Hertz CEO Steps Down, Names Brian MacDonald Interim CEO

(RTTNews) - Car and equipment rental firm Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ) Monday said its chairman and CEO Mark Frissora has stepped down from the position for personal reasons. The board has appointed Brian MacDonald as interim CEO, who currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Hertz Equipment Rental Corp., since June 2014.

Prior to joining Hertz, MacDonald served as president and chief executive officer of ETP Holdco Corp.

Hertz said it has initiated a search process to identify a permanent CEO. The nominating and governance committee will consider both internal and external candidates.

The board also appointed Linda Fayne Levinson, independent lead director of the board, as independent non-executive chair of the board. Linda Fayne Levinson joined the Hertz board in 2012, and is currently chair of the nominating and governance committee, and a member of the compensation committee.

Hertz stated that it remains committed to executing its strategic priorities, including continuing to advance planned separation of its equipment rental business into a separate, publicly traded company.

On August 20, the company announced that it has decided to withdraw its financial guidance for full year 2014, citing potential revisions related to ongoing accounting review.

On the same day, activist investor Carl Icahn said he has acquired an 8.48 percent stake in Hertz and also plans to seek board representations as he believes the the care rental company's stock is undervalued. Icahn beneficially owns 38.8 million Hertz shares for which he paid about $470.5 million.

Icahn intended to have discussions with Hertz's board relating to shareholder value, accounting issues, operational failures, under performance relative to its peers and his lack of confidence in management.

Icahn's disclosure comes at a time when Hertz is reviewing its financial records of the past three years to fix accounting errors as well as on the path to spin-off of its equipment rental business.

HTZ is currently trading at $29.32, up 3.02 percent.