National Express Adds Former Heads of Ferrovial, NYC Transport
National Express Group Plc (NEX) hired the former chiefs of Spanish builder Ferrovial SA and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as non-executive directors as the U.K. bus-and-train company seeks to boost overseas sales.
Lee Sander, who was chief executive officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority until 2009 and Joaquin Ayuso, who was CEO of Ferrovial until the same year, will start immediately, the company said in a statement.
The two join as part of a deal between the company and its largest shareholder, Elliott Advisers, which wanted board members with experience in North America and continental Europe. Chris Muntwyler, who joined as part of the plan on May 11, worked in transport and logistics for more than 30 years, spending 27 years at Swissair and nine at Deutsche Post AG’s DHL, most recently as CEO of the U.K. unit.
“They bring depth and breadth to our board based on their transport knowledge in America and in continental Europe respectively,” National Express Chairman John Devaney said in the statement. “They bring strong general management experience from an international perspective and this will add value to our strategic thinking long-term.”
Elliott dropped its plan to demand a shakeup of the board at National Express’s annual meeting last month, and won’t “agitate” against management publicly for at least another year, the U.K. company said this month. Elliott, with had an 18 percent stake earlier this month, had been calling for the operator of commuter trains and long-distance buses to consider a takeover or breakup to boost earnings and buoy the stock.
To contact the reporter on this story: Howard Mustoe in London at hmustoe@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net
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