Debt and pandemic push Hertz into bankruptcy protection

Debt and pandemic push Hertz into bankruptcy protection

Hertz is the latest casualty as the coronavirus pandemic hits global travel.. NEW YORK: Hertz has filed for bankruptcy protection after being unable to withstand the coronavirus pandemic that has crippled global travel and with it, the heavily indebted 102-year-old car rental company's business.. Hertz Global Holdings Inc. had racked up more than $24 billion in debt, according to the bankruptcy filing, with only $1 billion of available cash.. The company made "significant efforts" but couldn't raise money on the capital markets, so it started missing payments to creditors in April, the filing said.. Hertz has also been plagued by management upheaval, naming its fourth CEO in six years on May 18.. The collapse in demand resulting from the pandemic lockdowns was what the economists call an "exogenous shock" accelerating pre-existing conditions in global oil markets.. The world will enter a period of lower oil prices, Saudi Arabia will enter a period of lower production," he said.. Where oil prices go in that scenario is uncertain, but he is adamant that US shale, the dominant force in setting market levels for the past few years, is not "dead," as some commentators have said.. The carnage of the past few weeks