Established 25 years ago, Ace has a fleet of good quality vehicles throughout New Zealand, in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, Picton, Greymouth and Dunedin, and in Queensland, Australia, at rental locations in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

'The many strong attractions of Ace include its highly-reputable management team, first-class attention to customers, advanced web-based sales platform and an efficient cost structure based on strong operating and information systems,' said Mark Frissora, Hertz chairman and CEO.

Ace will continue to operate under its existing brand as an independent subsidiary.

Mr Frissora said: 'At the price-conscious end of the value brand market, Ace will make an excellent addition to the Hertz family of brands, and will allow us to capture a significant share of New Zealand's growing leisure sector.

'We also look forward to rapid expansion of Ace in Australia, using Ace's value brand expertise and Hertz capital and local resources,' he added. 

Hertz already has value brand operations in the USA, Europe, Mexico, South America and the Caribbean through its wholly owned discount car rental company, Advantage. The firm says the purchase of Ace Car Rentals is a natural progression of its value brand strategy in the Australasian market, where tourism is a major contributor to the national economies.

Mr Frissora confirmed that Ace would continue its operations as a "super economy car rental provider", operating in parallel with Hertz and Advantage. Mike Chatterly, chief executive of Ace – whose father co-founded the company – will remain in his current role.