First Student Parent Co. to Sell Greyhound, U.K. Bus Operation

ABERDEEN, U.K. — FirstGroup PLC announced on Thursday that it is selling its North American intercity bus line and its U.K. bus operation in an effort to focus on its pupil transportation and public transit brands.  

FirstGroup, which is the parent company of First Student, said in a statement that it is selling Greyhound and First Bus to “deliver enhanced sustainable value.” The company also noted that in 2019, First Student and First Transit have collectively generated 60% of its operating profits and “share increasingly similar attributes and opportunities to grow and create value.”

The technologies and management skillsets required for First Student and First Transit to grow and take advantage of market opportunities are “increasingly overlapping,” according to the statement.

FirstGroup added in the statement that it has boosted First Student’s margins to 9.5% in 2019 by employing a “rigorous returns-based contract bidding strategy and sustained cost and process efficiencies.”

“As we drive our core contracting businesses forward we will ensure that our management and functional structures are positioned to capitalize further on the platform we have built in the emerging North American mobility services market,” the statement said.

Read more about the public transit aspect of the sale in Metro Magazine, School Bus Fleet’s sister publication, here.