National Express Set To Accept £765m Cosmen - CVC Bid

National Express is poised to accept a 500p a share offer for the Cosmen - CVC consortium having now ruled out breaking up the group by selling its UK bus and rail businesses to Stagecoach in a bid to frustrate the offer.

At a board meeting today the company voted to recommend the £765m bid although the recommendation is subject to a few final conditions it has agreed to allow the consortium to start due diligence. An announcement could be made as early as Thursday.

Previous reports suggest that the consortium will sell the NX UK bus and rail businesses, including NXEA, to Stagecoach.