Avis group Holdings Inc. has closed a joint-venture agreement with BNP Paribas in which 80 percent of PHH Europe was acquired by BNP Paribas, with a view toward merging the joint venture with Arval’s European operations within one year. The alliance will be branded PHH Arval in North America, and Arval PHH in Europe, sharing capabilities, marketing, and common information system platform.
Arval PHH is now No. 1 services provider in the vehicle management industry in Europe, with 545,000 vehicles under management or lease, including 380,000 in the UK and 165,000 on the continent, and 1.3 million fleet cards in use.
The management of Arval PHH in Europe will be headed by Francois Dambrine, head of BNP Paribas’ fleet management operations, assisted by John Cullum, previously CEO of PHH Europe, as head of UK operations, and Phillippe Noubel, previously CEO of Arval, as head of Continental European operations.