Norton Rose Fulbright advises UBS Investment Bank on Kinetic and Globalvia’s £647 million consortium acquisition of The Go-Ahead Group plc

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright is advising UBS Investment Bank as financial adviser to a consortium comprising Kinetic TCo Party Limited (Kinetic) and Globalvia Inversiones S.A.U (Globalvia) on its recommended acquisition of The Go-Ahead Group plc (Go-Ahead). Under the terms of the acquisition, Go-Ahead shareholders will be entitled to receive 1450 pence per share in cash and 50 pence per share as a special dividend in lieu of a final dividend for the year ending 2 July 2022. The terms of the acquisition value Go-Ahead at approximately £647 million.

Go-Ahead is an international transport group, connecting local communities through bus and rail services. With over 27,000 global colleagues, Go-Ahead serves bus and rail markets in the UK, Singapore, Ireland, Sweden, Norway and Germany. It operates a fleet of more than 6,000 buses across England and is responsible for a quarter of London’s buses for Transport for London. Regionally, Go-Ahead serves high-density commuter markets in the North East, Greater Manchester, East Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, East Anglia and both the South East & West of England. International bus operations include Singapore, Ireland and Sweden. Go-Ahead operates rail franchises in the UK, Germany and Norway, including Govia Thameslink Railway (“GTR”), which comprises Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Thameslink. 

Bidco has been formed for the purposes of the offer by a consortium of Kinetic and Globalvia. Founded over 44 years ago, Kinetic is the largest and fastest growing bus operator in Australia and New Zealand, with close to 4,000 buses and 6,000 employees. Globalvia is a worldwide leader in the mobility industry that manages transport infrastructure concessions, specializing in highways and railways with transport systems and projects in Spain, the U.S., Ireland, Portugal, Costa Rica, and Chile. With over 2,000 employees, Globalvia operates and maintains 26 projects, including 1,800 km of highways and 80 km of rails and metro lines.

The London-based Norton Rose Fulbright team is being led by corporate partner Paul Whitelock and banking partner James Dunnett, with support from corporate associates Alexandra Simpson and Jess Ong and banking partner Alex Zekkos, banking counsel Sunny Wong and banking consultant Ksenia Orlova.