National Express ventures into Spain
National Express advanced into Spain today with a £262m (€381.3m) deal to create Europe’s largest coach and bus operator.
The acquisition of Alsa – one of Spain’s leading coach businesses – adds a fleet of 1,400 vehicles, plus 3,100 employees responsible for 93 million passengers a year.
National said the deal gave it immediate scale in Europe’s third largest coach market, with an extensive national and regional network.
The tie-up will provide a windfall for the founding family of Alsa, who as owners will receive £149m (€216.9m) in cash plus 9.9% of the UK company’s shares.
The Alsa business, which has a history dating back 200 years, also has bus operations in Portugal and Morocco, as well as an international long-distance coach operation across western Europe.
National Express chief executive Phil White described today’s deal as a “significant step forward” for the UK company, which carries more than 16 million coach passengers a year in the UK and Europe.
Its European service, Eurolines UK, is part of the international network operation Eurolines, while it also has eight train franchises in the UK, including Great Northern, One and Central Trains.
Mr White added: “Alsa has developed over its impressive 200 year history into one of Europe’s most respected public transport groups.”
The price of today’s deal is slightly more than signalled when news of the possible tie-up broke last week. Spanish competition authorities must still back the acquisition, which should be completed within six weeks.
