Boss of First Group’s US cash cow quits
The boss of First Group’s largest business has resigned as the company continues to suffer from the fallout of an activist rebellion, City PM can reveal.
Dennis Maple, the president of First Student, the largest provider of student transportation in North America, is understood to have taken up a role at another company after serving at First for five years.
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First Student’s chief operating officer, Paul Osland, will step in as interim head of the division.
Maple’s resignation comes after First’s chairman Wolfhart Hauser announced he was stepping down despite seeing off a boardroom coup by activist investor Coast Capital, which has been agitating for a radical overhaul of the company.
The US hedge fund called an extraordinary general meeting on 25 June at which it hoped to remove six board members, including Hauser and chief executive Matthew Gregory.
The results of the EGM indicated that 29.3 per cent of votes were cast in favour of removing Hauser and 24.15 per cent in favour of removing Gregory, who remains in post.
David Robbie has since been appointed interim chairman of the board.
A First spokesperson said: “Over the last five years under Dennis’ leadership the division has made visible progress, including a return to both revenue and fleet growth and improved customer satisfaction and retention. He leaves with our best wishes for the future.”
In a trading update in May, First announced plans to sell parts of its operations including its US Greyhound buses. It also said it would separate its First Bus operations in the UK from the group.
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It said it was rationalising its portfolio to place “future emphasis” on First Student and First Transit, which it described as our “core North American contracting businesses, which have the greatest potential to generate sustainable value and growth over time”.
It said that the two businesses together generated 60 per cent of the group’s operating profit in 2019, which stood at £332.9m and which it attributed to growth and margin expansion at First Student and First Bus.