EUROPE: Transdev completed the sale of its Veolia Transport Central Europe subsidiary to DB Mobility on May 16. Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, said the sale of VTCE GmbH for an undisclosed price was the first step in a financial restructuring which aims to re-focus its international activities on 'promising markets in which the group can ensure development'.
Although mainly a bus operator, VTCE has operated Desná Railway services from Šumperk to Kouty nad Desnou and Sobotín in the Czech Republic since 2002, and thus the acquisition takes DB's non-German passenger transport subsidiary Arriva into the Czech local rail market.
It also expands Arriva's bus activities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, and takes the company into Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Arriva said this positions the company as 'the largest international passenger transport operator in Central and Eastern Europe'.
VTCE has annual revenues of nearly €253m, and around 6 300 staff.
