Rotala has acquired the entire share capital of Green Triangle Buses Ltd, trading as South Lancs Travel (SLT), from Rolling Solutions Ltd (part of D&G Buses Ltd) and Julian Peddle for a cash consideration of £900,000 as of February 28, 2015.
At completion Rotala also repaid approximately £368,000 to SLT’s bankers to settle the outstanding overdraft.
At the date of acquisition, SLT had net assets of £466,000, including Hire Purchase debt of £233,000. In the year ended August 31, 2014, SLT had revenues of approximately £3.9m and a profit before tax and exceptional items of £107,000. Rotala expects the acquisition to generate about £450,000 of positive goodwill.
SLT operates 43 vehicles from a long leasehold depot in Atherton, Manchester and employs about 100 staff. The acquisition represents the first time that Rotala will operate in an area which falls under the remit of Transport for Greater Manchester.
Operationally SLT – which will be renamed Diamond Bus (North West) Ltd in due course – will be part of the North West division of Rotala, with its existing hub in Preston headed by Bob Dunn as Managing Director.
Simon Dunn, CEO of Rotala, told CBW: “Upon acquisition the current Directors will resign; myself, Kim Taylor, Bob Dunn and Antony Goozee will be appointed Directors of the new acquisition. Over the medium term the intention is to rebrand the business.
“We see this opportunity as an entrance route into the Greater Manchester market, and it leaves the group well positioned for future market developments and potential opportunities.”
David Reeves, Managing Director of D&G Buses Ltd, commented “The decision to sell Green Triangle has been difficult to make and it is hard to let it go, but geographically it is very difficult to run a business in Manchester when our other operations are closer to home.
Julian Peddle, Kevin Crawford, Heidi Holland, Chris Almond, the D&G Head Office Staff and myself would like to thank everyone at Green Triangle for their continued efforts and to wish them all the very best for the future.”
