economic slowdown.

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