Go-Ahead Group accepts £650m takeover bid

Go South Coast 1195 (HF58 GZK), a Scania OmniCity in the More fleet serving the areas around Bournemouth and Poole.
JOHN YOUNG

Go-Ahead Group has accepted a takeover bid from Australian bus operator Kinetic Holding and Globalvia Inversiones, a Spanish transport infrastructure management company specialising in railways and roads. Both are backed by Canadian pension manager, OPTrust.

A second approach was also made by Kelsian Group, another Australian transport company operating in Australia, Singapore and the UK. Formerly known as SeaLink Travel Group, was the owner of Tower Transit before what remained of the company’s East London bus operations was sold to Stagecoach London (Buses July).

Go North East 6375 (NK70 BYT), a Wright StreetDeck operated on Xlines interurban services in Tyneside. The operation will soon share a director with Go North West.
RUSSELL YOUNG

Both bids were announced on June 13, with Go-Ahead Group allowing each to begin the due diligence process. However, Go-Ahead Group accepted the offer from the Kinetic/Globalvia consortium the following day. The offer valued the company at £647.7m, with shareholders expected to receive 1,500 pence per share.

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