Spanish up National Express stake
Monday November 23 2009
The largest shareholder in ailing National Express has upped its stake in the struggling firm for the second time in less than a week.
The latest swoop saw deputy chairman Jorge Cosmen buy 750,000 shares for £2.7 million, taking the Spanish family's share in the business to just under 19.5%.
The stake-building move will add to speculation that the Cosmens are manoeuvring to block a £360 million investor cash-call launched by the firm two weeks ago in a bid to repair its battered balance sheet.
The Cosmens - who abandoned their own attempts to buy National Express this year - previously raised concerns that the firm had been too hasty in dismissing a recent merger approach from Stagecoach.
Press Association
