PARK RIDGE, N.J. -

In an apparent retort to Avis Budget Group upping its offer to acquire Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group the day before, Hertz Globing Holding said Friday that the price in its agreement with Dollar Thrifty is its “best and final offer” and believed that the deal will be green-lighted by DTAG’s shareholders when they meet later this week.

Such an approval at the shareholder meeting Thursday would allow for the deal to be closed later in 2010, officials noted. Hertz believes the deal will be closed prior to year’s end.

“Our agreement with Dollar Thrifty provides its shareholders with a substantial premium, deal certainty and a clear path to deal closure by year end. We have made our best and final offer, and we believe that it is in the best interest of Dollar Thrifty shareholders to vote in favor of the transaction on Sept. 30,” stated Mark Frissora, Hertz’s chairman and chief executive officer.

“We have antitrust clearance in Canada, unlike Avis, and our progress with the U.S. government makes us highly confident that we can close the transaction in a timely manner within the framework of our merger agreement. As previously disclosed, we have commenced the divestiture of Advantage Rent-a-Car, and we have identified several potential buyers,” he continued.

“We expect to close the transaction before the end of the year. A vote against the deal would be a lost opportunity for the Dollar Thrifty shareholders,” Frissora claimed. “Avis’s proposal raises serious antitrust risks that our agreement does not, which is why Avis has repeatedly refused to match our agreement to pay a substantial termination fee if the transaction fails for antitrust reasons. Failure to approve the Hertz agreement could leave Dollar Thrifty without any transaction, a sub-optimal outcome for its shareholders.”