Dollar Thrifty Workers in Tulsa Worry About Layoffs After Hertz Merger

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

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Tulsa-based Dollar Thrifty is being acquired by New Jersey car rental rival Hertz, a $2.6 billion merger analysts expect will be swiftly approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

The deal could be finalized as early as October, but won’t begin until later this year or in 2013, the Tulsa World‘s D.R. Stewart reports. Both companies have a big presence in Oklahoma: Dollar Thrifty has 780 employees at its corporate headquarters in Tulsa; Hertz has 1,700 employees at a reservations center in Oklahoma City.

The two companies have been dancing with a merger since 2010. Hertz is touting $160 million in annual “cost synergies” and efficiencies from the acquisition, the paper reports, which include better deals from suppliers and eliminating duplicate functions.

The obvious concerns of Tulsa residents and Dollar Thrifty employees are layoffs.