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Post by TNL33036 on Apr 11, 2018 23:15:34 GMT
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Apr 14, 2018 14:11:37 GMT
Given that the total shareholder value of First is ca £1.3bn but they have debts of ca £2m, such an acquisition would surely need to be worth at least £3.3bn to Apollo in terms of future profits or subsequent disposals. The transfer of the rail franchises would require DfT approval. If the sale happens anyway, the DfT may take the franchises in-house and put them back out to tender. Maybe First UK bus could then be acquired by National Express, Comfort DelGro or RATP? Abellio no longer seem interested in commercial bus operations. Transdev seem to be more selective about what they operate.
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Post by tony4387 on Apr 14, 2018 21:18:18 GMT
I don't personally think abellio have ever been interested in acquiring any further bus operations ever since they entered the London market
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Post by snowman on May 8, 2018 8:53:02 GMT
Apollo has dropped their bid, and First Group shares fell 10%
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Post by TNL33036 on May 31, 2018 10:40:09 GMT
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Post by snoggle on May 31, 2018 11:16:27 GMT
Goodness that's an ignominious end for Mr O'Toole. I really rated him when he was LU MD - the best MD we had in my time on the Underground. Still a multi million pound loss and a huge write off in respect of Greyhound is not good. Neither is a projected loss of £106m on the TPE franchise. Must admit I had not appreciated that First Group had not paid a dividend since 2013 - no wonder investors aren't happy and the private equity vultures have been circling. I think we may see some very seismic changes with First Group and with their bus business which does not have particularly good prospects - they're in poor markets in many places. |
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Post by capitalomnibus on May 31, 2018 13:55:10 GMT
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Post by busaholic on May 31, 2018 21:10:53 GMT
Goodness that's an ignominious end for Mr O'Toole. I really rated him when he was LU MD - the best MD we had in my time on the Underground. Still a multi million pound loss and a huge write off in respect of Greyhound is not good. Neither is a projected loss of £106m on the TPE franchise. Must admit I had not appreciated that First Group had not paid a dividend since 2013 - no wonder investors aren't happy and the private equity vultures have been circling. I think we may see some very seismic changes with First Group and with their bus business which does not have particularly good prospects - they're in poor markets in many places. This may be an unfair question, but did Mr O'Toole have any serious competition for 'best Underground MD' during your time there? |
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Post by snoggle on May 31, 2018 22:09:51 GMT
This may be an unfair question, but did Mr O'Toole have any serious competition for 'best Underground MD' during your time there? I do think that is slightly unfair. I'm not seeking to slag off any of the other people who've held what was / is always a difficult job. However Mr O'Toole is genuinely inspirational and, given my enormous cynicism about management bullsh*t and fancy theories, that's high praise coming from me. He actually felt like a leader and was able to talk in a sensible fashion despite being American (usually a cause for more cynicism from me). He was able to articulate what he wanted and why in a clear and non condescending way. Avoiding the BS was a sensible step on his part but I don't think it was an affectation or ploy from him. He was just straight with people - and that can be "double edged" because you knew if you'd made a mistake or p*ssed him off. He was also very popular with the front line staff as he was regularly seen on the network. He would go out of his way to visit stations, call in on supervisors, talk to staff on gatelines, visit depots and talk to the maintenance staff etc. That's quite an achievement given the tortured history of industrial / employee relations on LU where the front line staff and unions consider management to be incompetent twits. The people who got upset at the lack of visits were those of us who worked in offices!! There was an enormous palpable shock when it was announced he was going. Never had that with any other MD. He was also not at all afraid to talk to passengers and wore his name badge whenever he was on the Tube. |
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Post by busaholic on May 31, 2018 23:19:32 GMT
This may be an unfair question, but did Mr O'Toole have any serious competition for 'best Underground MD' during your time there? I do think that is slightly unfair. I'm not seeking to slag off any of the other people who've held what was / is always a difficult job. However Mr O'Toole is genuinely inspirational and, given my enormous cynicism about management bullsh*t and fancy theories, that's high praise coming from me. He actually felt like a leader and was able to talk in a sensible fashion despite being American (usually a cause for more cynicism from me). He was able to articulate what he wanted and why in a clear and non condescending way. Avoiding the BS was a sensible step on his part but I don't think it was an affectation or ploy from him. He was just straight with people - and that can be "double edged" because you knew if you'd made a mistake or p*ssed him off. He was also very popular with the front line staff as he was regularly seen on the network. He would go out of his way to visit stations, call in on supervisors, talk to staff on gatelines, visit depots and talk to the maintenance staff etc. That's quite an achievement given the tortured history of industrial / employee relations on LU where the front line staff and unions consider management to be incompetent twits. The people who got upset at the lack of visits were those of us who worked in offices!! There was an enormous palpable shock when it was announced he was going. Never had that with any other MD. He was also not at all afraid to talk to passengers and wore his name badge whenever he was on the Tube. Well, you answered an unfair question pretty well. I think if he'd been MD during my brief spell on the Underground I'd have been respectful of that. The idea of either of the two head honchos titularly in charge when I was there visiting anywhere, talking to passengers or wearing name badges .... let's just say, it was never going to happen. The bus side was a bit different, though. There was an aloofness, but not necessarily at the very top, but a grade or two below: and cattiness, in an all male environment, like I'd never have imagined existing. Lots more was done at HQ level with buses than with trains then, in the 1970s. Baker Street, Earl's Court, Cobourg Street and Oxford Circus were their own little fiefdoms: in retrospect, I should have stayed on the Underground side, where I felt at least some of my views and ideas were respected, rather than my first love Buses where conservatism and negativity reigned, and where I was always conscious of treading on someone's toes, though in theory that was what I was supposed to be being paid to do. |
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Post by TNL33036 on Nov 13, 2018 11:05:30 GMT
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