U.S. private equity fund Apollo walks away from First Group offer

LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management said on Tuesday it does not intend to make an offer to acquire British bus and rail operator FirstGroup (LSE: FGP.L - news) .

In April, Aberdeen-based FirstGroup, which has a market value of about 1.2 billion pounds ($1.70 billion), rejected a cash proposal from the U.S. fund. .

Apollo, which under British rules had until May 9 to take a decision, has now decided to walk away from the business, which operates Greyhound intercity coaches and school buses in North America and rail services in the UK.

(Reporting by Clara Denina, editing by Louise Heavens)