The board of National Express paved the way on Wednesday night for a £765m takeover of the British bus and rail group after it agreed to allow a consortium comprising its largest shareholder to examine its books.

The move takes National Express closer to determining its fate – which looks likely to see it broken up between its rival Stagecoach, Spain’s Cosmen family, which owns 18.5 per cent of the transport group, and CVC Capital Group, the private equity firm.