On Wednesday 4 November 2015, Arval, a fully-owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas, completed the acquisition of GE Capital's European fleet management activity, becoming the leader in full service leasing in Europe.
Arval is now the leading full service multi-brand vehicle leaser in Europe. The scope of the transaction includes more than 160,000 vehicles in 12 European countries, three quarters of which are located in France, Germany and the UK, with total vehicle assets amounting to around €2.4 billion.
Following approvals from the European Commission and all other relevant regulatory authorities, the transaction was finalised on Wednesday after being first announced in June. The deal in Luxembourg forms part of a larger global transaction in which Element Financial, Arval's strategic partner in North America, has also finalised the acquisition of GE Capital Fleet Services' businesses in the United States, closed at the end of August, and in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, finalised at the end of September. The Element-Arval Global Alliance now holds glbal leadership in this domain with a fleet of more then 3 million vehicles across 47 countries.
"We are very happy to welcome colleagues and clients of European GE Capital fleet services," commented Arval CEO Philippe Bismut. "Our clients will now benefit from greater geographical coverage and we'll be redoubling our efforts to ensure our service quality and provide them with expert advice. With the strength of BNP Paribas and the expertise of our local teams, Arval now becomes the number one full-service vehicle leasing specialist in Europe. In addition, by enhancing our cooperation with Element Financial, we're creating a stronger, more efficient worldwide network".
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