OTHER NEWS - April 23, 1996

Laidlaw to Buy Hospitality and Transportation Concern: The Burlington, Canada-based waste-management and bus company has agreed to acquire Scott’s Hospitality Inc. in a transaction valued at about $613 million. The purchase would boost Laidlaw’s share of the private school bus market, adding Scott’s 6,000 buses to its 29,000. Laidlaw Inc. would hold 23% of the North American school-bus market when the deal is completed, up from 20% currently. As part of the agreement, Toronto-based Scott’s would shed its restaurant franchise and food-service operations. The purchase would add bus routes in areas where Laidlaw isn’t particularly strong, specifically Michigan, Illinois, Boston and southwestern and northern Ontario.