Chief executive Calum Haslop Fuel type Diesel fuel | Website gobus.co.nz Founded 31 December 2004 Parent organization Ngāi Tahu Holdings | |
 | ||
Service area Fleet DesignLine Corporation, Mercedes-Benz, MAN, Zhongtong Bus Profiles | ||
Go Bus Transport Ltd is a large bus company in New Zealand owned by Tainui and Ngai Tahu. The company is based in Hamilton, New Zealand, but also runs bus services in Hawke's Bay, Tauranga, Christchurch, Gisborne, Dunedin and Invercargill.
Contents
History
Original constituent companies - Buses Ltd ran Hamilton buses from at least 1928. About 1980 it was bought by Hamilton City Council and renamed Hamilton City Buses Ltd Simpsons ran Huntly buses since at least 1929. Hodgsons of Te Awamutu were granted a licence in 1932.
Merger - In 2004 Go Bus was formed by the merger of C.J. Worth Ltd., trading as Blue Worth Coachlines and Hamilton City Buses (privatised in the 1990s), Simpsons and Hodgsons. Craig Worth was still commercial director in 2015.
Controlling shareholders - Wellington investment group Morrison and Co. had become a 41% shareholder by 2005.
In 2007 Direct Capital bought 87% of GoBus. The other 13% remained with GoBus managers and directors. GoBus then had 410 vehicles, 4 workshops, 8 depots. and 460 staff. By 2010 it had 650 buses and over 700 staff. From 2007 to 2012 GoBus more than doubled its fleet and increased its staff to 950. Direct put GoBus up for sale, saying it needed more capital to continue expanding.
In 2012 another private equity fund, Australia's Next Capital, bought Direct's 86.8% of GoBus for $84.6m.
In 2014 Ngai Tahu Holdings Corp (⅔) and Tainui Group Holdings (⅓) bought Go Bus for a reported $170m.
Expansion - some growth has been by acquisition of bus companies (see below), some by winning new contracts. Among the latter have been -
Christchurch Bus Services
Christchurch Bus Services Ltd operated Metro routes for Environment Canterbury in Christchurch and Timaru, as well as private charter services for groups and schools. It was purchased in December 2010 by Go Bus.
Urban Cat
In July 2013 Gobus Transport took over the 'Urban Cat' Christchurch urban bus operations of Leopard Coachlines, gaining around 90 buses.
Hawarden Garage
Based in Kaiapoi, Hawarden Garage & Transport Co Ltd was bought at the end of 2013.
Invercargill Passenger Transport
In April 2014, Go Bus took over Invercargill Passenger Transport, which at that time was trading as Passenger Transport Citibus throughout the southern South Island.
Johnston's Coachlines
In August 2016, GoBus announced that they had acquired Johnston's Coachlines for an undisclosed sum. Johnston's is a tourism-based bus company with depots in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. The main purpose of the acquisition was the company's experience in the high-end tour market. It was stated that the companies will operate in a parent-subsidiary manner, as Johnston's will retain its own brand and division. The purchase did not include Johnston's Gray Line tours.