Was a little surprised to see a Solo bus arriving into Piccadilly Gardens at around 7.40am on Thursday, seeing as the only Diamond routes into Piccadilly Gardens are the evening 26/35 services. Can only assume it was on route learning.
The H-reg Olympian is now withdrawn and parked up out of use at Atherton Depot now that its 20 day period of when it can be used is over.
Also from timetable change later this month Atherton Depot will be taking over operations on 3a and I think 114 Leyland-Chorley service.
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/excha...11666.html
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Relevant bit is;-
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The Proposed Acquisition
The Proposed Acquisition comprises a purchase of a freehold site and 18 buses from a business based in Greater Manchester. The Proposed Acquisition would be a strategic acquisition aimed at capitalising on the re-franchising opportunities in Greater Manchester. The Directors believe that, should it complete, it will enable Rotala to significantly grow its operations in this area and potentially double its bus capacity. No additional overheads are expected to be required as a result of the acquisition and the Directors believe that the Company will benefit from additional sales, gross profit and EBITDA contributions of approximately £2.0 million, £0.4 million and £0.2 million respectively under Rotala's ownership, in the first full year following completion of the Proposed Acquisition.
The expected cost of the Proposed Acquisition is approximately £1 million, including the necessary working capital and capital expenditure associated with the acquisition, which will be satisfied from the net proceeds of the Subscription.
Other acquisition opportunities
The Company is also currently in negotiations relating to other acquisitions, all of which are at a preliminary stage, including:
Opportunity A
· A further strategic acquisition in Manchester that could increase Rotala's bus capacity to 200 vehicles, representing approximately 10 per cent. of the local market
· Cost of acquisition expected to be approximately £4.6 million, (financed through equity and debt)
· Estimated revenue and EBITDA contributions of £11.0 million and £0.9 million in the first full year following completion of such acquisition
Opportunity B
· Acquisition of airport based bus business
· Common customer base with existing business
· Would use existing spare depot capacity and overhead
· Cost of acquisition expected to be £2.2 million, (financed through equity and debt)
· Historic sales and EBITDA of £6.1 million and £0.5 million*
What company is there in The Manchester area which would if acquired give that percentage of the market?
(30/07/2017 17:45)Nwales Bus Wrote: [ -> ]What company is there in The Manchester area which would if acquired give that percentage of the market?
I was thinking Little Gem and Rosso
Except the 18 Bus buy the rest is in the early stages so no point even speculating
Well, in the case of what will Rotala do, forgetting any major acquisition, one key thing to remember is, Rotala seem to be concentrating on the North west, and the West Midlands, whilst their Avon and Somerset operation, Wessex Connect, is doing fine in Bath, but struggling in Bristol. An acquisition in the North West could be funded by a sale of some, or all, of the Wessex Connect operation.
On another forum which I'm on, there is a thread entitled "Bristol independents and Wessex Connect". One recent topic on that thread has concerned Stagecoach opening an outstation in the Bristol area, to service a couple of routes it has won on tender, and a commercial route. The Wessex depot at Avonmouth is, apparently, undercapacity, and one or two folk, me included, have suggested that Stagecoach may seek to buy Wessex off Rotala.
Depending on the price, IF such a sale were to go ahead, and I stress IF, that could fund a purchase of an operation in the Greater Manchester area.
As I stress, it's a BIG IF.
As I read the link options A and B are being funded by a share issue.
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Personally I think Rotala are misguided, as First and Stagecoach will surely stitch up any franchising in Greater Manchester, whatever claims Mr. Souter makes now.