Debt and coronavirus push Hertz Global Holdings into bankruptcy protection

The 102-year-old car rental company Hertz Global Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday after its business was decimated during the coronavirus pandemic and talks with creditors failed to bring the firm much needed relief.

The Estero, Florida-based company's lenders were unwilling to grant it another extension on its auto lease debt payments past a Friday deadline, triggering the filing in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

By the end of March, Hertz Global Holdings Inc had racked up $18.7 billion in debt with only $1 billion of available cash.

Starting in mid-March, the company whose car-rental bands also include