Hop on: Rail overtakes flights on busy London-Edinburgh route October 24, 2022 Rail has overtaken aviation as the preferred mode of transport to Scotland as one million people have chosen to travel from London to Edinburgh via electric train operator, Lumo. According to data released today, between April and August 57 per cent of the London-Edinburgh journeys were done by train – 22 per cent up on [...]
Avanti operator FirstGroup gets six-month extension from DfT to improve ‘unacceptable’ service October 7, 2022 FirstGroup has struck a short-term deal with the government to continue its contract for the West Coast Partnership (WCP) until Match next year. The Department for Transport placed the operator on a six-month contract and “challenged it to deliver the urgent increase in services required”. The deal includes the operation of Avanti West Coast, which [...]
FirstGroup sells off US legacy greyhound property portfolio for £122m September 20, 2022 Transport giant FirstGroup is to sell off almost all of its legacy greyhound property portfolio for £122m. The train and bus company announced it will sell all but two if its remaining sites in the US to Twenty Lake Management for net proceeds of $140m. With expected completion in December of this year, it said [...]
FirstGroup US bidder granted deadline extension July 21, 2022 FirstGroup’s US bidder I Squared was given until 18 August to make a firm offer for the transport giant. The company said it allowed the deadline extension as discussions with the US private equity were still ongoing. This was the second extension in a month provided to I Squared after FirstGroup rejected its £1.9bn offer [...]
First Group optimistic of returning bus passenger volumes amid takeover offer rejection June 14, 2022 Transport operator First Group has posted a £122.8m statutory operating profit from continuing operations while announcing a renewed national rail contract with the transport department for Great Western Railway. The new contract will commence when GWR’s current contractual agreement ends later this month, with a core three-year term to 2025. There will be an option [...]
First Group rejects £1.2bn takeover bid from private equity I Squared June 9, 2022 Public transport titan First Group has rejected a £1.2bn takeover bid from US private equity I Squared. FirstGroup is the latest UK company to be sought after by foreign investors, as rival Stagecoach was snatched from underneath National Express by German asset manager DWS in late May. In an update to the London Stock Exchange, [...]
Schroders opposes £1.2bn takeover of railway giant FirstGroup by US private equity firm June 5, 2022 Transport giant FirstGroup is facing a shareholder rebellion from Schroders over a proposed £1.2bn takeover bid from a US private equity firm. Schroders, FirstGroup’s biggest shareholder with a nearly 18 per cent stake, called I Squared Capital’s offer “unattractive”, adding that the figure failed to reflect FirstGroup’s weight in the UK’s railway sector. FirstGroup [...]
FirstGroup considers £1.2bn takeover bid from private equity I Squared May 26, 2022 Transport giant FirstGroup has announced it was considering a £1.2bn takeover bid from US private equity I Squared. FirstGroup told investors it was currently considering a 118p per share cash offer after receiving the firm’s latest unsolicited bid yesterday. “The board of FirstGroup notes the recent share price movement,” the group said in a note [...]
FirstGroup snatches former telecoms boss for chief executive role April 20, 2022 Former telecoms boss Graham Sutherland was appointed chief executive of FirstGroup, the transport colossus announced today. The new boss will assume office from 16 May. Sutherland – who was previously at the helm of LSE-listed telecommunications company KCOM from 2018 until its sale to an infrastructure fund – will succeed Matthew Gregory, who stepped down [...]
Megabus to double service at Christmas December 9, 2021 Megabus will double its service to ensure customers can see their families over Christmas. The bus operator has said it will operate over 9,000 miles on 25 December, reaching 48,000 miles worth of trips on Boxing Day. Across the whole festive period, Megabus coaches will travel over half a million miles around the country. “After [...]