INTERNATIONAL leasing and fleet management company LeasePlan is sounding out the market for a potential buyer, with GE Capital Fleet Services (GECFS) tipped as a bidder. Fleet NewsNet understands that on June 8 senior executives from both GECFS and LeasePlan met to explore a potential integration of the two companies.

Dutch bank ABN AMRO is thought to be considering a number of options for the future of its subsidiary ABN AMRO Lease Holding (AALH) which owns LeasePlan. In the June edition of Dutch magazine Automobile Management, AALH chairman and chief executive officer Hugo Levecke said: 'We have a history of having different shareholders. It's neither interesting nor important who the shareholder is - our shareholders have always had a good return on their investment.'

Last year AALH posted pre-tax profits of Euro 149 million and had consolidated assets of Euro 9.4 billion, with 1.2 million vehicles under management. Industry sources said AALH has issued a book inviting bids for its business, and Ford and Dutch insurance company Aechmea are both tipped as rival bidders to GECFS.

A merger between GECFS and LeasePlan would create a formidable international leasing company with a combined fleet of 2.4 million vehicles ranging from Europe to North and South America, Japan and Australia. Daniel Farrar, president and chief executive officer of GECFS Europe, declined to comment, saying only: 'We are always looking at the market place, and have a number of deals under investigation at any one time.'

GECFS is a strong player on the North American market, but in Europe has slipped behind LeasePlan and ARVAL PHH in terms of fleet size. Last year LeasePlan paid Euro 451 million for Barclays-owned leasing company Dial and its 115,000-strong fleet in France, Italy, Spain and the UK. LeasePlan is the largest leasing and fleet management company in Europe and is now the second largest fleet management company in America following the acquisition last year of Chicago-based Consolidated Service Corporation, taking its US fleet to 575,000 vehicles.