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Written by: Deng Yinglin
2020-08-22 01:22
Last update date: 2020-08-22 03:20NWS sold Citybus and NWFB business for 3.2 billion yuan. The consortium that took over includes private equity investment company Shanshui Capital (90.8%), Hong Kong-listed Hans Energy (8.6%) and Ascendal Group Limited (8.6%).
Yau Tsim Mong District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Chairman and veteran bus fan Tan Ka-lang pointed out that temporary information shows that only Ascendal has direct bus business experience in the consortium, and the company only has 45 buses in the UK, which is more than The NWFB and Citybus have fewer than 1,000 buses. Considering that the Hong Kong government is dominated by railways, many local buses are facing a "money loss" crisis under the epidemic. It is "good courage" to wish to take over at this time. It is believed that if there is no major change in the management, the bus service will not be affected in the short term.
Citybus was founded in the late 1970s after the establishment of the first City Village Bus in Sha Tin.
New World First Bus and Citybus are two of the five franchised bus companies in Hong Kong. Citybus was founded in the late 1970s by Li Rixin, then CMB’s transportation manager, and two friends. The first "member" of its fleet is the B55 double-decker bus of Ailsa Volvo, which provides transportation to Hong Kong docks for employees. Car service. In the early 1980s, the government developed new towns, and Citybus opened a residential bus line connecting City One Shatin with the Kowloon Tong MTR station. Since then, a number of residential bus routes have been opened to and from the urban area.
In 1989, Citybus introduced double-deck air-conditioned buses from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong and became the mainstream of local buses. In 1991, Citybus was awarded the franchise of the first Hong Kong Island bus route (Route 12A) by the government in an open auction, making it one of the franchised bus companies. To date, Citybus operates 116 bus routes. By the end of 2018, there were 978 licensed air-conditioned buses.
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As for NWFB, its predecessor can be regarded as "China Motor Company Limited" (CMB). At the end of the 1990s, CMB did not do well, and the captain went on strike repeatedly and was criticized. The then Director of Transport, Luo Fan Jiaofen, decided to "kill" CMB and not renew the franchise. He decided to bid for 88 CMB routes in the form of an entire network. New World Development partnered with the British First Group to establish New World First Bus Services Co., Ltd. (ie NWFB), promising to hire all current employees of CMB to ensure a smooth transition of bus services, and finally successfully took over 88 under CMB Bus routes.
After receiving the franchise, NWFB purchased 710 buses and 3 depots from CMB. Together with the received bus stop signs and employees, NWFB successfully took over the operation on September 1, 1998. As of the end of 2018, NWFB operates more than 90 bus routes and has licensed 663 buses.
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Since its establishment in the 1970s, Citybus has "changed hands" several times. (Information Picture/Photo by Lu Yiming)
Citybus and NWFB became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NWS in 2016
Checking the information, Citybus has "changed ownership" several times. In 1999, Citybus became a member of Stagecoach Group, a multinational transportation group. In June 2003, Delta Pearl, a subsidiary of NWS Holdings' parent company Zhou Dafu, acquired Citybus. In 2004, Chow Tai Fook and NWS Holdings jointly established Merryhill Group, which was renamed as NWS Transportation Services Co., Ltd. at the end of the same year. In December 2016, NWS Holdings acquired the remaining 50% equity of NWS Transportation Services from Chow Tai Fook. NWFB and NWFB Citybus became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NWS.
Looking through the information, this time the acquisition of NWFB and Citybus business, Shanshui Capital, which accounts for about 90.8% of the equity of the consortium, includes Zhang Kun, who has many connections with NWS. Zhang Kun once worked at Chow Tai Fook, and Chow Tai Fook had held shares in Citybus and NWFB.
Yau Tsim Mong District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Chairman and veteran bus fan Tan Ka-long believes that if there are no major management changes, bus services will not be affected in the short term. (Information Picture/Photo by Li Zetong)
Bus spotting Chen Jialang: Citybus easy to master commonplace
District Council Traffic and Transport Committee Chairman of Yau Tsim Mong, senior bus spotting Chen Jialang bluntly, Citybus has repeatedly been trading for years, easy to master can be considered "commonplace" Fortunately management There are no major changes and I believe it will not affect bus services.
However, Chen Jialang pointed out that preliminary information shows that among the three new companies, only the subsidiary shareholder Ascendal Group Limited holds about 45 buses in Cambridge, England. It is estimated that it has little experience in bus operation. However, Hong Kong is dominated by railways, and bus operations are facing difficulties. Under the epidemic, many Hong Kong bus companies are facing a "money loss" crisis. It is "courageous" for a company to take over at this time. He bluntly stated that unless the government changes its transportation policy, he will be pessimistic about the long-term prospects of buses, and "it is already a good balance between revenue and expenditure."
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