THE parent company of Avis Europe is in the final stages of multi-million pound negotiations to buy Autoglass, which has been the subject of buy-out speculation for more than six months. A statement from D'Ieteren, the Belgian parent company of Avis Europe and sole importer of VW Group cars to Benelux countries, in a joint venture with investment company Cobepa, said it was in the final stages of talks with South African Breweries, an industrial conglomerate which owns 68% of Plate Glass & Shatterprufe Industries, Autoglass's parent through its largest subsidiary, Belron International.

Belron is the world leader in the vehicle replacement and repair glass market, operating in mainland Europe as Carglass and in Britain as Autoglass. A further 22% stake in PGSI is owned by the Lubner family and associates - Gary Lubner is a former managing director of Autoglass and currently chief operating officer of Belron International - and they will retain their holding alongside D'Ieteren and Cobepa.The transaction would value 100% of PGSI at about £225million.