NAT Group Sold to Comfort DelGro

[Bwsbro]

Comfort DelGro who operates Metroline in London, has aquired Cardiff Based New Adventure Travel for 13.4 million

http://www.route-one.net/articles/Business_deals/ComfortDelGro_buys_New_Adventure_Travel

Singapore-based ComfortDelGro Corporation (CDG) has bought New Adventure Travel (NAT Group) - one of the leading bus and coach operators in South Wales - for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition is CDG’s first expansion of its bus operations outside of London, where its Metroline subsidiary is the capital’s second largest bus operator with a fleet of 1,700 vehicles.

NAT Group operates 117 buses and coaches across four depots in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Pontypridd.

It operates commercial and contracted scheduled bus services.

Its coaches operate on local contracts, as well as UK and European private hire and holiday work.

It also offers transport to sports teams including Swansea City Football Club, Newport County Team and Supporters and Cardiff City Supporters.

NAT Group MD Kevyn Jones says: “Following a decade of growing this business, we are delighted it has now become part of the ComfortDelGro Group.

“We feel its expertise and financial strength will give us a great platform to continue to grow, improve and develop public transport in South Wales.”

CDG MD and Group CEO, Yang Ban Seng says: “We have been operating bus and coach services across the UK for close to two decades.

“With this addition of NAT Group, we are broadening our footprint into Wales, and expanding our bus operations outside of London which has always been our strategic intent.

“We look forward to serving the people of South Wales and introducing new and improved services to meet their travel needs.”

CDG is one of the world’s largest land transport companies with a total fleet size of over 43,500 buses, taxis and rental vehicles.

Headquartered in Singapore, the Group also has operations in China, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia. ComfortDelGro operates scheduled bus, coach, taxi radio circuit and private hire services in the UK.

 

[Robertj21a]

That's rather out of the blue. Interesting to see CDG move into a totally different area.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

That's rather out of the blue. Interesting to see CDG move into a totally different area.

Hmmm..... Perhaps we can start including CDG in the list of who First can sell their operations to

 

[Busaholic]

I've watched Metroline's growth over the years, including their purchase of London Northern which could have been their undoing, and have to say they appear to have scarcely made a wrong move. They rarely, if ever, lose routes en masse in tender renewals, which other groups have at times. I would assume this acquisition is part of an overall strategy that the observer isn't party to, so let speculation run riot.

 

[extendedpaul]

Good news for all involved in New Adventure Travel.
I've always found their buses to be reliable, clean and with careful friendly drivers, and the company has been very bullish in recent years in introducing new routes with a fair degree of success.
Hopefully none of that will change.

 

[Anthony ross]

I'm quite surprised that CGD have started to expand there bus business over here

 

[Dai Corner]

NAT won the Newport schools contract from the local municipal Newport Transport in 2015 (IIRC) but lost it two years later. While they had it they introduced several routes in the city but all that's left now is the N2/N4 around the inner suburbs (PVR 1) and the X5 Ringland-Newport City Centre-Duffryn-Cardiff (PVR 13ish).

Might CDG make the City Council an offer they can't refuse? Other acquisition targets might be Cardiff Bus (another municipal), Stagecoach South Wales or First Cymru. Only the last seems at all likely. Torfaen based independent Phil Anslow has sold out to Stagecoach before and started up again and might be open to a good offer.

Any other thoughts?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

NAT won the Newport schools contract from the local municipal Newport Transport in 2015 (IIRC) but lost it two years later. While they had it they introduced several routes in the city but all that's left now is the N2/N4 around the inner suburbs (PVR 1) and the X5 Ringland-Newport City Centre-Duffryn-Cardiff (PVR 13ish).

Might CDG make the City Council an offer they can't refuse? Other acquisition targets might be Cardiff Bus (another municipal), Stagecoach South Wales or First Cymru. Only the last seems at all likely. Torfaen based independent Phil Anslow has sold out to Stagecoach before and started up again and might be open to a good offer.

Any other thoughts?

Given that First Cymru is one of the few really well performing OpCos so very unlikely to sell that, especially having invested so much. Newport Transport lost £232k so I'd argue that is more likely.

