$500 million could buy a lot of trips to the grocery store. Rental-car giant Avis Budget Group, Inc., is buying Zipcar for $491.2 million, the company announced Wednesday. A carsharing service, Zipcar has expanded to 760,000 members since being founded in 2000, serving mainly urban areas and college campuses. The company went public in 2011, and Avis will be paying a 49 percent premium to Zipcar’s closing price.
