Aussies in bidding war for Go-Ahead

Foreign suitors swoop on another British bus firm

SHARES in Go-Ahead surged to their highest level in more than two years as it became the subject of a bidding war.

The Newcastle-based transport group, which runs London’s red buses, accepted a £648m offer from a consortium comprised of Australian group Kinetic and Spanish outfit Globalvia Inversiones on Monday.

But yesterday Kelsian, another Australian transport and tourism group, said it was still in talks about tabling a bid for Go-Ahead.

Shares in Go-Ahead shot up 16.2pc, or 220p, to 1580p as the two Australian suitors went head-to-head.

The battle for Go-Ahead comes amid heightened interest in British transport groups from foreign buyers in the wake of the pandemic.

Rival First Group recently turned down a £1.2bn offer from US private equity while Stagecoach fell to German asset manager DWS for £595m March.

Kelsian will need to top the 1500p per share offer from the Kinetic consortium that was accepted by Go-Ahead’s board on Monday. The bid is a 49pc premium to the company’s share price on May 25, the day before an approach for First Group from US private equity shark I Squared Capital sparked a flurry of takeover speculation in the sector.

Commenting on the consortium deal, Kinetic co- chief executive Michael Sewards told the Daily Mail if the takeover succeeded, Go-Ahead’s UK-based board, its chairman Clare Hollingsworth and chief executive Christian Schreyer would stay on. ‘We know this management team very well – we hold them in high regard,’ Sewards said.

The £648m bid for Go-Ahead will trigger a hefty payday for former boss David Brown, who left late last year. He will pocket £1.3m from his remaining shares.

Diana Ballinger, the multi-millionaire widow of Martin Ballinger – who led the 1987 buy-out of Go-Ahead, then named Northern General – will receive a £22.4m windfall through her 3.5pc stake in the group.

Go-Ahead’s imminent capitulation to a takeover offer makes it the latest company to be sold since the pandemic began.

Others have included Morrisons, Asda and G4S – leading to accusations of ‘pandemic plundering’ as the share prices of companies slid during Covid.

In April, fund manager Schroders warned that the UK economy could be a big loser from the steady loss of companies to foreign buyers. But Sewards stressed that if the takeover was successful Go-Ahead’s headquarters in Newcastle and its London office would remain open.