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Kelsian Group Ltd on Tuesday urged the shareholders of Go-Ahead Group PLC to take no action on a rival takeover offer, saying it is in talks with Go-Ahead for a cash bid of its own.
Kelsian is an Adelaide-based ferry, bus, and light rail operator in Australia, Singapore and the UK.
Newcastle, England-based peer Go-Ahead on Monday said it has agreed to a takeover offer from Gerrard Investment Bidco Ltd, a subsidiary of a consortium consisting of Kinetic Holding Co Pty Ltd and Globalvia Inversiones SAU. Kinetic is a bus operator in Australia and New Zealand, while Globalvia is a Madrid-based transport infrastructure firm.
Under the terms of the deal, the consortium will acquire Go-Ahead for 1,500 pence per share, comprising 1,450p in cash, and a special dividend of 50 pence, in lieu of a final dividend for the financial year ending July 2. The offer values Go-Ahead at £647.7 million.
The full price reflects a 24% premium to Go-Ahead's closing price of 1,210p on Friday last week. Go-Ahead shares were priced at 1,548.00p on Tuesday morning in London, up 14% on the day.
Kelsian closed down 5.4% at A$6.81 in Sydney on Tuesday. It has a market capitalisation of A$1.49 billion, about £850 million.
‘Kelsian believes that the potential combination with Go-Ahead would create an international leader in multi-modal, mass transit supporting a sustainability agenda for its passengers and governments, with strong growth prospects,’ the company said.
‘Kelsian believes that, if an offer is made by Kelsian, it could bring to bear its expertise across safety, operational efficiency, digital, decarbonisation, and experience operating in the UK to enhance and accelerate the growth of Go-Ahead creating substantial value for Kelsian shareholders as well as benefiting wider stakeholders including passengers, governments and employees.’
Kelsian, which was founded in 1989 and has 9,500 employees, noted that it has operated in London for 10 years and so it knows the UK market well. Kelsian and Go-Ahead also overlap in Singapore, where they both operate bus services.
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