4th Oct 2007 10:26
National Express Group PLC04 October 2007 National Express Group PLC National Express completes acquisition of Continental Auto and consolidates its position as Spain's leading public transport group National Express Group PLC ("National Express" or "the Group") is delighted toannounce completion of its acquisition of Continental Auto SL ("ContinentalAuto"), a leading operator of bus and coach services in Spain, followingunconditional clearance by Spain's Council of Ministers. The transactionconsolidates the Group's position as a leader in the Spanish public transportmarket following the acquisition of Alsa in December 2005. The acquisition will bring National Express's operations in Spain to more than2,100 vehicles carrying 142 million passengers per year. Continental Auto bringsparticular strengths in commuter, urban and regional operations. The combinationof the Continental Auto and Alsa networks also offers a further opportunity toleverage National Express's coaches expertise, especially on the sales andmarketing and customer service fronts. Commenting on completion, Richard Bowker, Chief Executive of the NationalExpress Group said: "This is a key strategic acquisition for the Group and weare delighted to have received unconditional clearance. We are now able tointegrate the business into our Spanish operations sooner than we originallyanticipated and we welcome the Continental management and people to the Group.This acquisition not only establishes us as the leading bus and coach operatorin Spain, it also reinforces our clear strategy of buying high qualitybusinesses in countries that have a strong commitment to growing publictransport in partnership with the private sector. We are excited at theopportunities that exist in the Spanish market and look forward to our twobusinesses, with their highly respected brands, taking advantage of thesignificant growth opportunities we foresee in 2008 and beyond." Current Trading Since we announced our interim results on 26 July, the Group has continued totrade in line with expectations. All our businesses continue to perform well. Inthe UK we have continued to see strong double digit revenue growth across ourrail portfolio to 22 September 2007 (the end of national rail period 6) and ourUK coach business has experienced good growth over the summer period. In ourSpanish division the summer months are a key trading period and our results arein line with forecasts. - ENDS - For further information, please contact: National Express Group PLC +44 20 7529 2000 Richard Bowker, Chief ExecutiveAdam Walker, Finance DirectorAlison Flynn, Group Communications Maitland +44 20 7379 5151 Neil Bennett/ Suzanne Bartch/ Brian Hudspith This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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