Go-ahead agrees £650m takeover by rival

GO-AHEAD, the biggest operator of London’s commuter trains and iconic double-decker buses, has accepted a £648m takeover bid from an investor group backed by Australian rival Kinetic.

Shareholders of Go-ahead will receive a total of 1,500p per share in cash. That represents a 24pc premium to Go-ahead’s closing price on Friday.

The Kinetic consortium is offering 1,450p per share in cash for each Goahead share, and investors will receive a special dividend of 50p per share in place of a final dividend for this financial year. Kinetic, which is backed by Canadian pension fund Optrust, is teaming up with Spanish transport company Globalvia Inversiones SAU for the acquisition.

The Kinetic consortium beat out rival interest from Sydney-listed transport operator Kelsian Group.

Go-ahead runs nearly a quarter of London’s buses, including some of the city’s zero-emission fleet. The company also operates Govia Thameslink, the UK’S biggest railway company, which is in charge of commuter-train services into London as well as the Gatwick Express line to one of the capital’s airports.

The company was awarded a contract in March to run the network for three more years. Go-ahead also operates transport services in Ireland, Singapore, Norway and Germany.

Kinetic runs the largest bus network in Australia and New Zealand, while Madrid-based Globalvia operates metro railways in four Spanish cities as well as international highway concessions.