First Bus shares slid 0.5% to 136p in late morning trading on Thursday, after the travel company reportedly turned down a series of unsolicited offers from Squared Advisors Capital to purchase the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the firm for £1.2 billion.
First Bus revealed on 26 May that the most recent offer from Squared Advisors proposed a cash component of 118p per share from FirstGroup, alongside a contingent right to up to an additional 45.6p per share, based on the outcome of the First Transit earnout, along with the net proceeds realised from the Greyhound legacy assets and liabilities.
The company protested that the offer of 118p per share “significantly undervalued” the group’s continuing operations and its prospects, and that the contingent right to up to 45.6p per share failed to provide its shareholders with sufficient certainty.
FirstGroup commented that its board had subsequently unanimously rejected the proposed takeover deal.