Ford Motor Co. announced that the merger of The Hertz Corporation with a Ford subsidiary became effective Friday, March 9, 2001. As a result, Hertz is now an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Ford. Ford reached an agreement with Hertz in January to acquire the remaining 18.5 percent of Hertz Class A common stock it did not already own at a price of $35.50 per share. A tender offer for the shares expired March 2, and resulted in about 19.3 million of the approximately 20 million publicly traded shares of Hertz Class A common stock being purchased. The New York Stock Exchange has advised Ford it will suspend trading in Hertz on Monday, March 12.