Europcar has reportedly called a takeover bid by rival car rental company Sixt "unrealistic" and said the deal is likely to fail on regulatory and competition issues. The bid is backed by private equity giant Apax Partners.

Handlesblatt, the German daily newspaper, reports that Europcar claims a successful bid by Sixt would give the combined firms a market share of over 50% of the German car hire market, which competition authorities would reject.