Deutsche Bahn Said to Offer 1.6 Billion Pounds for Arriva

Deutsche Bahn Said to Offer 1.6 Billion Pounds for Arriva


April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany’s state railway, plans to offer about 1.6 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) for U.K. transport operator Arriva Plc this week, two people familiar with the matter said.

The German company’s supervisory board will meet on April 21 to approve the bid of 775 pence per share, said the people, who declined to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Berlin-based Deutsche Bahn is preparing a bid for Arriva as it vies with French rival SNCF for primacy in the liberalizing European transport market. The U.K. company, which ended merger talks with SNCF’s Keolis unit last month, is the biggest player in the region that’s not state-owned.

The total price offered by Deutsche Bahn will exceed 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) including Arriva’s goodwill and liabilities, said the people. Deutsche Bahn already owns Britain’s biggest rail-freight company, together with Chiltern Trains, which provides passenger services from London to Birmingham. It won a seven-year contract to run streetcars in northeast England on Feb. 4.

source: bloomberg.com