Deutsche Bahn eyes British-owned Spanish group

摘要

Deutsche Bahn, which has turned Arriva into its public transport division outside Germany, is considering whether to buy Spanish transport group Avanza with a fleet of 1,700 vehicles, the German language edition of the Financial Times reports. Avanza is second in the Spanish bus market behind Alsa/National Express, with an annual turnover of around €400million (£352million). It is owned by the British private equity group Doughty Hanson. The FT quoted undisclosed sources close to the deal. Neither Avanza nor DB would comment officially. Avanza runs extensive longdistance coach routes under the Auto Res and La Sepulvedana brands along with city networks in Zaragoza, Vigo, Ourense and Segovia. It also operates buses in the suburbs of Madrid, in Alicante Benidorm and Salamanca. Arriva runs suburban buses in Madrid suburbs and interurban routes in Majorca.