NatEx suitors table a final 765m offer
SHARES in National Express (NatEx) shot up by 13 per cent yesterday, after the transport group received an improved takeover offer of £765m from a consortium led by its largest investor.
The consortium, comprising Spanish shareholder the Cosmen family and CVC Capital Partners, raised its indicative cash offer for the group to 500p a share, while rival Stagecoach added it had agreed in principle to buy NatEx’s UK bus and rail operations from the consortium if the bid succeeds.
CVC-Cosmen said the final proposal must be recommended by the National Express board or it would be withdrawn. It had previously offered 450p a share, which was rejected by NatEx in favour of a rights issue.
The Cosmen family includes Jorge Cosmen, the non-executive deputy chairman of NatEx.
The consortium said that the offer delivered an attractive premium for the shareholders, and “provides the opportunity to draw a clear line under the recent difficulties associated with the company’s UK rail franchise and relations with the Department for Transport” regarding its rail franchises.
NatEx said it was evaluating the proposed offer and that a further announcement would be made “when appropriate”.
The group, which runs bus operations in Spain and North America as well as its UK bus and rail divisions, has been struggling with a debt-pile of nearly £1bn and is handing the East Coast main line back to the government after it said it couldn’t afford its franchise payments.
Stagecoach said it wouldn’t bid outright for the group while Arriva said it was monitoring the situation.