'Go away", Go Ahead tells French bidders

Bus and train group Go-Ahead today attempted to stop a £326m takeover bid from a French consortium in its tracks.

Bus and train group Go-Ahead today attempted to stop a £326m takeover bid from a French consortium in its tracks.

The Thames Train operator rejected the bid from the C3D consortium, which is made up of industrial group Caisse des Depots-Developpement and private equity firm Rhone Capital.

C3D made the 650p-a-share cash offer following Go-Ahead's rejection last month of a similarly valued approach.

Go-Ahead chairman Sir Frederick Holliday described the latest bid as "unwelcome" and "opportunistic", and pitched at a level which fundamentally failed to recognise the unique nature and strengths of Go-Ahead's business, past performance and its prospects.

A successful bid by the consortium would mean million pound payouts for Go-Ahead bosses, including founder and managing director Martin Ballinger and commercial director Christopher Moyes.

The Newcastle-based company earlier this year reported half-year pre-tax profits of £22 million against £21.4 million at the same stage last year.

Shares in Go-Ahead, which soared 20% on the back of last month's offer, were largely unaffected by today's bid news falling 3{p to 672{p during trading on the London Stock Exchange this morning.

A spokeswoman for the C3D consortium said it had seen the response and had "no further statement to make at this time".