NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 2, 2010--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Avis Budget Group Inc.'s revised $1.35 billion bid for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (DTAG) will not immediately affect the ratings or outlook on Avis Budget. The current bid is not much higher than the initial $1.33 billion bid made on July 29, 2010, with the difference made up solely from an increased cash portion. Our preliminary view remains that DTAG's less-leveraged capital structure, its earnings, and some synergies from the companies' integration would largely offset the effect of additional merger-related debt (which could be as much as $1 billion, depending on how much of its cash Avis Budget uses to finance the transaction), leaving
