Rabobank to sell its Athlon car leasing business to Daimler Financial Services for €1.1 bn

Dutch multinational banking and financial services company Rabobank today struck a deal to sell its Athlon car leasing business to Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Nederland B.V., a part of the Daimler Financial Services global network, for €1.1 billion ($1.22 billion).

Athlon is part of Rabobank's DLL unit, one of the world's largest vendor financing companies.

Athlon is an international provider of vehicle leasing and mobility solutions, operating in eleven countries throughout Europe, and managing a fleet of over 250,000 vehicles.

Mercedes Benz Financial Services Nederland BV is part of Daimler Financial Services, a worldwide provider of financial services in over 40 countries, and managing a fleet of more than 3.7 million vehicles.

The future business of the consolidated fleet operations between Daimler Fleet Management and Athlon will operate under the Athlon brand.

Frans Janssen, CEO of Athlon International said, ''Our ten years with DLL brought tremendous growth and expansion to our brand. To get to the next level, both parties spent significant time considering the future prospects for Athlon and of course the best interests of our customers, suppliers and employees. As such, we are very satisfied about our future direction with Daimler Financial Services. They are a renowned international organization and clearly aiming for growth.''