ATLANTA, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aaron Rents, Inc. (NYSE: RNT),
today announced it has acquired in a cash transaction the rental contracts and
merchandise of 19 rental stores from Rent-A-Center, Inc. The purchase price
was approximately $4.4 million.
"This acquisition will result in seven new Company-operated and three new
franchised Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership stores for us," said R. Charles
Loudermilk, Sr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron Rents. "In
addition, the merging of the other Rent-A-Center stores rental volume into our
nearby existing Aaron's locations will increase the profitability of these
stores."
"This transaction is part of our previously announced store consolidation
plan," commented Mark E. Speese, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rent-
A-Center. "Of the 48 stores we identified for sale, merger with a potential
acquisition or closure, we have now completed the sale of 35 of those stores."
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: Statements in this news release regarding Aaron Rents, Inc.'s
business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that
involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These
risks and uncertainties include factors such as changes in general economic
conditions, competition, pricing, customer demand and other issues, and the
risks and uncertainties discussed under "Certain Factors Affecting Forward
Looking Statements" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal
2004, which discussion is incorporated herein by this reference.
SOURCE Aaron Rents, Inc.
CONTACT:
Gilbert L. Danielson
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Aaron Rents, Inc.
+1-678-402-3314
Web site: http://www.aaronrents.com
(RNT)