Go-Ahead Group PLC (LSE:GOG) said it accepted a takeover offer from a consortium including Australian bus company Kinetic and Spanish infrastructure investor Globalvia Inversiones for £647.7mln, but a bidding war is on the cards after a third possible suitor emerged.
The UK bus and rail operator said late Monday it was recommending a 1,500p-per-share offer from Kinetic and Globalvia.
More accurately, the bid is for 1,450p in cash and a special dividend of 50p per share in lieu of a final dividend for the year ending 2 July.
But another Australian transport company, Kelsian Group, which has held talks with its UK peer, urged Go-Ahead shareholders to “take no action at this time”.
Kelsian, which runs some of London’s bus services, said it has been in “preliminary discussions” with Go-Ahead in relation to a possible bid, with any possible offer “likely to be in cash”.
Shares in Go-Ahead, which were trading above 2,100p before the pandemic but fell below 600p at the start of 2022, hit 1,450p on Monday.
Interest in London's mass transport groups has stepped up a gear of late, with FirstGroup recently rejecting a takeover offer from US private equity group I Squared Capital, while Stagecoach is being taken private by DWS Infrastructure having spurned a merger with National Express, which is also being tipped as a target for trade buyers.