(Bloomberg) — National Express Group Plc agreed to buy rival bus operator Stagecoach Group Plc in all-share deal uniting two of Britain’s biggest transport firms.
Stagecoach’s owners will get 0.36 new National Express shares for every one they currently own, the companies said Tuesday in a joint statement, after reaching agreement on a planned transaction first disclosed in September.
The deal will boost National Express’s share of a U.K. bus market that’s been protected from the worst ravages of the coronavirus outbreak by state support. At the same time it will keep down costs through the sharing of bus depots, routes and office functions as the industry transitions to all-electric vehicles.
Stagecoach shares traded 5% higher at 78.75 pence as of 9:52 a.m. in London while National Express was little changed at 235.4 pence.
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