Arriva takeover is not running to schedule

Jun 17 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

THE takeover of North East transport giant Arriva has been delayed but both parties are confident it will go ahead.

The proposed timetable for the company’s £1.6bn takeover by Deutsche Bahn has slipped by a week, following discussions with the European Commission.

Notification of the deal will now be submitted on June 22, and the scheme of arrangement is expected to become effective – once everything is agreed by all necessary parties – on August 27 rather than August 20.

And the company warns the dates could still change, although Deutsche Bahn said it was confident that competition conditions will be satisfied “in a timely manner”.

At the end of April, Arriva’s board announced it had agreed to a £1.59bn takeover offer from German transport group Deutsche Bahn with the deal expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

Arriva, which employs 150 staff at its Sunderland headquarters, employs more than 44,000 staff, including around 2,000 in the North East. It made a £121.7m profit last year and had a £3.1bn turnover.