First Group bus sale squeaks through as investors give green light May 27, 2021 Shareholders have this afternoon narrowly approved the sale of First Group’s US operations to Scandinavian fund EQT despite a strident campaign against the deal. At today’s AGM 61.3 per cent of investors backed the $4.6bn (£3.3bn) deal, with 38.7 per cent voting against it. The results means that Coast Capital’s attempts to derail the sale [...]
Coast Capital renews campaign against First Group EQT sale May 24, 2021 Private equity firm Coast Capital has today doubled down on its campaign against the sale of First Group’s two American businesses. The firm says that the $4.6bn (£3.3bn) deal for First Student and First Transit significantly undervalues the businesses. The renewed rebellion comes ahead of Thursday’s crunch general meeting, when investors will vote on the [...]
First Group signs new deals for South Western Railways and Transpennine Express May 20, 2021 First Group has this morning agreed new contracts to continue running South Western Railway and the Transpennine Express. The new deals, the first contracts to be awarded under new plans to reform the UK rail network, will start at the end of May and last for two years. There will be the option to extend [...]
Union steps in as £360m pension row at FirstGroup escalates May 10, 2021 Union Unite has spoken out against FirstGroup’s biggest investor, which wants to see proceeds for a recent sale at First Group given to shareholders, rather than used to plug the company’s pension deficit. FirstGroup recently sold its US division First Bus for £3.3bn to EQT Infrastructure, a year after putting the business up for sale. [...]
FirstGroup strikes £3.3bn deal to sell iconic yellow school buses in US April 23, 2021 Train and bus operator FirstGroup has announced this morning the sale of two of its US divisions for £3.3bn to EQT Infrastructure, a year after putting the businesses up for sale. Bosses at the firm said the cash raised from offloading First Student, the operator of famous yellow US school buses, and First Transit will [...]
Exclusive: TfL took legal advice on cancelling First Group tram contract after fatal Croydon crash January 12, 2021 Transport for London (TfL) was considering cancelling Tram Operations Limited’s (TOL) contract to run the Croydon tram network in the aftermath of 2016’s fatal crash, but concluded it would be too difficult to do so. City A.M. has obtained TfL documents from 2017 showing that the transport operator received legal advice on whether it could [...]
Scandinavian fund EQT join race for First Group’s US businesses January 7, 2021 A Scandinavian fund has joined the bidding for transport operator First Group’s US assets, which are valued at £2.5bn. Sky News reported that EQT Infrastructure made a $3.7bn bid for the First Transit and First Student in the days leading up to Christmas. The fund, which is run by one of Scandinavia’s most powerful equity [...]
FirstGroup offload three US properties in £100m deal December 31, 2020 Transport outfit FirstGroup have offloaded three properties used by its US bus group, Greyhound, in deals worth £102m. The Aberdeen-based firm confirmed the deal to the stock market this morning. The biggest of the three deals is an agreement to sell Greyhound’s Los Angeles terminal to a subsidiary of property firm Prologis for $88m (£65m). [...]
First Group shares jump as buyers circle US bus operations September 7, 2020 Shares in transport operator First Group popped this morning after reports that a number of buyers were circling its US operations, which were put up for sale in March. By the mid morning, shares in First Group, which runs bus and rail businesses in the UK and US, were up over 15 per cent at [...]
Coronavirus: First Group receives £300m from Bank of England April 24, 2020 Transport operator First Group today announced it had received £300m from the Bank of England to help deal with the financial damage of the coronavirus pandemic. First is currently running its bus services at 40 per cent of normal capacity, although passenger numbers have dropped 90 per cent, the firm said. The company’s rail franchises [...]