Rotala buys bus operator
Bus group Rotala has bought Midland Classic, the principal bus operator in Burton upon Trent for £2 million.
On completion, Tividale-based Rotala has paid £577,000 in cash to one of Midland's shareholders to repay an existing loan of the same sum.
In the year to the end of July, 2021, Midland had unaudited revenues of approximately £5.6m and a profit before tax of £2,000.
Midland operates 60 vehicles from its freehold depot in Burton and employs approximately 110 staff. It provides bus services to other nearby towns such as Lichfield and Uttoxeter.
The acquisition represents an extension of the group's business to a new territory in the East Midlands from which further growth will be targeted.
Midland will immediately be renamed Diamond Bus (East Midlands) and will be part of Rotala's Midlands division controlled from the headquarters at Tividale.
Simon Dunn, chief executive of Rotala, said: "Midland Classic is a sizeable well-established business in an attractive bus territory. It represents the entry by Rotala into the East Midlands which is a new market for the Group. However, at the same time, geographically it is adjacent to our existing operations in the West Midlands and so easily managed from there. The business also has its own freehold depot from which we will look to further expand Rotala's services as the recovery in passenger numbers post-Covid continues."
