Acquisition Completed

National Express Group PLC 04 October 2007 National Express Group PLC National Express completes acquisition of Continental Auto and consolidates its position as Spain's leading public transport group National Express Group PLC ('National Express' or 'the Group') is delighted to announce completion of its acquisition of Continental Auto SL ('Continental Auto'), a leading operator of bus and coach services in Spain, following unconditional clearance by Spain's Council of Ministers. The transaction consolidates the Group's position as a leader in the Spanish public transport market following the acquisition of Alsa in December 2005. The acquisition will bring National Express's operations in Spain to more than 2,100 vehicles carrying 142 million passengers per year. Continental Auto brings particular strengths in commuter, urban and regional operations. The combination of the Continental Auto and Alsa networks also offers a further opportunity to leverage National Express's coaches expertise, especially on the sales and marketing and customer service fronts. Commenting on completion, Richard Bowker, Chief Executive of the National Express Group said: 'This is a key strategic acquisition for the Group and we are delighted to have received unconditional clearance. We are now able to integrate the business into our Spanish operations sooner than we originally anticipated and we welcome the Continental management and people to the Group. This acquisition not only establishes us as the leading bus and coach operator in Spain, it also reinforces our clear strategy of buying high quality businesses in countries that have a strong commitment to growing public transport in partnership with the private sector. We are excited at the opportunities that exist in the Spanish market and look forward to our two businesses, with their highly respected brands, taking advantage of the significant growth opportunities we foresee in 2008 and beyond.' Current Trading Since we announced our interim results on 26 July, the Group has continued to trade in line with expectations. All our businesses continue to perform well. In the UK we have continued to see strong double digit revenue growth across our rail portfolio to 22 September 2007 (the end of national rail period 6) and our UK coach business has experienced good growth over the summer period. In our Spanish division the summer months are a key trading period and our results are in line with forecasts. - ENDS - For further information, please contact: National Express Group PLC +44 20 7529 2000 Richard Bowker, Chief Executive Adam Walker, Finance Director Alison Flynn, Group Communications Maitland +44 20 7379 5151 Neil Bennett/ Suzanne Bartch/ Brian Hudspith This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange MGGGDKGNZM

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