National Express buys Spanish bus firm
National Express said on Friday it was bolstering its presence in the fast growing Spanish bus market with the 450 million pound acquisition of Continental Auto, operator of a fleet of 860 vehicles.
The deal with Grupo ACS gives National Express a total of more than 2,100 vehicles in Spain and the capacity to carry more than 142 million passengers per year.
The group also said it had made a strong start to the year and trading was in line with its expectations and National Express shares were up 1.5 percent at 12.6 pounds by 0711 GMT, valuing the group at around 1.9 billion pounds.
Finance Director Adam Walker said the Continental deal gives it the top two bus operators in Spain, following the acquisition of Alsa in 2005, with total market share of around 14 percent.
Chief Executive Richard Bowker said Spain was set to liberalise passenger transport in its 130 cities with populations of over 50,000, which already generate around 1.7 billion passenger journeys a year.
"As liberalisation proceeds, not just in buses and coaches, but also for rail if it happens, that puts us in a prime position," he told reporters.
The group said the deal would be funded from new and existing bank facilities.
(additional reporting by Jonathan Cable)
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