Morning:
14°c
A takeover bid for National Express could emerge from its largest shareholder, the Cosmen family from Spain, which owns just under 20% of the beleaguered rail and coach company.
That's the widely held view in the Square Mile today, after it emerged that rival FirstGroup has decided to drop its potential offer for the company only for a new mystery bidder to emerge.
National Express has been up for grabs ever since Transport Secretary Lord Adonis sacked it from its loss-making flagship Kings Cross train services earlier this month, and threatened to take away its Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street businesses as well.
The new mystery bidder is reckoned by some in the City to be the Cosmen family, which sold its Spanish bus and coach business to National Express for £460 million in 2005.
That deal gave the Cosmens a 10% stake in National Express, although this has subsequently been built up to a holding of almost 20%.
Jorge Cosmen, 40, sits on the National Express board as deputy chairman.
A Cosmen approach is likely to be a break up bid aimed solely at taking back the Spanish interests, leaving the UK rail arm, Britain's largest coach business and a West Midlands bus operation.
However, the train business is likely to be attractive to Deutsche Bahn, the German national rail giant, which in the UK already operates the Chiltern Line out of Marylebone, as well as Britain's largest freight train company.
Another bidder could be Stagecoach, although that might spark competition issues as it either owns or co-owns the rail companies out of St Pancras, Euston and Waterloo, and also has extensive bus and coach interests.
Insiders believe that private equity companies may also be sniffing around National Express's coach and bus businesses.
