THE activist investor that has been waging a long-term campaign for change at FirstGroup has launched a fresh bid to force the transport giant to sell off its North American business.
Coast Capital, which holds more than 10 per cent of the shares in FirstGroup, said it will seek to requisition an emergency general meeting (EGM) to give shareholders the chance to vote in favour of the company de-merging its First Student and First Transit operations across the Atlantic.
US-based Coast said separating First Student and First Transit from the UK operations, which include FirstBus and four rail franchises, would result in the “release of full value to investors".
FirstGroup responded by stating to the market: "The board agrees that there is material value to be unlocked within the Group and is intent on delivering this in the best interests of all shareholders. Our scheduled trading statement will be published on Wednesday 11 March, in which we will update the market on trading since our half-year results in November in addition to the progress of our strategic plans, including in relation to our North American contract businesses.”
The latest move from Coast comes it staged an unsuccessful attempt to remove the bulk of the FirstGroup board last year amid claims of “under-performance” at the transport giant.
Shareholders voted against those proposals, which included a call for the removal of chief executive Matthew Gregory, though support for directors was far from unanimous. Chairman Wolfart Hauser decided to step down.
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