Thursday October 21, 2021
Million deal in the US
Flixbus takes over legendary “Greyhound” buses
The travel platform Flixmobility buys the US long-distance bus company Greyhound Lines, thereby strengthening its position on the American market. The German company has been operating its Flixbus brand in the USA since 2018.
The legendary “Greyhound” intercity buses will be part of Flixbus in the future. The parent company Flixmobility is buying Greyhound Lines, the largest long-distance bus operator in the USA, for up to 172 million dollars (148 million euros) from the British rail and local transport company Firstgroup, as both sides announced.
“A constant further development of our network through cooperation or acquisitions has always been an essential part of our growth strategy in order to further expand our global presence”, says Flixmobility co-founder and boss Jochen Engert. “The acquisition of Greyhound brings us a decisive step further and strengthens Flixbus’ position in the USA.”
There, as well as in Canada and Mexico, 1,300 greyhound buses operate which, according to Flixmobility, go to 2,400 destinations in North America and are used by 16 million passengers per year.
Flixbus has been represented in the USA since 2018 and started operations there again in early summer. USA boss Pierre Gourdain announced in June that Flixbus wanted to offer the most extensive network there by 2023. Flixbus had carried 62 million passengers worldwide in 2019 – before the virus outbreak. The pandemic had brought the travel business almost completely to a standstill at times.
Greyhound business suffered from virus crisis
Firstgroup took over Greyhound Lines in 2007, but was looking for a buyer even before the corona pandemic. Greyhound’s business has also recently suffered severely from the restrictions due to the virus crisis. From April 2020 to March 2021, sales were $ 423 million and adjusted operating profit was $ 1.8 million, according to previous owner Firstgroup.
Flixmobility is initially paying around $ 140 million for greyhounds, with 32 million expected to flow in installments over the next 18 months. The new owner rents the Greyhound properties, which will remain with Firstgroup. The $ 108 million state grants Greyhound received from the US government to compensate for pandemic-related losses will remain with Greyhound and will benefit Flixmobility. The bottom line is that the greyhound is valued at $ 46 million.