Ngāi Tahu, Tainui agree to buy Go Bus from Next Capital

Tuesday 12th August 2014

Ngai Tahu Holdings Corp and Tainui Group Holdings, the iwi investment companies, have agreed to buy national passenger transport firm Go Bus from Australian private equity firm Next Capital for a reported $170 million.

Ngai Tahu will take a two-thirds stake in Go Bus and Tainui will take the remaining third, according to a joint statement. The purchase, due to settle on Sept. 30, is conditional, they said, without giving details.

Next Capital acquired Go Bus, which operates urban, school and charter bus services throughout New Zealand, in 2012. According to the firm’s website it paid $84.6 million for an 86.8 million stake. A range of local investors owned the balance, according to the Companies Office.

The bus company has a “solid earnings stream stemming from long term contracts with limited revenue and margin risks,” according to Next Capital. It also has a “pipeline of growth opportunities as a result of the structure of the New Zealand bus industry and the impact of regulatory initiatives.”

Go Bus’s financial performance is “underpinned by long-term contracts with local and central government and associated agencies.”

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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