Kelsian refuses to rule out bidding war for Go-Ahead

11th Jul 2022 13:46

(Sharecast News) - Australia's Kelsian Group urged shareholders in Go-Ahead Group not to take any action on Monday, as it continued to mull its own potential offer for the British business.

Bus and train operator Go-Ahead agreed last month to be acquired by a consortium consisting of Australia's Kinetic Holdings and Globalvia, a transport infrastructure specialist, for a cash offer of £647.7m, and on Monday published the takeover timetable.

Kelsian has already indicated it could also table an offer, however, and on Monday the Takeover Panel gave the land and marine transport specialist until 1700 BST on 1 August to either make a firm offer for Go-Ahead or walk away.

Kelsian said it was continuing to "carefully assess all its options [...] and continues to urge Go-Ahead shareholders to take no action at this time".

It added: "If a possible cash offer by Kelsian is made in the future for Go-Ahead, there are a number of ways that this could be funded, however, no decision regarding any intention to make a firm offer, or the appropriate funding mix has yet been made."

Earlier on Monday, Go-Ahead said it expected to report a solid full-year performance after a rebound in passenger demand.