US giant Enterprise buys Limerick car rental fleet

The Irish operation of American car rental giant Enterprise has bought Irish-owned Dooley Car Rentals — and has not ruled out further Irish acquisitions in the future.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Ireland bought the 50-year-old business for an undisclosed sum and takes over a fleet of more than 1,400 vehicles and international customers and contracts from the Limerick-based Dan Dooley Group.

Other divisions within the Dan Dooley Group, including Ford dealerships in Tipperary and Limerick, are not affected by the acquisition.

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand is owned by Enterprise Holdings, the world’s largest car rental company as measured by fleet and revenue. It operates Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent-A-Car brands in more than 85 countries, and reported sales of over €17.5bn last year.

Owned by the Taylor family, Enterprise employs almost 100,000 people worldwide at 9,600 locations. The 1,400 vehicles from Dooley Car Rentals join 1.9m cars globally.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Ireland managing director George O’Connor said: “I’ve always admired the Dooley brand. Both companies are family owned, entrepreneurial, and customer centric. We are both proud of our history in Ireland. Dooley Car Rentals has been serving customers for more than 50 years, while Enterprise, which began in the US 60 years ago, celebrates its 20th anniversary in Ireland this year.”

Gerry McDermott, operations director and general manager of Dooley Car Rentals, will continue to lead the 50-employee business independently.

Chief executive Pat Dooley, who will remain in an advisory role, said the sale would ensure future growth investment.