June 8, 2015 | FULL PRESS RELEASE

Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Orlando, FL – June 8, 2015 – Advantage Rent A Car (“Advantage”), the fourth largest rental car company in the U.S. owned by The Catalyst Capital Group Inc., a leading private equity firm with over $5 Billion in assets under management, announces that it has completed its purchase of E-Z Rent-A-Car Group Holding, LLC (“E-Z”), a leader in value-priced car rental services.  
Through a network of 85 locations, the combined company will capitalize on its presence in 22 of the top 25 U.S. airports and its team’s experience to deliver more choice and better value to consumers in the $25 billion U.S. auto rental industry.

Together, Advantage and E-Z will cater to a wide range of customers, including value-focused leisure travelers, independent business professionals, and customers historically under-served by the major car rental companies. With one of the industry’s largest, youngest and most diverse fleets and the financial strength of Catalyst Capital and its lenders, Advantage and E-Z expect the combination to strengthen their position as the best value brands in the car rental market.  

“We can now see even more benefits to our “one company, two brand” approach than originally envisioned. The combination will allow greater efficiencies and economies of scale in areas such as fleet, maintenance, back office processing and procurement,” said Bill Plamondon, President of Advantage.  

The combined company becomes one of the major players in the Rent a Car industry in the United States. It will be led by an experienced management team that includes the founders of E-Z, Mehrdad Memarpouri and Hesam Sahraian, William Plamondon and Scott Lieberman from the Advantage team, and Gabriel de Alba, Managing Director and Partner of The Catalyst Capital Group Inc.  

“This is the new model for operational excellence, a rental car company that is able to leverage established brands under an efficient and dynamic operational platform that can maximize growth and profitability” remarked Mehrdad Memarpouri.  

"This combination is exactly what we strive for in an investment" said Gabriel de Alba, Managing Director and Partner of The Catalyst Capital Group Inc. “Delivery of a solution to the regulators, high barriers to entry, valuable underlying assets, proven established brands, a seasoned management team and the economies of scale of a major player that is positioned to grow its market share” added de Alba.