Business Unit Sell-off
In 1994, the separate London Buses units were sold off. Competition rules restricted the amount of units that could be bought by one group. All the units were sold either to their management or employees, or to one of the emerging national bus groups that had been growing through acquisition of deregulated companies in the rest of the UK. The exception was London Northern, which was bought by MTL, itself an expanding company formed from the privatisation of the Merseyside PTE bus company.
Following sell-off, most units had their fleet livery changed, either to all-over red or having the skirt or roof repainted. Most units also chose to withdraw the logos they had received in 1988, although East London and Selkent later brought their logos back.
The only unit not to be sold off was London Forest, which was wound up in the autumn of 1991 following poor financial performance and industrial action; its operating area was subsequently taken up by East London and Leaside, although 11 of its routes in the Walthamstow area were passed to private operators Capital Citybus, Thamesway Buses and County Bus.
The sell-off of the units proceeded as follows:
| Division | Buyer | New livery | Subsequent fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centrewest | management | sold to First in 1997 | |
| East London | Stagecoach | sold to Macquarie Bank in 2006, then re-acquired by Stagecoach in 2010 | |
| Leaside | Cowie Group | rebranded into Arriva in 1997 (now Arriva London North) | |
| London Central | Go-Ahead | no change | |
| London General | management | sold to Go-Ahead in 1996 | |
| London Northern | MTL | sold to Metroline in 1998 | |
| London United | management | sold to Transdev in 1997, sold to RATP in 2011 | |
| Metroline | mebo | sold to ComfortDelGro in 2000 (retains Metroline name) | |
| Selkent | Stagecoach | sold to Macquarie Bank in 2006, then re-acquired by Stagecoach in 2010 | |
| South London | Cowie Group | rebranded into Arriva in 1997 (now Arriva London South) | |
| Westlink | employees | no change | sold to West Midlands Travel in 1994, then London United in 1995 |
| London Coaches | management | rebranded in December 1997, The Original London Sightseeing Tour Ltd (now Arriva London) |
Read more about this topic: Privatisation Of London Bus Services
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