CINNCINATI (April 20, 2007) — Shareholders of both companies have approved the acquisition of Laidlaw International by FirstGroup. The move brings First Student, the United States subsidiary of Aberdeen, Scotland, based FirstGroup, closer to becoming to becoming the largest private pupil transportation contractor in the United States with nearly 65,000 buses.

Finalizing the acquisition requires regulatory consent in both the United States and Canada. At this point, it is unclear when that approval might happen.

On March 30, both companies re-filed for anti-trust approval from the U.S. Department of Justice under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The DOJ will have until April 30 to approve the deal, at which time the department may either request more information and extend the deadline again or terminate the acquisition.

Sarah Lewensohn, Laidlaw director of investor relations, would not speculate as to whether the current problems at the DOJ would delay approval.

In Canada, the 14-day statutory waiting period has expired and Laidlaw has said it is awaiting clearance. Lewensohn said she could not provide a probable time line for approval.

The deal must also be approved by the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment; the review period will expire on May 2.

Earlier this month, the deal leapt another regulatory hurdle with the tentative approval of the Surface Transportation Board.

On February 9, First Group announced that it would purchase Laidlaw for $3.6 billion. If approved, the acquisition is expected to generate approximately $70 million in pre-tax savings in the first year, largely through removal of overlapping operations, excess fleet and purchasing improvements. The combined companies would control 40 percent of the contracted buses and around 13 percent of the total pupil transportation market.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters continued to voice their concern about the acquistion, sending one First Student driver to the FirstGroup shareholder's meeting and releasing a report from several academics specializing in labor entitled “FirstGroup’s Neutrality Policy: Failed Implementation” to conincide with the approval.