Rotala takes on Hansons
Rotala has acquired Hansons Local Buses of Lye, near Stourbridge. The deal was completed on 28 July 2017 and the exact values of the deal were not disclosed. There are no redundancies as a result of the take-over. There are around 50 staff at the acquired company.
In the immediate future, there are expected to be no changes to Hanson’s services, timetables or ticket validity. Hansons’ services will continue to accept nBus and Swift tickets and passes. Rotala has acquired the legal entity of Hansons and intends to consolidate the business into its Diamond Bus operation. This will mean Rotala will rebrand Hansons and Diamond Bus. Diamond Bus and other operators’ tickets and passes are still not valid for travel on Hansons’ bus services and vice versa.
CEO of Rotala Plc, Simon Dunn, said: “On acquisition we commenced the TUPE process, the intention is to close the Hansons depot and offer staff the opportunity to work at either of our Tividale or Kidderminster depots from 28 August 2017. At that point, the services will all transfer to Diamond Bus. The drivers will be offered the choice of improved terms and conditions with Diamond or a continuation of their current terms and conditions. The fleet will likewise move to Diamond Bus.”
A further acquisition is expected to be made by Rotala. It has announced a conditional fundraising, comprising a conditional £2m subscription and a conditional £1.5m placing to raise approximately £3.5m, in aggregate, by the issue and allotment by the Company of 5,833,334 New Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price of 60p per New Ordinary Share.
Chairman of Rotala, John Gunn, said: “The positive start to the year is testament to the progress that the Group is making. Furthermore the contract wins which we have announced so far this year will underpin our performance in the second half. Rotala has a proven track record of steady organic growth supplemented by sensibly priced acquisitions. The acquisition that we are making and the further acquisition that we expect shortly to make with the first stage of this fundraising are in line with this policy and will bolster our presence in the West Midlands and the North West. The follow-on acquisitions, if and when completed, will add greater reach to the Group’s business in key markets and put the Group in a position where it can look forward to continuing progress in 2018.”