Recent actions have led to speculations about Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ:$RCII) and Aaron’s, Inc. (NYSE:$AAN) merging as one.

Both companies are in a similar market, so strategically, it may make sense, and Rent-A-Center did announce at the end of October that it was looking for strategic and financial alternatives for the company.

Not long after this announcement was made, Rent-A-Center received a conditional, non-binding offer from Vintage Capital Management for $13 per share. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like an immediate jump into thinking a merger could happen with Aaron’s but look a little deeper and you’ll realize that Vintage Capital actually owns 10.2% of Aaron’s. Add to that the fact that Vintage Capital’s managing director, Brian Kahn, is a former Aaron’s franchisee, and the connections start to piece together a little better. A successful purchase of Rent-A-Center by Vintage Capital could end in a merger between Rent-A-Center and Aaron’s at some point when looked at in this light.

It’s hard to tell for sure. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

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