The Australian operator is heading an acquisition of a major London bus operator
An investor group backed by Australian operators Kinetic have launched a takeover bid of London operator Go-Ahead Group.
Go-Ahead Group is London’s biggest commuter train and double-decker bus operator and accepted a $787 million takeover offer from the investor group.
Australian rivals Kinetic helped back the bid, with Go-Ahead shareholders to receive cash rewards per share.
The Kinetic consortium is offering 1,450 pence per share in cash for each Go-Ahead share, as Kinetic is backed by Canadian pension fund OPTrust while also teaming with Spanish transport company Globalvia Inversiones SAU in the Go-Ahead acquisition.
A statement from Go-Ahead says its directors will unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the acquisition, with the takeover planned to be done in October.
Last week Sydney transport operator Kelsian Group also lodged its interest in acquiring the Go-Ahead Group.
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“Kelsian continues to carefully assess the opportunity with a disciplined focus on the strategic and financial rationale,” Kelsian Group says.
Kelsian says it has been in preliminary talks with Go-Ahead about a takeover and a potential offer in cash, but there’s no certainty that it will make a bid.
Go-Ahead runs nearly a quarter of London buses including some zero-emission vehicles.
Australian investment firms involved in the takeover group include Macquarie Group and AustralianSuper.