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11/10/2005
National Express announces Spanish deal
UK-based bus and rail operator National Express has announced details of the purchase of Spanish transport firm Alsa in a deal worth £262 million.
National Express said that the deal would bring together two of Europe’s largest bus and coach operators.
Alsa is the largest private coach and bus operator in Spain, with a fleet of 1,400 and over 3,000 employees. It transports 93 million passengers per year.
National Express, which operates bus train and coach services worldwide, transports over a billion passengers per year. It currently employees 43,000 people.
The vast majority of Alsa’s services are in Spain, although it also has bus operations in Portugal and Morocco, as well as long distance coach operations across Western Europe.
However, the deal does not include the company’s coach and bus operations in China and South America, which will remain under the control of the firm’s current owners, the Cosmen family.
Alsa will operate as a separate division of National Express.
National Express announced that it was holding talks regarding the purchase of Alsa with the Cosmen family, last week.
National Express also announced that, on completion of the deal, Alsa’s President Jorge Cosmen would join the National Express board as a non-executive director.
Commenting on the transaction, Phil White, Chief Executive of National Express, said: “We are delighted to be taking this significant step forward by expanding our group into Spain.
“Both the National Express Group and Alsa have great experience in the express coaches and urban bus markets. We are confident that bringing together our knowledge and skills in these areas will create a platform to enable the enlarged group to achieve greater success and enhanced value for our shareholders.”
In a trading update, National Express said that its UK and North American bus and coach operations remained in line with expectations.
However, it said that the July bombings in London had affected rail travel during the summer, particularly on franchises that travelled into the capital. National Express said that the run-up to Christmas would be important and said that they were “encouraged” to see a return to passenger growth over the last six weeks.
(KMcA/SP)
National Express said that the deal would bring together two of Europe’s largest bus and coach operators.
Alsa is the largest private coach and bus operator in Spain, with a fleet of 1,400 and over 3,000 employees. It transports 93 million passengers per year.
National Express, which operates bus train and coach services worldwide, transports over a billion passengers per year. It currently employees 43,000 people.
The vast majority of Alsa’s services are in Spain, although it also has bus operations in Portugal and Morocco, as well as long distance coach operations across Western Europe.
However, the deal does not include the company’s coach and bus operations in China and South America, which will remain under the control of the firm’s current owners, the Cosmen family.
Alsa will operate as a separate division of National Express.
National Express announced that it was holding talks regarding the purchase of Alsa with the Cosmen family, last week.
National Express also announced that, on completion of the deal, Alsa’s President Jorge Cosmen would join the National Express board as a non-executive director.
Commenting on the transaction, Phil White, Chief Executive of National Express, said: “We are delighted to be taking this significant step forward by expanding our group into Spain.
“Both the National Express Group and Alsa have great experience in the express coaches and urban bus markets. We are confident that bringing together our knowledge and skills in these areas will create a platform to enable the enlarged group to achieve greater success and enhanced value for our shareholders.”
In a trading update, National Express said that its UK and North American bus and coach operations remained in line with expectations.
However, it said that the July bombings in London had affected rail travel during the summer, particularly on franchises that travelled into the capital. National Express said that the run-up to Christmas would be important and said that they were “encouraged” to see a return to passenger growth over the last six weeks.
(KMcA/SP)
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