National Express Group (LSE: NEX) rose 5% after the United Kingdom, Spain and North America focused rail, bus and coaches company confirmed that it had received a “very preliminary approach” from fellow FTSE 250 constituent FirstGroup plc.
National Express was quick to shoot down the possibility of an all share merger with FirstGroup, stating that it did not consider it “appropriate” to be entering into discussions at this time.
FirstGroup, for its part, appears to have a challenging task ahead of it, as it attempts to convince the board of National Express Group and its larger shareholders that a merger should happen. In a brief statement released this morning, FirstGroup confirmed that it had made a preliminary approach, and that it could see synergetic benefits from merging with its competitor. FirstGroup also operates in the rail, bus and coach arenas, and it also operates in both the United Kingdom and North America.
Shares in FirstGroup slipped marginally, and the company currently has a market capitalisation of approximately £1.7 billion. Shares in National Express jumped 5%, giving it a market capitalisation of £443 million.
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