Volkswagen has said that its takeover offer made for international vehicle rental giant Europcar has been approved by France’s market regulator.

The car manufacturer teamed up with asset manager Attestor Limited and Dutch mobility group Pon Holdings BV to make the offer at a proposed price of 0.50 euro per share – valuing Europcar at 2.9 billion euros ($3.4 billion) – back in July.

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's international network of car rental operations operates in more than 140 countries, and involves a fleet of over 350,000 vehicles.