LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Transport company Firstgroup has proposed a tender offer to return as much as £500.0m to shareholders.
Firstgroup said on Wednesday that it was looking to return the money to investors by way of a tender offer at 105.0p per share, a 9.2% premium to its closing price on 26 October.

The FTSE 250-listed firm noted that if the full £500.0m is not returned through the tender offer, it intends to undertake a second phase to return any remaining surplus cash via a share buyback of up to approximately £50.0m, with any "meaningful surplus" above this likely to be returned by way of a special dividend.

Chairman David Martin said: "This marks the culmination of our portfolio rationalisation strategy, as announced in December 2019, which has refocused the group on its leading UK public transport businesses. In doing so, we have created a cash generative company with a well-capitalised balance sheet, a focused strategy and attractive growth prospects in our markets.

"The policy backdrop in the UK has never been more supportive and public transport has a critical role to play in helping communities and economies build back better and more sustainably. The premium for the tender offer reflects our confidence in our future prospects, as well as the substantial further sums expected to be realised by the group over time from the disposals completed this year."

As of 0845 BST, Firstgroup shares were up 5.04% at 101.0p.

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