Arriva completes acquisition of German transport company

Leading European passenger transport group Arriva plc today announced the completion of the acquisition of 82.962 per cent of German bus and rail company Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE).

It is anticipated that a further 2.156 per cent will be acquired shortly bringing the total consideration to €30 million (£20.5m).

Arriva-Bachstein GmbH, a consortium between Arriva and regional transport operator Verkehrsbetriebe Bachstein GmbH, bid for the business after Niedersachsen (the regional government in Lower Saxony), the German federal government and DB Regio AG decided to sell their shares.

Arriva is the major partner in the consortium owning 86 per cent. Verkehrsbetriebe Bachstein GmbH holds the remaining 14 per cent.

The acquisition was completed following approval from the German competition authority and the satisfactory outcome of negotiations with VBL, a German pension provider.

Arriva’s chief executive David Martin said:

The acquisition of this diverse business further strengthens our position in the German transport market. We look forward to bringing together our expertise as a leading European transport operator with the skills of our consortium partners and local management team to deliver for our customers in Lower Saxony.

OHE’s total combined revenue at full year 2005 was €130 million (£89 million) and the business broke even whilst covering its interest cost.

Based in Celle near Hannover in the north of Lower Saxony, OHE is an established transport provider. It has over 400 vehicles providing bus services in and around Hannover, Braunschweig, Bremen and Hamburg totalling more than 30 million kilometres a year.

The business is also a shareholder in Metronom which currently operates two rail passenger contracts with 18 electric locomotives and 124 double decker carriages between Uelzen, Hannover and Gottingen as well as Bremen, Hamburg and Uelzen. Metronom has also won two further contracts in the same region starting in the next three years.

OHE owns and manages over 282 kilometres of rail infrastructure linked to a separate rail freight operation. It also manages freight and storage at the ports of Uelzen, Wittingen and Luneburg and has additional road freight operations.

Note to Editors

Arriva announced on 17 January 2007 that it had contracted to acquire OHE.

• Arriva was the first UK company to implement a strategy to target the ongoing liberalisation of transport markets in mainland Europe. It is the largest UK-based public transport group on the Continent, with revenues in mainland Europe of over €1 billion and operations in Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. With more than 33,000 employees, Arriva provides more than one billion passenger journeys every year through an extensive range of public transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and water buses.
• Arriva entered the German rail market in 2004 and the bus market in February 2005. The group operates Sippel, which provides buses in the Rhine-Main area, Verkehrstriebe Bils KG which operates in the Münsterland region and Neißeverkehr in north east Germany near the Polish border. Arriva has secured several rail contracts via its Prignitzer Eisenbahn Gruppe (PEG) and Regentalbahn operations. PEG provides rail services in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenberg Western-Pomerania, and Regentalbahn provides rail passenger and freight services in Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony and cross-border services into the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
• Verkehrsbetriebe Bachstein is a well established family owned bus operator with 90 buses providing line, tourist and contract services in the Celle, Harz and Oberfranken regions.