Great Western Holdings was a company created to bid for the Great Western rail franchise in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The company consisted of 51 per cent management buyout 24.5 per cent Badgerline and 24.5 per cent 3i

3i

3i Group plc is a multinational private equity and venture capital company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has offices in 13 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas and had total assets under management of £12.7 billion as at 31 March 2011...

. The company won the Great Western franchise and operated it under the name Great Western Trains

Great Western Trains

Great Western Trains was a UK train company created in the mid 1990s as part of the privatisation of British Rail. It was one of the first two passenger companies to be privatised, passing into private ownership along with South West Trains on 4 February 1996....

. In 1997 Great Western Holdings won the North Western Franchise, operating it under the name North Western Trains

First North Western

First North Western was a train operating company in the United Kingdom serving North West England. It operated from 1997 to 2004.The company when first privatised was known as North Western Trains and was owned by Great Western Holdings, a partnership between Great Western's management, First...

. The remaining 75.5 per cent of the company was acquired by FirstBus in 1998.