TULSA, Okla. -

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is no longer up for sale.

Having received no offers that it believes avoid regulatory hurdles, the company announced Tuesday that it is moving on as a standalone company.

This apparently ends a heated saga between three rental-car giants that lasted nearly a year-and-a-half.

In recent developments in the pursuit of DTAG, Hertz had an offer on the table and chief executive Mark Frissora had even called DTAG president and chief executive officer Scott Thompson on Friday to emphasize Hertz’s commitment to a deal.

But apparently, the proposal did not fulfill what the DTAG board wanted.

Back on Aug. 21, Dollar Thrifty issued a letter to its suitors explaining that the company wanted final submissions for a deal in early October. DTAG explained in the letter that if a proposal contained any regulatory risk for shareholders, it would likely not be suitable.

As of Monday, there were no submissions that were clear of regulatory hurdles, according to DTAG.

“The purpose of setting a deadline for submission of bids was to bring clarity to the next steps for the company. As we said all along, continuing uncertainty is in no one’s interest,” Thompson explained.

“While Hertz’s May 2011 exchange offer remains outstanding and on Oct. 7, 2011 Hertz’s CEO called me personally to reaffirm their commitment to pursuing the acquisition of Dollar Thrifty, the fact remains that they have not made a proposal that addresses our board’s requirement,” he continued. “Having received no acceptable offer after conducting an unprecedentedly open process with clearly articulated requirements, it is time for us to move forward on a stand-alone basis.”

Avis Budget Group, which had been in a heated battle with Hertz in going after a Dollar Thrifty deal, officially ended its pursuit Sept. 14.

Share Repurchase Plan

DTAG also confirmed Tuesday that it will commence its share repurchase program on Nov. 1, following the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

In that program, the DTAG board has given the OK for as much as $400 million of stock to be repurchased.

Dollar Thrifty plans to space that out over the next four quarters, with up to be $100 million being repurchased each quarter through stock buyback programs.

“The company may also repurchase shares in privately negotiated transactions, pursuant to derivative instruments or other types of transactions and arrangements,” officials noted. “The share repurchase program may be increased, suspended or discontinued at any time.”

Earnings Projections

As far as those third-quarter earnings to be announced next month, Dollar Thrifty is sticking with its preliminary expectations.

Rental revenue is projected to climb about 2 percent year-over-year, while DTAG believes corporate adjusted EBITDA (taking merger-related costs out of the equation) will come in between $110 million and $120 million.

During the third quarter of 2010, it was $93.7 million.

Gains from sales on risk vehicles are projected to be about $18 million, up from about $10 million a year ago.

Additionally, DTAG stressed that its projections for full-year rental revenues, fleet costs and target corporate adjusted EBITDA have stayed the same.

The company is expecting to pull in between $270 million and $290 million of corporate adjusted EBITDA, excluding merger-related costs.

“It is also important to emphasize that Dollar Thrifty is well positioned for these uncertain times, as rental car customers become even more value-focused,” Thompson emphasized. “Our long established value brands combined with our low operating cost and solid balance sheet are serving us well. We are on track for another record year.”