AUSTRALIA-BASED Kelsian yesterday confirmed it had pulled out from the race to buy Go-Ahead - weeks after the board picked a rival offer.

The business said falling share prices in Australia tied its hands and forced the group to walk away from a potential tie-up.

Kelsian is one of Australia's biggest bus and ferry companies; it also has operations in Singapore and London.

It tried to muscle in on a deal to buy

Go-Ahead, which co-runs the Govia Thameslink Railway, but its shares have fallen by more than 15 per cent in recent weeks.

"Unfortunately, recent Australian equity markets have been volatile and external events have adversely impacted the Kelsian share price since 14 June 2022 when Kelsian first announced it was considering a possible offer for Go-Ahead," Kelsian said.

If Kelsian made an actual offer for Go-Ahead, it would have gone up against a £650m deal already agreed between the company's board and a consortium made up of Australian rival Kinetic and Spain's Globalvia.

Shares dropped around three per cent on Thursday, following the announcement, to around 16p below the offer price.

Go-Ahead said it plans to go ahead with the Kinetic and Globalvia deal.

The bidders said there will be a "limited" impact on the staff employed to support Go-Ahead's listing on the London Stock Exchange.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper