NEWS
SEALINK BUYS WA BUS OPERATOR GO WEST
BUNBURY, Western Australiabased integrated transport provider Go West – established and run by venerable bus industry family the Haousts – has “agreed to a deal with potential consideration in excess of $100 million” in its sale to the Sealink Travel Group. Go West, with lead adviser BDO, negotiated the sale of the successful, home-grown Australian bus operator best known for bus and coach transport, particularly in the mining resources field. The operator began in 1981 with a single bus and grew to become one of Western Australia’s pre-eminent specialty providers of charter, rental and tour vehicles to the resources and public transit sectors, filling more than 500,000 seats monthly, BDO explains. Go West’s expansion is the result of its clever uptake of cutting-edge technology – including innovative fatigue management and asset monitoring 8
“With the support of Sealink, Go West will continue to grow well into the future.” systems – and rigorous focus on top-tier resource client service throughout the years, BDO adds. Forging close ties to the booming Western Australian resources market, Go West’s established regional infrastructure in key mining hubs – including Port Hedland, Newman and Karratha – made the family-owned company an attractive prospect for Sealink Travel Group, complementing its portfolio of world-class transit providers, BDO states.
CONTINUED GROWTH “With the support of Sealink, Go West will continue to grow well into the future,” said Go West founder and director Stan Haoust. “As fellow operators supporting
Above: “With the support of Sealink, Go West will continue to grow well into the future,” said Go West founder and director Stan Haoust.
the resources sector, Sealink will enable Go West to continue to tackle bigger projects and, importantly, Sealink aligns with Go West’s ethos, which is ‘family spirit’, ‘frugality’, ‘adaptiveness’, ‘innovation’ and ‘safety’,” Haoust explained. Sealink is Australia’s largest integrated transport provider, moving more than 206 million customers per year, it states. Its holdings include Captain Cook Cruises, Sealink Rottnest Ferries and Swan Transit – largely responsible for Perth’s urban bus network. The acquisition – valued at 5.3x normalised LTM EBITDA, confirms BDO – will see the existing management team retained,
ABC May 2021 busnews.com.au
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17/05/2021 12:53:06 PM
