National Express rejects CVC-Cosmen takeover bid

National Express Group plc, one of the world's leading transport providers with operations in UK, North America and Spain, yesterday rejected the revised proposal by CVC-Cosmen consortium to acquire it for around £700 million ($1.1 billion).

National Express said in a statement yesterday that the 450 pence a share offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital was declined as it undervalued the company and its prospects.

The bidding consortium comprised CVC Capital Partners, one of the world's largest private equity firms and Spain's Cosmen family, the largest shareholder of the National Express Group plc, holding 18.6 per cent stake.

The offer came with a number of strings and pre-conditions, which included the retention of the Group's East Anglia and c2c rail franchises, pension funding position with the trustees and bank financing of the deal.

John Devaney, executive chairman of National Express said, ''We believe that we can create more value for shareholders by remaining independent and refinancing the Group.''

"The Group has a strong portfolio of businesses which continue to perform well in a tough environment. We have a clear strategy to strengthen the balance sheet through an equity issue and other actions which will accelerate our debt reduction process and help fund future growth. We will continue to manage our costs tightly and generate cash, whilst continuing to deliver a high quality service for customers,'' Deaney further stated.