Phil Anslow has sold to Stagecoach twice!

 

[overthewater]

Maybe stagecoach need to tell Phil to stay away for a longer period

 

[Dai Corner]

Maybe stagecoach need to tell Phil to stay away for a longer period

The two firms are having a mini 'bus war' at the moment, centred around the use of the overcrowded Cwmbran bus station. This is off topic for this thread though.

 

[winston270twm]

Hmmm..... Perhaps we can start including CDG in the list of who First can sell their operations to

ComfortDelgro seem have paid quite a tall price to acquire NAT Group, maybe First can offload a few ops from UK Bus at a decent price & you'll get your divi re-instated

 

[GusB]

I'm wondering where ComfortDelgro are going with this. I've worked for said organisation as part of their taxi operations, but I've never really understood their position on UK bus operations. Metroline and Scottish Citylink is all I'm aware of (the latter having a joint shareholding with Stagecoach).

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

considering the number of MAN's NAT group have in the fleet I think CDG might realise they have paid well over the odds... to call the MANs sheds would be unkind.... to sheds. I have never known 4-5 yr old buses to have fallen apart so quick. Still if CDG managed to take a dogs dinner of a company like Armchair and turn it around I suppose there is hope that they can do the same for NAT... I wonder though whether it will be another Veolia scenario... once the company has been dragged off the bottom rung of wages and the schedules have been recut so that they are better than barely legal and the fleet has been renewed with decent reliable vehicles I wonder whether NAT will be quite the golden calf CDG seem to think it is..

ps there is a vicious rumour that NAT has never scrapped a vehicle... all withdrawn vehicles are allegedly stored in a disused depot somewhere near Ystradgynlais... I wonder if anyone on here can verify this rumour?

 

[Bwsbro]

ps there is a vicious rumour that NAT has never scrapped a vehicle... all withdrawn vehicles are allegedly stored in a disused depot somewhere near Ystradgynlais... I wonder if anyone on here can verify this rumour?

There is a large number of withdrawn vehicles parked up in the former Abercrave Depot

 

[Cesarcollie]

considering the number of MAN's NAT group have in the fleet I think CDG might realise they have paid well over the odds... to call the MANs sheds would be unkind.... to sheds. I have never known 4-5 yr old buses to have fallen apart so quick. Still if CDG managed to take a dogs dinner of a company like Armchair and turn it around I suppose there is hope that they can do the same for NAT... I wonder though whether it will be another Veolia scenario... once the company has been dragged off the bottom rung of wages and the schedules have been recut so that they are better than barely legal and the fleet has been renewed with decent reliable vehicles I wonder whether NAT will be quite the golden calf CDG seem to think it is..

ps there is a vicious rumour that NAT has never scrapped a vehicle... all withdrawn vehicles are allegedly stored in a disused depot somewhere near Ystradgynlais... I wonder if anyone on here can verify this rumour?

Looking at the last NAT accounts they do indeed seem to have paid a very high price - I think the MAN's will be an irrelevance in the grand scheme of things!!

 

[iantherev]

Abercraf Depot has been sold and the stored vehicles removed. Some have gone to the depot at Swansea and some for scrap. There is apparently another store yard at Cardiff docks.

 

[Anthony ross]

I guess it's only a case of time will tell

 

[WelshBluebird]

Interesting to read the comments about NAT! My only experience with them has been on the coaches they use for the work they have with Cardiff City Supporters club for travel to away games and for that I don't have a bad word at all!

 

[plcd1]

I'm quite surprised that CGD have started to expand there bus business over here

Not a huge surprise really. Their home market is under attack as the Singapore government have imposed a compulsory tendering scheme which has seen SBS Transit lose two depots worth of work to Go Ahead / Tower Transit. Remaining work has been on contracted terms (as happened with LRT / TfL) until each tranche of routes has been competitivively tendered. I suspect their taxi operations are also under pressure from Uber and similar innovations. They have also lost out on the contract to run the under construction Thomson East Coast metro line in Singapore. This leaves them as a minority rail operator in SG with just two MRT lines.

