Nat Express thrashes out deal’s details
TRANSPORT group National Express was last night close to agreeing to a $1.3bn (£1bn) takeover bid, although the level of due diligence has yet to be settled.
The bus and rail operator last week received an improved offer of 500p a share from a consortium that includes Spanish shareholder the Cosmen family and CVC Capital Partners.
“National Express is minded to agree a deal, the condition is around the due diligence, what access it (the consortium) is going to get,” one source said.
The consortium said last week it had struck a side deal with National Express rival Stagecoach to sell its UK bus and rail operations if the deal goes ahead.
National Express declined to comment on whether or not it was close to agreeing a takeover, but admitted it was in talks.
“The independent board confirms that it is discussing certain aspects of the final proposal with the consortium,” it said in a statement.
National Express said that there was still no certainty the approach would lead to an offer and that a further announcement would be made as appropriate.
The company became a takeover target earlier this year after struggling to lower a near £1bn debt mountain and announcing it would walk away from its flagship East Coast rail franchise due to mounting losses.
It has said that shareholders would support a potential rights issue, which sources said would be around £300m, if a takeover falls through.