(NEX.L) National Express Group PLC Buy/Sell

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Takeover target Arriva is refusing to open its books to Deutsche Bahn unless the German firm increases its almost 1.4 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) bid for the train and bus operator, The Times reported on Friday.
The state-owned German railway firm, which already operates the Chiltern Railways route between London and Birmingham, has yet to make a final decision on whether to increase its offer, the newspaper said. It did not quote a source for the report.
Deutsche Bahn on Thursday confirmed it was in talks with Arriva over a possible cash bid for the British operator as it sought to expand in Europe's newly deregulated international rail markets.
Market speculation on Wednesday had linked the German group with a 700 pence-per-share bid, valuing the business at just under 1.4 billion pounds before debt. Arriva had net debt of 852 million pounds at the end of 2009.

Sunderland, northeast England-based Arriva runs bus and train services in 12 European countries, including Germany, making it one of the continent's few public-transport operators with a wide international footprint.
However, Arriva's own operations in Germany could attract the attention of competition authorities in the event of a bid.
Arriva has a rail and bus business in Germany which had sales of just over 400 million pounds last year. It is the third-biggest rail operator in Germany behind Deutsche Bahn and Veolia.

(Reporting by Jon Boyle)

($1=.6545 pounds)

Keywords: ARRIVA DEUTSCHEBAHN/

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Matt Scuffham

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bahn has confirmed it is in talks with Arriva over a possible bid for the UK-based train and bus operator, as it seeks to expand in Europe's newly deregulated international rail markets.
The German state railway firm, which already operates the Chiltern Railways route between London and Birmingham, said on Thursday it had made an approach to Arriva regarding a possible cash offer and said discussions were continuing.
Market speculation on Wednesday had linked the German group with a 700 pence-per-share bid, valuing the business at just under 1.4 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) before debt. Arriva had net debt of 852 million pounds at the end of 2009.
Shares in Arriva were up 4.4 percent at 707 pence at 1359 GMT, extending Wednesday's gain of 17 percent.
The shares are up 51 percent since Jan. 27, the day before news broke that it was in talks with French state railway group SNCF about an equity tie-up with European train amd tram operator Keolis, an SNCF affiliate.
Two weeks ago Arriva announced that those talks had ended, with no agreement reached.

Sunderland, northeast England-based Arriva runs bus and train services in 12 European countries, including Germany, making it one of the continent's few public-transport operators with a wide international footprint.
JP Morgan analyst Edward Stanford said a takeover by Deutsche Bahn would be a logical strategic move given its stated interest in building a presence outside the German market where it is restricted from growing further by the cartel authorities.
"Arriva is in our view a unique asset for potential bidders interested in gaining scale in the deregulating European public transport market. It has a strong presence in a number of major European markets," said JP Morgan analyst Edward Stanford.
Shore Capital analyst Karl Burns agreed that Deutsche Bahn's would have been attracted by the potential capture of Arriva's European operations rather than those in the UK.
"The most likely motive of Deutsche Bahn would be to gain a footprint within the liberalising European transport market, where EU directives require public transport liberalisation over the next 10 years," he said.
Burns noted Deutsche Bahn has a limited presence in Europe with just 23 percent of revenue coming from outside Germany.
In Britain, it operates the CrossCountry franchise, running between Aberdeen in Scotland and Penzance in southwest England.
However, Arriva's own operations in Germany could attract the attention of competition authorities in the event of a bid.
Arriva has a rail and bus business in Germany which had sales of just over 400 million pounds last year. It is the third-biggest rail operator in Germany behind Deutsche Bahn and Veolia.
"If Deutsche Bahn was to buy Arriva then divestments would probably be required in German rail," analysts at UBS said in a research note.
JP Morgan's Stanford considered a possible take-out price would range between 700 pence a share at the low end and 840 pence at the upper end and said he would not rule out a counter offer in view of Arriva's continental European operations.
UBS put a value of 700 pence on the business, based on recent deals in the sector at 8 times historical EBITDA.

(Additional reporting by Quentin Webb; Editing by Victoria Bryan and Greg Mahlich)

($1=.6545 pounds) Keywords: ARRIVA DEUTSCHEBAHN/ (matthew.scuffham@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 6734)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Germany's national rail operator Deutsche Bahn confirmed on Thursday it had made an approach to Arriva over a possible cash offer for the British transport group.
In a short statement, Deutsche Bahn said discussions were ongoing but there could be no certainty an offer would be made.
Shares in Arriva were up 2.5 percent to 693.5 pence at 1040 GMT, building on a gain of 17 percent on Wednesday as traders cited market talk of a 700 pence-per-share bid.
A bid at this level would value Arriva at 1.2 billion pounds ($1.8 billion).
Arriva runs buses, rail franchises and other services in 12 European countries, making it one of the continent's few public-transport operators with a wide international footprint.
Arriva's rivals include France's Keolis, and the firm that is being created by the merger of Veolia's Veolia Transport and Transdev, which is owned by state bank Caisse des Depots, as well as UK-focused First Group and National Express.
Arriva two weeks ago ended early-stage talks with SNCF , the French state railway group over an equity tie-up with Keolis.
Earlier this month Arriva said 2009 pretax profit fell 19 percent to 121.7 million pounds.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Victoria Bryan)

($1=.6545 Pound) Keywords: ARRIVA DEUTSCHE BAHN/ (matthew.scuffham@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 6734)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

RNS Number : 5916I National Express Group PLC 15 March 2010

National Express Group plc (the "Company")

Notification of Director's Interests

This notification is made in accordance with DR 3.1.4R(1)(a).

On 12 March 2010 the Company's Chief Executive, Dean Finch purchased 68,275 ordinary shares of 5 pence each in the Company at an average price of 218.0576 pence on the London Stock Exchange.

Also on 12 March 2010, IFG Trust (Jersey) Limited (the Company's employee benefit trust) awarded the following number of ordinary shares of 5 pence each to Mr Finch as summarised below as an award of forfeitable shares under a Deferred Award Agreement.

Number of forfeitable shares subject to Deferred Award Deferred Award
28,023 First Award
18,281 Second Award

Subject to Mr Finch's continued employment the First Award and Second Award will ordinarily vest on 1 April 2011 and 1 April 2012 respectively. At the time of vesting the relevant shares will cease to be subject to a risk of forfeiture.

The Deferred Awards were granted in connection with and to facilitate Mr Finch's recruitment.

No consideration was paid for the grant of the Deferred Awards.

As a result of the above transactions Mr Finch is the registered holder of 114,579 ordinary shares of the Company amounting to 0.023 % of the issued share capital of the Company.

On 15 March 2010, the Company granted Mr Finch certain awards (the "LTIP Awards") in accordance with the rules of the Company's Long Term Incentive Plan. The Awards comprised nil cost options over the following number of the Company's ordinary 5 pence shares:

LTIP Performance Shares LTIP Matching Shares
Dean Finch 227,272 227,270

The LTIP Awards will ordinarily vest three years from grant subject to Mr Finch's continued employment and the satisfaction of total shareholder return and earnings per share performance conditions over a fixed three year performance period.

In addition, the LTIP Matching Shares will only vest to the extent that the linked "Investment Shares" are retained during the vesting period. The shares purchased by Mr Finch on 12 of March 2010 as noted above being such Investment Shares.

No consideration was paid for the grant of the LTIP Awards.

The Company was informed by Mr Finch of the above transactions on 15 March 2010.

Name of contact and telephone number for queries: Tony McDonald on 020 7506 4325.

For and on behalf of National Express Group plc

Date: 15 March 2010

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

RDSKKPDQQBKDBND