Most of us had a Woollies, we remembered it fondly but then shopped elsewhere anyway.
Most of us had a bus service, we remembered it fondly, but then travelled by other means anyway!
Yeah, and I get why YOU are angered/disappointed/euphoric etc. You are directly impacted. I also live in First-land (though a better OpCo) but I don't understand how people who aren't affected can be SO emotional.
I wasn't upset when Jock McTavish's sweet shop closed in Inverurie but might have been bothered when I couldn't get my pick and mix in Woolies in Frome!
Now First have acknowledged they are prepared to split off First UK Bus, there's always a remote possibility that NX Group could make a takeover approach just for UK bus with it being a smaller entity / lower risk? Dean Finch certainly knows the business well. I suspect it will still be too big / risky deal though, but opportunities such as that don't present themselves that often...….
I somehow don't think that will be the end of Coast Capital and they will go quiet.... I think that was phase 1, next dividend or special dividend to return some value to shareholders.
Finally agreeing to sell Greyhound & split of First UK Bus is all well and good, but they're doing it at the same time as DB are selling off Arriva, Arriva being in much better shape as far as I'm aware.
Gregory said he wants things to proceed "at pace" which probably excludes anyone with competition issues.
Nothing at First happens "at pace", how long have the Manchester depot sales been dragging on.... still only 1 of 3 sold.
Excluding anyone with competition concerns also restricts demand and final sale price.
It could be a sale to NX but, as with DB flogging Arriva, they are not wanting to be bogged down with various competition issues and CMA investigations, let alone a protracted piecemeal sell off where there remains the risk of being left with stuff like Buses of Somerset. Hence why a public offering or a sale to an equity group is still the better option for both DB and for First.
Appreciate the view that the fact that Arriva is for sale might be viewed as a buyers market etc but remember... the results posted have seen the turnover remain constant (despite it being a 52 wk rather than a 53 wk year) with margins and op profits increasing markedly. There may be a limited number of transport businesses who are interested but I'm not certain that is where either Arriva nor First Bus will end up.
Many capital investment firms will look to concentrate in one or more related markets; others have a disparate set of interests. One of the latter is unfortunately Greybull Capital who, as well as having British Steel, had interests in retail, high end electronics, consumer goods etc. In the event, they can always go for an IPO and simply spin it off that way - that's the way my first employer went when it was divested from the parent group.