One of the North East’s largest companies is likely to be put up for sale, more than two years after a previous attempt to cash in on the business was abandoned.
German rail company Deutsche Bahn says it is examining the sale of UK-based subsidiary Arriva, which is based in Sunderland and employs hundreds of people in the region.
Arriva is the North East’s second largest company by turnover and a major employer through its North East bus division and the Northern Rail franchise, as well as the HQ.
Deutsche Bahn said in a statement that its supervisory board has asked management to pursue “various options” for a sale.
Arriva operates train and bus services in 14 European countries. It has a turnover of €5.44bn (£4.62bn) last year and employs about 53,000 people across Europe.
A decision on whether to go ahead with a sale of the wholly-owned subsidiary is expected in September.
Deutsche Bahn, which itself is owned by the German state, said a sale would help limit its debts and give Arriva room to grow.
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Deutsche Bahn last investigated a sale of Arriva in 2016, sparking a warning from unions that a “fire sale” of the company would hit both jobs and services.
But the idea of partially floating the company was dropped after the EU referendum, with then Deutsche Bahn chief executive Ruediger Grube saying the collapse in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote would mean a sale of the company “would be throwing money out of the window - and acting that way would be foolish.”
Arriva is Deutsche Bahn’s international arm and is based at the Doxford International Business Park.
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The company was founded as TSK Cowie in Sunderland in 1938 as a second-hand motorcycle dealer. It was later re-launched as a car dealership and also added vehicle hire before taking advantage of bus de-regulation in the 1980s to become a major transport company in the UK.
The firm was re-branded as Arriva in 1997 and was bought by Deutsche Bahn in 2010, at which point it was de-listed from the Stock Exchange.
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