Post by capitalomnibus on Jun 1, 2019 0:43:19 GMT
Hedge fund to demand FirstGroup break-up
The Sunday Telegraph, 19/05/2019, p.1, Oliver Gill
An activist hedge fund is poised to step up its attack on FirstGroup, issuing a set of radical demands that include slicing the company in two and ordering the transport giant to quit Britain's railways. Coast Capital Management, the company's biggest shareholder, will ratchet up pressure this week with the publication of a five-point turnaround plan in a bid to wrest control of the boardroom and FirstGroup's strategy. The company's exit from the railways could have serious consequences for domestic ownership, leaving just one major UK operator, and effectively handing control of the west coast mainline to the Chinese state.