M&A

1 November, 2009

UPDATE 2-Cosmen deny plans to resign from National Express

(Recasts to lead on Cosmen family denial)

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The Cosmen family has denied a report in the Mail on Sunday that Jorge Cosmen, deputy chairman of National Express (NEX.L), is set to resign.

The mail reported Cosmen, whose family owns almost 19 percent of National Express, is thinking of resigning after failing to secure backing from other shareholders to reopen merger talks with rival Stagecoach (SGC.L).

"Jorge Cosmen is not thinking of resigning. The Cosmen family continues to be committed as a long-term shareholder of National Express," a spokesman for the Cosmen family said on Sunday.

The Mail said Cosmen had been trying to rally investors to force negotiations to restart, after the debt-laden firm walked away from a tie-up with Stagecoach on Thursday because it feared a deal would not be done by Christmas, when it faces 5 million pounds ($8.28 million) in penalty interest payments on its debt pile.

It will instead raise cash through a rights issue.

Spain's Cosmen family accused National Express on Friday of failing to carry out a full assessment of its strategic options, in particular the merger proposal. [ID:nLU627750].

An unnamed source quoted by the Mail said Cosmen could resign as early as this week. His family, though, will remain entitled to board representation.

The Cosmen family and National Express were not immediately available for a comment.

Separately, the Sunday Times reported insurance group Aegon (AEGN.AS), the fourth-largest shareholder in National Express, had sold most of its 3.5 percent stake. The paper said Aegon did not comment on the reason for the sale.

A regulatory statement on Friday showed Aegon dropped below the 3 percent threshold at which stakes have to be made public. ($1=.6041 Pound) (Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques, Additional reporting by Paul Day; Editing by David Cowell, Martin Golan)

Source: http://www.reuters.com