Dollar Thrifty seeks best bids from Avis, Hertz

Aug 21, 2011, 1:50 p.m.

A Hertz rent-a-car shuttle bus drives by a Dollar Thrifty rent-a-car lot near the Detroit Metropolitan airport in Romulus, Michigan, May 9, 2011. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc , the object of a takeover battle between rivals Hertz Global Holdings Inc and Avis Budget Group Inc , said on Sunday it wants best and final offers by early October.

Dollar Thrifty said both car rental companies have made substantial progress with regulatory reviews, and that will solicit best and final definitive proposals for submission in early October.

"Based on the results of this process, we will consider what actions would be in the best interests of Dollar Thrifty and its shareholders," the company's chief executive, Scott Thompson, said in a letter to the CEOs of both Avis and Hertz.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by Maureen Bavdek)