ORIX's Joint Acquisition Offer for Australia's FleetPartners Faces Rival Bid from Sumitomo Consortium

05:14 AM EDT, 08/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- ORIX's (IX) joint bid to acquire FleetPartners, along with three other suitors, faces competition as a Sumitomo-led consortium submitted a $3.85 per share cash offer. FleetPartners received an indicative, non-binding and conditional proposal on Tuesday from a consortium comprising Sumitomo Corp. and Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service Company to acquire 100% of the shares in FleetPartners, according to a statement from FleetPartners early Wednesday. The ORIX bid, which included SG Fleet Topco and Element Fleet Management, was for an indicative cash consideration of $3.801 per FleetPartners share, according to an announcement on the Australian Stock Exchange on Aug. 12. FleetPartners said its board is prepared to provide the Sumitomo consortium with limited commercial and financial due diligence access, subject to a confidentiality agreement, allowing it to consider whether to submit a binding proposal.