London Country three to go
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• The sale of the first London Country subsidiaries could go through before the end of the month if they get ministerial approval — but NBC's decision to put London Country Bus (South West) back on the market for bidding means it is unlikely that all four subsidiaries will now go through together.
While NBC is maintaining its position of not giving away any financial details on the sale of its operating subsidiaries, the net proceeds from the London Country sale are expected to reach 225 million.
The North West subsidiary is believed to have been sold to its own management for about 23.5 million; South East (known as Kentish Bus and Coach) to a holding company set up by the management of Northumbria Motor Services for around 23.2 million; and North East to Parkdale Holdings and Alan Stephenson, managing director of East Yorks Motor Services.
London Country Bus (South West) was also expected to be sold to Drawlane, a subsidiary of Endless Holdings, for about 23 million, but it has since been put back up for sale by NBC (CM 5-11 November). The property interests of the south west subsidiary will be sold for about 15 million.
The sale of London Country (South West)'s bus garages in Surrey, however, have already come under fire from Surrey County Council which says that the move will cause serious damage to bus services in the county.
About 50 of the 72 NBC operating subsidiaries have been sold and provisional deals are understood to have been struck on a number of others including National Express, the long-distance route franchise.
NBC appears to have agreed in principal to a management buy-out bid led by Clive Myers, the existing managing director of National Express, subject to approval by Transport Minister David Mitchell. The sale is expected to go through before the end of the year.
El The number of new bus services registered between 1 November 1986 and 30 September 1987 was 4,257, according to Transport Minister David Mitchell. The number de-registered was 3,200.