All-share deal would value Scotland-based coach operator at £445m
National Express is in talks to buy Stagecoach in a deal that would combine the UK’s biggest coach and bus operators and signal cost savings as the hard-hit industry emerges from the pandemic.
The all-share deal would create a business with a fleet of 36,000 buses and coaches and deliver “significant growth and cost synergies”, according to the two companies. Shares in both firms jumped on Tuesday after the talks were announced, giving them a combined market value of more than £1.9bn.