Greyhound has been put up for sale after its UK owner caved to activist investors who wanted the company to ditch the bus line.
FirstGroup, which owns the iconic inter-city bus operation, said Thursday that it wants to focus on its school transportation and commuter businesses.
The company said in a statement that Greyhound has "limited synergies" with its other businesses in North America and that "value for shareholders can best be delivered by seeking new owners."
"Our plans will create a more focused portfolio, with leading positions in our core North American contracting markets," added CEO Matthew Gregory.
The company owns American school bus service First Student, which it says is the largest in North America. Its First Transit brand offers shuttle buses and other services to commuters in the United States.
FirstGroup said the two divisions generate a combined 60% of the its operating profits and increasingly overlap in terms of the technologies and skills they require. Shares in FirstGroup surged almost 5% in London after the announcement.
Greyhound said it serves 2,400 destinations across the United States and Canada, transporting nearly 16 million passengers each year.
The separation is a big win for activist shareholder group Coast Capital Management, which owns just under 10% of FirstGroup.
Coast Capital Management had been pushing FirstGroup's board to separate its businesses in the United Kingdom and North America.
We saw a Greyhound bus about a month ago. We both commented on it, there was a time that you saw them all the time but that was the first one we'd seen in a really long time.
I remember being so happy when the Trailways bus pull up and Grandma would get off. Then I think they merged with Greyhound. Now it's all Chinatown buses.
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I remember being on a Greyhound bus leaving the Seattle Worlds Fair Columbus Day 1962. I was 8yrs old and my
Mom and sister went to the Worlds Fair and it was a great time. The weather started to get pretty windy just before
we got on that Greyhound bus back to Bellingham. Hard to tell what the weather was doing outside in a big bus.
Arrived Bellingham around 9PM and the winds were howling to 50-60-70mph. Dad picked us up and got home and
the winds were approaching 90-100mph. Scariest night of my early life as I heard the wind make all kinds of sounds
I haven't heard again to this day. The famous "Columbus Day Storm 1962" still stands at the top for GPNW wind storms.
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