Rotala in Preston Bus deal

Transport operator Rotala has acquired Preston Bus from Stagecoach for £3.2 million.


Transport operator Rotala has acquired Preston Bus from Stagecoach for £3.2 million.

Transport operator Rotala has acquired Preston Bus from Stagecoach for £3.2 million.

The acquisition is to be financed by a hire purchase facility of £2.4 million, a bridging loan from Rotala’s bankers of £617,500 and the remainder from the company’s existing banking facilities.

John Gunn, chairman of Rotala, comments: ‘The extension of our network up the M6 to Preston will bring us a presence in a wholly new area of operation.’

Birmingham-based Rotala operates bus and coach services across the West Midlands and the South West, on both commercial and local authority bus routes. The AIM-listed company operates 450 vehicles and in 2009 had a turnover of £40.6 million.

Preston Bus runs 85 vehicles, operating in and around Preston. The company has 240 employees and in the year to April 2010 declared a pre-tax loss of £132,000 on a turnover of £7.75 million. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in the current financial year.

Nick Britton

Nick Britton

Nick was the Managing Editor for growthbusiness.co.uk when it was owned by Vitesse Media, before moving on to become Head of Investment Group and Editor at What Investment and thence to Head of Intermediary...

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