On another thread, Arriva have agreed sale of Yorkshire Tiger to Transdev Blazefield. So some family silver sales happening.
I suspect it won't be the last. DB want rid of Arriva, but the problem will be 12 months of Covid restrictions and no clear time when "normal" life returns, makes it difficult to see what is or isn't viable now. The only certainty is they'll have been making a humungous loss over the last 12 months, with the sole consolation that'll be true of Stagecoach, First, Go Ahead et al.
Not sure how it happened, but in many ways Arriva did manage to end up with alot of pups on its estate bus wise. I suspect even if it was floated, it will only be a matter of time before it gets dismantled, question is who gets what and what's left ?
If you look at their regional (i.e. non London) operations there are some outliers in some of them which could be susceptible to being sold on their own e.g.
Arriva NE - Whitby looks a bit 'out on a limb' - maybe one for Go Ahead to add onto EYMS.
Midlands - Derby's a bit out on a limb, so are Shrewsbury and Oswestry.
I think the biggest problem is the two companies that would probably be most interested in taking it on entirely - Stagecoach and GoAhead would probably run in to competition regulation problems, though given the impact of Covid, the CC regulators may take a slightly less aggressive view of things.
On the basis of not taking it all, I could see Stagecoach wanting the ex The Shires bits of the Midland operations - MK and Luton, and maybe Stevenage as well. Possibly Leicester would be another where the main competition is Centrebus.
The rest of the Shires / Kent Thameside etc, who knows ? As London Country that was a financial basket case when it was privatised nearly 4 decades ago.
The NW operations are a real 'bitsa' (bitsa this, bitsa that) - I can imagine there is some truth in Julian Peddle making enquiries about Macclesfield and Winsford, possibly Stagecoach wanting bits.
The North East is the one I reckon would be most hotly fought over between Go Ahead and Stagecoach - both would probably want those operations as being a good fit with their other operations.