National Express on the verge of being taken over
National Express today stands on the verge of being taken over in a potential £765 million deal financed by Spain's Cosmen family, the largest shareholder in the group, in unison with CVC. The consortium increased its offer to £5 a share which is a significant improvement on the earlier offer of £4.50 a share. The consortium has also confirmed that a previous agreement with Stagecoach to acquire part of the operation, if the bid is successful, has been clarified and will now come into play if National Express is taken over.
However, for those thinking that National Express will be able to squeeze a few more pounds out of the consortium, they may well be disappointed with news that this is a final offer. It is no secret that National Express has enormous debts at this moment in time and if the offer did not go through the company would need to raise more money to reduce the debt pile. After the debacle over the East Coast rail line earlier this year many shareholders in National Express are more than happy to bid farewell and take the money.
We await an official response from National Express over the next few days.
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