FirstGroup Sells U.S. School Bus Arm in $4.6 Billion Retreat

U.K. transport firm FirstGroup Plc agreed to sell the biggest operator of America’s yellow school buses as part of a $4.6 billion deal, bowing to investor pressure to retreat from a global expansion.

The stock surged as much as 19% after Stockholm-based investment firm EQT Infrastructure agreed to purchase First Student, which serves 1,000 school districts, and First Transit, a Cincinnati-based operator of bus services across more than 300 locations. Iconic long-distance brand Greyhound isn’t included but remains for sale, FirstGroup said Friday.

The transaction marks a breakup of FirstGroup, whose international strategy prompted a pressure campaign that lasted more than two years and cost its chairman his job. The company decided before the pandemic to sell the U.S. businesses, after activists including top shareholder Coast Capital LP argued that its assets would be worth more if auctioned off. While the bulk of proceeds will go toward funding the U.K. business and paying down debt, some 365 million pounds ($506 million) will go to investors.

The deal’s value is above previous estimates of about $4 billion.

The First Group transaction is the largest this year for EQT, trumping the $4.2 billion fundraising for portfolio company IVC Evidensia that EQT joined in February, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The firm has been involved in at least $34.5 billion of deals over the past 12 months.

Read more: Free-Spending Private Equity Firms Set Record Pace in Europe

Paring Back

FirstGroup Chief Executive Officer Matthew Gregory said the sale recognizes the “full strategic value” of First Student and First Transit while focusing the company on its U.K. bus and rail operations.

The stock traded 11% higher as of 8:44 a.m. in London, valuing FirstGroup at 1.2 billion pounds. The company said it expects adjusted operating profit for the 2021 financial year to be ahead of its previous expectations.

While not included in the transaction, Greyhound remains non-core, according to FirstGroup, which said it will continue to pursue all exit options for the business. After it’s sold, the company will be left with the long-distance Great Western, West Coast and East Coast rail lines in the U.K., as well as municipal bus services in cities including Manchester and Glasgow.

EQT Growth

EQT has grown into one of Europe’s largest private equity firms with 52 billion euros ($63 billion) of assets under management across 17 funds. Key to that growth has been the development of its infrastructure funds, which have already made large investments in telecommunications, fiber and data centers such as EdgeConneX.

EQT has also been exploring a takeover of Dutch phone company Royal KPN NV, Bloomberg News reported last year.

The company said last month that its Infrastructure V fund would reach a hard cap of 15 billion euros during this year, citing “strong support from both new and existing investors.” With this latest transaction, the fund will be 20-25% invested.