ALD Automotive has signed an agreement to sell off six subsidiaries, clearing the final hurdles for its acquisition of LeasePlan.

ALD is set to approve the acquisition on 28 April 2023

It’s entered into a share purchase agreement to sell subsidiaries in Ireland, Portugal and Norway, as well as LeasePlan’s subsidiaries in Luxembourg, Finland and the Czech Republic, to Credit Agricole Consumer Finance and Stellantis.

The divestment was a condition of approval for the acquisition from the European Commission. The combined fleet of these six entities represented approximately 100,000 vehicles or 3% of the total combined fleet of ALD and LeasePlan as of 31 December 2022.

The deal is now expected to close on 28 April 2023 following a convening by ALD’s Board of Directors of an Extraordinary General Meeting on the same day to approve the deal.

ALD signed a memorandum of understanding back in January 2022 to acquire LeasePlan for €4.9bn (£4.3bn), created a combined firm that will be a leading global player in mobility worldwide and will “embrace the mobility sector’s global growth megatrends”.

The combined business, which will have a total fleet of some 3.5 million vehicles, will be led by ALD CEO Tim Albertsen and will be key in moving the auto sector from ownership to usership models and zero-emission vehicles, according to the firms. It will also continue to accelerate towards data-driven digital transformation of the mobility industry.

Both ALD and LeasePlan posted strong 2022 results, revealing gains in profits and fleet size as they finalise plans for integration.

Once the deal completes, ALD will become a regulated entity with the status of financial holding company and will push ahead with its integration plan, expected to bring annual cost synergies of €440m (£386.3m) by 2025.