Whether NAT is a good buy for CDG remains to be seen. I suspect it may be a vehicle to undertake other purchases or to weaken competitors to force them to sell up. As others have clearly said Cardiff Bus and Newport Buses are potential targets that NAT already compete against.

 

[iantherev]

I seem to recall that Veolia bought Bebb with similar intentions....

 

[317 forever]

Not a huge surprise really. Their home market is under attack as the Singapore government have imposed a compulsory tendering scheme which has seen SBS Transit lose two depots worth of work to Go Ahead / Tower Transit. Remaining work has been on contracted terms (as happened with LRT / TfL) until each tranche of routes has been competitivively tendered. I suspect their taxi operations are also under pressure from Uber and similar innovations. They have also lost out on the contract to run the under construction Thomson East Coast metro line in Singapore. This leaves them as a minority rail operator in SG with just two MRT lines.

Whether NAT is a good buy for CDG remains to be seen. I suspect it may be a vehicle to undertake other purchases or to weaken competitors to force them to sell up. As others have clearly said Cardiff Bus and Newport Buses are potential targets that NAT already compete against.

I wonder whether they will rebrand NAT as Metroline Cymru, to match London operations?

I think several independents could sell out, and not just to CDG. We have recently also seen Rosso sell to Transdev and Central Buses sell to Rotala.

 

[Anthony ross]

Still with this purchase it gives metroline somewhere to cascade the buses out of london

 

[Busaholic]

Whether NAT is a good buy for CDG remains to be seen. I suspect it may be a vehicle to undertake other purchases or to weaken competitors to force them to sell up. As others have clearly said Cardiff Bus and Newport Buses are potential targets that NAT already compete against.

That sounds entirely plausible to me.

 

[Cesarcollie]

That sounds entirely plausible to me.

Not really - by buying NAT they've effectively barred themselves buying Cardiff or Newport without the CMA launching an enquiry and possibly preventing it.....

 

[317 forever]

Not really - by buying NAT they've effectively barred themselves buying Cardiff or Newport without the CMA launching an enquiry and possibly preventing it.....

I wonder whether Newport would be a safer bet, as they run fewer routes there than in or around Cardiff.

Alternatively, CDG could look to mop up some west Wales independents.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I wonder whether Newport would be a safer bet, as they run fewer routes there than in or around Cardiff.

Alternatively, CDG could look to mop up some west Wales independents.

Why? West Wales is hardly lucrative territory

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

Why? West Wales is hardly lucrative territory

Baa baa baa I totally dis- aaaaaaa-gree with you on thaaaat point lol. Seriously though, I don't see that Mid Wales Travel or Richard Bros are inclined to sell up; they are both family businesses that are happy with their lot as things stand. And tbh IF mid wales were ever to sell out, I think they'd be more inclined to offer a preferential deal to Stagecoach seeing as though they are subcontracted to run Megabus services from Aberystwyth

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Baa baa baa I totally dis- aaaaaaa-gree with you on thaaaat point lol. Seriously though, I don't see that Mid Wales Travel or Richard Bros are inclined to sell up; they are both family businesses that are happy with their lot as things stand. And tbh IF mid wales were ever to sell out, I think they'd be more inclined to offer a preferential deal to Stagecoach seeing as though they are subcontracted to run Megabus services from Aberystwyth

Indeed - family owned businesses over generations that have carved a decent business in challenging territory. Not perhaps where a PLC would look to purchase and get their desired return?

Given that they also subcontract, MW would as easily be a First target but only if you’re hooked on high strength medications

 

[Dai Corner]

Not really - by buying NAT they've effectively barred themselves buying Cardiff or Newport without the CMA launching an enquiry and possibly preventing it.....

Stagecoach have a significant presence in both Newport and Cardiff. First have a more dominant position in Bristol, for example, than a combined NAT/Cardiff Bus/Newport Transport operation would in South Wales.

 

[Hophead]

I presume the Welsh government have made noises about regulation or tendering? This looks like a foot in the door in readiness for contracts in the future.