FGP Firstgroup Plc

 
TIDMFGP 
 
FIRSTGROUP PLC 
                           GREYHOUND PROPERTY SALES 
 
FirstGroup plc ('FirstGroup' or the 'Group') today announces three major 
property disposals, for total gross proceeds of USD137m or c.GBP102m, as part 
of its programme to rationalise Greyhound's property portfolio. 
 
The largest is the sale of Greyhound's oversized legacy garage and customer 
terminal facility in the downtown arts district of Los Angeles, California to a 
subsidiary of Prologis, Inc. Under the agreement finalised and closed 
yesterday, Greyhound receives net USD88m in cash and will lease back the 
facility from Prologis for two years, during which time Greyhound will complete 
the moves of its terminal to a more convenient and attractive location for 
customers and of its garage operations to a more appropriately-sized site 
elsewhere. The Los Angeles site had a book value of USD11m as at 30 September 
2020. 
 
The other two property disposals announced today are of facilities in Denver, 
Colorado for net proceeds at the end of December of USD37m and in Ottawa, 
Ontario for net proceeds of USD7m. The customer terminal in downtown Denver has 
moved to Union Station resulting in a more convenient intermodal passenger 
offering and cost savings for Greyhound. Activities at the Ottawa garage were 
relocated as part of Greyhound's withdrawal of service from parts of Canada in 
2018/19. 
 
In total, all three properties' book value was USD24m as at 30 September 2020, 
resulting in a total profit on sale for all three transactions of approximately 
USD100m (net of leaseback, property tax and selling costs). The cash proceeds 
from the transactions will be used for general corporate purposes. 
 
These transactions are a further step in the Group's rationalisation of the 
Greyhound property portfolio for value, reducing the operational footprint by 
moving operations to intermodal transport hubs or new facilities better 
tailored to customers' needs. The transactions follow the exit of six smaller 
surplus locations in the first half of the financial year. A number of other 
property sales processes are also underway. 
 
Contacts at FirstGroup: 
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor Relations 
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Communications 
corporate.comms@firstgroup.com 
+44 (0) 20 7725 3354 
 
Contacts at Brunswick PR: 
Andrew Porter / Simone Selzer, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 
 
Notes 
Classification as per DTR 6 Annex 1R: 2.2. This announcement contains inside 
information. The person responsible for arranging the release of this 
announcement on behalf of FirstGroup is David Isenegger, Group General Counsel 
and Company Secretary. Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. 
 
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading provider of transport services in the 
UK and North America. With GBP7.8 billion in revenue in the year to 31 March 2020 
and around 100,000 employees, we transported 2.1 billion passengers. Whether 
for business, education, health, social or recreation - we get our customers 
where they want to be, when they want to be there. We create solutions that 
reduce complexity, making travel smoother and life easier. We provide easy and 
convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and 
communities. Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North 
America, First Student is the largest provider of home-to-school student 
transportation with a fleet of 43,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is one 
of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and contracting 
services, while Greyhound is the only nationwide operator of scheduled 
intercity coaches. In the UK, First Bus is one of Britain's largest bus 
companies with 1.4 million passengers a day in 2020, and First Rail is one of 
the country's most experienced rail operators, carrying 340 million passengers 
in the year. Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us 
@firstgroupplc on Twitter. 
 
 
 
END 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 31, 2020 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)

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