share of the US market. It seemed logical to put the Henlys and Dennis businesses together and Henlys made an offer to Dennis Group shareholders. Mayflower, an engineering group that owned bus bodybuilder Walter Alexander, felt threatened by the almost-completed Henlys-Dennis tie up and launched a bid for Dennis. Volvo responded by announcing its backing for the Henlys Dennis merger. Mayflower revealed a proposed alliance with Daimler-Benz including collaboration on development of chassis, technical support, power unit supply and worldwide distribution. Mayflower was angling for the Dennis-Henlys (and Volvo) strong position in the US bus market. It was believed Dennis's low-floor bus chassis design would fit the expected US demand for wheelchair-friendly buses and less polluting bus engines. That market was estimated to be around 15,000 vehicles each year. Mayflower's other core division, Mayflower Vehicle Systems, supplied panels to European and US manufacturers. Mayflower won the contested takeover bid for Dennis Group and within a few months disposed of two Dennis subsidiaries it did not want. Subsequent events showed Mayflower paid too much for Dennis. Divestments Carmichael International, Worcester manufacturer of appliances from Land Rover-based vehicles to all-wheel drive Cobra 2 airfield crash tenders, was sold in February 1999. Dennis Eagle, Douglas Equipment and Schopf were sold in July 1999 to NatWest Equity Partners. Transbus International In 2000 Mayflower (Dennis and Alexander brands) and Henlys Group (Plaxton), aiming to save overheads, merged their British bus-making operations into a joint venture owned 70 per cent by Mayflower and 30 per cent by Henlys. The factories concerned employed 3,300 staff in seven places in Scotland and Yorkshire. Specialist Vehicles Limited was renamed Transbus International Limited on 31 December 2002. In March 2004 Mayflower was placed in administration amid accusations of four years of falsifying crucial company records as to customers' payments to HSBC, counting the same income twice. Transbus was also placed in administration. Eventually Transbus Plaxton was sold to its managers, Brian Davidson and Mike Keane with the support of a private equity group. Transbus Alexander and Transbus Dennis were bought by a consortium which included David Murray, Brian Souter and Ann Gloag, and was branded Alexander Dennis. The company incorporated as Dennis Motor Holdings in 1970 to save boardroom disputes having subsequently worn new names of: Dennis Motors, Hestair Dennis, Dennis Specialist Vehicles, Hestair Specialist Vehicles and just Specialist Vehicles but finally Transbus International was dissolved on 19 June 2018,