Darwen’s capture of Optare looks a good deal but beware of the ghost of Transbus

LAST week saw Darwen Holdings, the AIM-listed bus manufacturer, finally snap up its Leeds-based rival Optare.

Of course when North East entrepreneur Roy Stanley bought Optare from its management team in March, it was pretty much a dead cert that he would combine the enterprise in some way with Darwen, a business he formed from the remains of the long established East Lancs, before floating it on the stock market earlier this year.

For Optare it means a new owner, the fourth since the start...

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