Management buyouts in the public sector

This article explores the particular issues associated with management buyouts from the public sector. As part of the general move towards making government departments more 'market-orientated', some form of transformation process was adopted in an attempt to re-orient existing management, staff and organizations systems to the commercial practices used in the private sector. The aim was to make the unit a viable commercial entity with a convincing (to investors) track record. In particular, attention was focused on ascertaining that marketing and finance were in place at the time the buyout was proposed. The article is illustrated by five case studies-Chessington Computer Services Ltd, The Laboratory of the Government Chemist Ltd, FM Contract Services Ltd, CentreWest London Buses Ltd, and London General Buses Ltd. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.