Hints and tips:
...capital when there is a large growth story, and for us this is about an energy transition effort,” he said.I Squared, which has more than $37bn in assets under management, made a £1.23bn bid for UK-listed FirstGroup...
...“It is a risk that exists,” Graham Sutherland, chief executive of FirstGroup told the Financial Times....
...Graham Sutherland, FirstGroup’s chief executive, said the contract extension would “allow our team at Avanti West Coast to sustain their focus on delivering their robust plan to restore services to the levels...
...A light at the end of a long tunnel for FirstGroup has appeared....
...On its franchised UK operations, like other train operators, FirstGroup is no longer exposed to the risk of fluctuating fare revenues, which is borne by the DfT....
...Shares in FirstGroup rose 1 per cent to 107.30p by mid-morning in London trading on Friday....
...FirstGroup shares fell 4 per cent in early trading on Thursday....
...FirstGroup said it was “focused on delivering . . . robust plans to continue enhancing services” at Avanti. Aslef did not immediately comment....
...The group said the board and its advisers “concluded that the cash component of 118p per FirstGroup share significantly undervalues FirstGroup’s continuing operations and its future prospects”....
Passenger complaints against Transpennine Express double in last quarter triggering calls for urgent intervention
...The full 163.6p-per-share offer would value FirstGroup’s equity at £1.23bn....
...Avanti is a joint venture between UK-listed FirstGroup, which has a 70 per cent stake, and Italian state railway company Trenitalia, which owns the remainder....
...The exposure amounted to about 35 per cent of the free float of FirstGroup....
...David Martin, chair of FirstGroup, said he cannot a recall a time in his 35-year career that the prospects for public transport have been so good....
...New York-based Coast waged a long campaign against FirstGroup’s board and management, including a push to separate its US and UK operations....
...The UK bus and train operator FirstGroup recently said it was evaluating a £1.23bn offer from private equity group I Squared Capital....
...Last week, FirstGroup, which runs UK rail and bus services, rejected a £1.23bn takeover bid from I Squared Capital, a private equity group that focuses on global infrastructure investments....
...David Martin, FirstGroup executive chair, said the agreement “completes the group’s portfolio rationalisation strategy which has refocused FirstGroup on its leading UK public transport businesses”....
...“The idea we’re sitting here at a UK plc with multiple lawyers and bankers trying to hide things . . . is just not right.”...
...Gerald Khoo, an analyst at Liberum, said the offer was below the price targets of most analysts, suggesting negative implications for the valuations of other British bus companies such as Go-Ahead and FirstGroup...
...In 2019 he returned to activist investing when he took positions linked to FirstGroup, where he supported an activist campaign by US fund Coast Capital....
...FirstGroup denied Coast’s claim that an emergency board meeting would be held on Monday....
...The US activist has again urged fellow shareholders in FirstGroup to vote against the sale of US bus assets to EQT....
...FirstGroup shares held steady at 86p by Thursday’s close....
...Proceeds to FirstGroup will be £2.2bn after deductions that include debt transfers and pension contributions. Almost £1bn of the total will go towards paying off debts at FirstGroup....
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