The acquisition of Europcar by the Volkswagen Group has moved a step closer after the financial regulator in France gave it the green light.

A consortium led by the Volkswagen Group launched a $3.4 billion (£2.4bn) takeover of the vehicle rental company Europcar in July to help build its mobility business.

Europe’s largest carmaker joined forces with Attestor and Pon Holdings to seal the deal, with an offer price of 0.50 euro per share being proposed.

VW said: “The Volkswagen Group, together with its partners Attestor Limited and Pon Holdings B.V., has reached an important milestone in the planned acquisition of Europcar: The French financial market regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) today approved the takeover offer of Green Mobility Holding S.A. for the shares of Europcar Mobility Group.”

It added: “The start of the acceptance period for the tender of shares in Europcar Mobility Group will be announced by the AMF.”

Europcar operates in more than 140 countries, operating a fleet of more than 350,000 vehicles.

When it launched the bid for the vehicle rental company in the summer, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess told Reuters: “The mobility market is changing rapidly as customers increasingly demand new and innovative on-demand mobility solutions, such as subscription and sharing models to complement car ownership.

“Europcar provides advanced fleet management capabilities as well as a broad network of stations at major airports, railway stations and city locations and will help accelerate Volkswagen’s delivery of its ambitious mobility services targets.

“Together with our consortium partners Attestor and Pon, we will support the development and transformation of Europcar’s business and selectively add further services from Volkswagen Group brands.”

French financial regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF)​​ will announce when the process of tendering shares will commence.

Europcar was owned by the Volkswagen Group in the 1990s before it sold the vehicle rental company to Eurazeo for around £1bn in 2006.