• The National Bus Company is Al/Wising its largest subsidiary
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— National Express — for sale, and it expects to complete the transaction in May or June.
National Express is being offered now, because the company's 1986 figures will be available soon. These will be made available to those companies which apply to purchase National Express, but will not be published until NBC's annual figures for 1986 are published in June.
NBC expects up to half a dozen bids for the company, which made profits of 27.9 million in 1985 on turnover of £71.4 million. One of the bids may well come from the company's existing management team, which, like other NBC subsidiary management teams, will be given a 5% bid advantage (other things being equal) as against outside bids.
The successful purchaser will get an organisation operating 140 daily services carrying 14.5 million people a year. As part of the purchase the coach stations at Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester will be made available.
National Express directly employs around 500 staff, and controls around 500 vehicles, although the latter and tileir drivers and hostesses are contracted in by the company.