Another bit of restructuring of operators in the UK, Mainland Europe, and the USA.
In addition to the expansion of
FlixBus UK (and, locally,
the involvement of Whippet as contractors) the comparative decline of
NatEx long-distance services (at least to/from Cambridge)
National Express talks to buy Stagecoach, we now have a change of ownership across the Atlantic.
FlixBus owner hitches ride with Greyhound as FirstGroup exitsBritish transport company FirstGroup has sold its U.S. intercity coach network, Greyhound, to Germany's FlixMobility after more than two years of trying to offload the iconic brand.
The sale [...] marks FirstGroup's exit from its international operations. Earlier this year, it sold its U.S. school bus and transit business to private-equity firm EQT to focus on its UK bus and train operations. [...]
Dallas-based Greyhound, a household name in North America since it was founded in 1914, was put up for sale in May 2019 as it battled with growing pressure from low cost airlines.
FlixMobility, owner of European intercity bus service FlixBus, said the purchase would help marry its technology and shared mobility expertise with Greyhound's nationwide presence.
FirstGroup sells Greyhound to FlixBus parent FlixMobilityFirstGroup has completed its exit from the North American passenger transport market with the sale of the Greyhound business to FlixMobility, parent of the FlixBus brand.
The deal will complete immediately. [...] FirstGroup will initially retain some Greyhound properties that it will lease back to the FlixMobility-owned business, but it expects to sell those over the next three to five years. The Group also retains “certain legacy Greyhound net liabilities.”
[...] It follows the disposal of the First Student and First Transit subsidiaries to EQT Infrastructure [...] in July, and the closure of the Greyhound Canada business two months prior to that.
FirstGroup Executive Chairman David Martin says: “This transaction realises an appropriate value for Greyhound’s operations and ensures that Greyhound’s legacy liabilities are suitable managed.
“Today’s agreement regarding Greyhound’s future completes the Group’s portfolio rationalisation strategy which has refocused FirstGroup on its leading UK public transport business with a strong platform to create sustainable value going forward.”
