There has been a robust response from Alexander Dennis (ADL) to a story in The Sunday Times at the weekend which says that Sir Brian Souter has begun talks with investment bankers including HSBC over the possible sale of the company.
The paper said that a formal sale has not started, but claimed that Sir Brian ‘is plotting a £300m sale of Scottish bus and fire engine builder Alexander Dennis,’ although the fire engine chassis business actually closed with production of the last Sabre chassis in 2007. John Dennis, the grandson of one of the founders of Dennis had bought the fire bodybuilding business from Dennis Specialist Vehicles in 1985.
Responding to the story, an ADL spokesman said: “There is always speculation about our business, as there is about any progressive company that has grown rapidly, both at home and abroad. We have been supported over a period of 10 years by a solid group of shareholders committed to investment in product, people, processes and the creation of a world-class company with a global reach.
“That situation remains intact and we will continue to focus on a strategy designed to keep us at the forefront of the UK bus and coach industry, while extending our interests internationally. We have absolutely nothing to say about purely speculative media reports.”
