Van Doorne’s Automobielfabriek N.V. of the Netherlands
See also -
1972 Volvo acquired a third of the shares in the DAF car business
1975 Volvo's ownership of the car business was increased to three-quartes from the start of the year[1]
1987 DAF Trucks took a 60 percent controlling share in Leyland Trucks and Freight Rover, maker of Sherpa vans, and became DAF NV, which soon afterwards was floated on the Dutch stock market. The British arm of the new company traded as Leyland DAF, with two main sites in the UK: the truck plant in Leyland and the vans plant in Birmingham.[2]
1989 Formation of United Bus Group in the Netherlands by merging Bova, a coachbuilder, and DAF's bus-building activities. Soon afterwards United Bus acquired Den Oudsten of the Netherlands and DAB-Silkeborg of Denmark and Optare (1990), hoping to create a business of sufficient scale to compete with the main bus-making groups[3]
1993 United Bus Group sought court protection from creditors, prompted by the collapse of DAF a major shareholder. Optare arranged to buy itself out from the Group.[4]