CCMP Capital, an Italian private equity firm, are the frontrunners to invest.
Although Mr Jacobs faced competition from private equity firms and other car rental firms, he was the frontrunner to buy the business from the moment CIBC, the Canadian bank, was appointed to run the auction.
With the Nobel going to a European seven times in the last decade, all evidence was pointing to a winner from outside Europe, and Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami emerged as the frontrunner at betting firm Ladbrokes.
But even if the excited Bud Light-fueled cheers of his staffers proved to be premature, it was more than enough for him to firm up his role as a frontrunner.
Hong Kong-based businessman Simon Murray, chairman of Asian private equity firm GEMS, is thought to be the frontrunner.
According to the betting firm Ladbroke's, Mr. Murakami, 63, is the frontrunner at 5-1 odds, followed by Bob Dylan at 10-1.
AT&T and Comcast have decided against bidding, Time Inc and Google are considering it, but the Daily Mail group will have to beat out frontrunner Verizon, along with various investment firms, to get its hands on Yahoo.
The private equity firm that rescued the holiday airline Monarch has emerged as the frontrunner to buy Tata Steel's struggling long-products business.
Sime Darby's auto division would have to be a frontrunner for divestment, he says, though there are no firm plans to do so.
Despite the near-term concerns, we are positive on Merck and its pipeline, reminding readers that we recently wrote about the firm's potential blockbuster oncology drug Keytruda, which has tremendous opportunity to become the frontrunner in the non-small cell lung cancer drug market.
