The Spanish infrastructure company Globavlia will bid for bus concessions in Spain with the aim of becoming a global mobility operator, present in toll motorway, rail and road transport concessions, according to the CEO on Tuesday. of the company, Javier Pérez Fortea, at a press conference.
The consortium formed by Globalvia and the Australian bus operator Kinetic announced on Monday the launch of a friendly takeover bid (OPA) for 753 million euros to take over the British transport company Go-Ahead, which operates most of London buses. The offer, of 1.45 pence in cash per share and an additional dividend of 50 pence per share, represents a premium of 24% compared to the closing of Go-Ahead shares last Friday on the stock market.
Go-Ahead’s board explained that it considered the terms of the deal “fair and reasonable” and intended to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the deal. The operation is expected to close in October 2022. However, the end of the transaction is subject to the approval of the majority of Go-Ahead shareholders representing 75% of the value of the company’s shares, as well as well as authorizations for mergers and acquisitions and foreign investment controls in the European Union.
With more than 27,000 employees worldwide, Go-Ahead provides bus and rail services in the UK, Singapore, Ireland, Sweden, Norway and Germany. The company operates a fleet of more than 6,000 buses throughout England and is responsible for a quarter of the buses in London owned by the state agency Transport for London. The group’s international bus operations include Singapore, Ireland and Sweden.
“This is a compelling offer that combines an attractive shareholder valuation with bright prospects for Go-Ahead’s operations around the world. We are confident in the future of Go-Ahead as an independent company, but we see that being part of a global public transport platform will create exciting opportunities”, said Christian Schreyer, CEO of Go-Ahead.
For his part, one of Kinetic’s executive directors, Michael Sewards, has assured that his group will provide “approved experience” to the British company to accelerate its growth strategy. With this operation, Globalvia takes another step in its strategy to make the leap to mobility. Soon, Ilsa, the consortium formed by the Valencian airline Air Nostrum and Trenitalia, is expected to enter with 25% of the capital to compete with its Iryo brand in high-speed rail transport in Spain, in competition with Renfe and Ouigo (SNCF ).
He knows in depth all the sides of the coin.
subscribe
Globalvia, which was created in 2007 to unite all the concession assets of FCC and Caja Madrid under a single group, became controlled in 2016 by the OPTrust (Canada), PGGM (Netherlands) and USS (United Kingdom) pension funds. The Spanish company manages transport infrastructure concessions, and is specialized in highways and railways. With more than 2,000 employees, it operates and maintains 26 projects, including 1,800 kilometers of highways and 80 kilometers of railways and metro lines.
