LONDON (Reuters) - Takeover target Arriva (ARI.L) is refusing to open its books to Deutsche Bahn DBN.UL unless the German firm increases its almost 1.4 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) bid for the train and bus operator, The Times reported on Friday.
The state-owned German railway firm, which already operates the Chiltern Railways route between London and Birmingham, has yet to make a final decision on whether to increase its offer, the newspaper said. It did not quote a source for the report.
Deutsche Bahn on Thursday confirmed it was in talks with Arriva over a possible cash bid for the British operator as it sought to expand in Europe"s newly deregulated international rail markets.
Market speculation on Wednesday had linked the German group with a 700 pence-per-share bid, valuing the business at just under 1.4 billion pounds before debt. Arriva had net debt of 852 million pounds at the end of 2009.
Sunderland, northeast England-based Arriva runs bus and train services in 12 European countries, including Germany, making it one of the continent"s few public-transport operators with a wide international footprint.
However, Arriva"s own operations in Germany could attract the attention of competition authorities in the event of a bid.
Arriva has a rail and bus business in Germany which had sales of just over 400 million pounds last year. It is the third-biggest rail operator in Germany behind Deutsche Bahn and Veolia (VIE.PA).
(Reporting by Jon Boyle)
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