HSBC supports Rotala’s acquisition strategy

[DD12]

OMG !! - - On today's online Route One magazine, it reveals that ROTALA have secured a new revolving credit facility with HSBC, involving an eight-figure sum to "help drive it's ambitious acquisitions strategy" (sorry I cannot provide a link).

"Me - No - Happy !"

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

OMG !! - - On today's online Route One magazine, it reveals that ROTALA have secured a new revolving credit facility with HSBC, involving an eight-figure sum to support it's acquisitions policy (sorry I cannot provide a link).

"Me - No - Happy !"

Their recent acquisitions have been elsewhere other than the Midlands.

 

[Goldfish62]

OMG !! - - On today's online Route One magazine, it reveals that ROTALA have secured a new revolving credit facility with HSBC, involving an eight-figure sum to "help drive it's ambitious acquisitions strategy" (sorry I cannot provide a link).

"Me - No - Happy !"

That's not good news..

 

[overthewater]

http://www.route-one.net/articles///HSBC_supports_Rotala_s_acquisition_strategy

Let Keep first thread clear. IT must be noted, This policy might not have anything to do with First and Rotala are looking at other places.

HSBC supports Rotala’s acquisition strategy
Rotala PLC has secured an undisclosed eight-figure Revolving Credit Facility from new banking partner, HSBC, to “help drive its ambitious acquisition strategy.”

Established in 2005, Rotala offers private hire, contracted and commercial coach and bus services in the north west, south west, midlands and greater london.

Rotala will use 15% of the funding to “acquire a number of transport depots across the UK, specifically in high population areas with potential for economic growth.”

It says it hopes to increase annual turnover by 40% from £70m to £100m in the next five years.

Rotala CEO Simon Dunn says: “The facility will enable Rotala to pursue its ambitious expansion strategy, both organically and through acquisitions.

“HSBC demonstrated a clear understanding of the UK transport market and the kind of finance support a group like ours needs to grow.

“Our Relationship Manager at HSBC, Hayden Adams, has been instrumental in getting this deal across the line quickly and efficiently.”

Claire Brunning, HSBC’s Area Director for Large Corporate Banking in Birmingham, says: “Rotala approached HSBC with a clear vision for the business and an understanding of the types of funding it would need to pursue its acquisition strategy.

“The bank has extensive experience in the transport industry so we were able to put a tailored and competitive finance package in place to support its plans. We look forward to being a part of Rotala’s journey during this exciting time.”

 

[DD12]

Their recent acquisitions have been elsewhere other than the Midlands.

Yes, thanks TGW - - and they may be focussing on "catching a big fish up-north" (I hope).

 

[overthewater]

See Clacton to Walton on the Naze service, how on earth will that be operated? Are they going to clamp it on to the Colchester services? Or have dead runs?

 

[winston270twm]

Their recent acquisitions have been elsewhere other than the Midlands.

TGW, I think your forgetting the Central Buses acquisition Feb this year, Hanson's Buses July last Year & Arriva Wednesfield deal in the April

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

TGW, I think your forgetting the Central Buses acquisition Feb this year, Hanson's Buses July last Year & Arriva Wednesfield deal in the April

Yeah, I had forgotten the Central Buses one but was thinking more recently on the other purchases like the Hoppa ops

Is Hanson’s less than year.....seems ages ago!

 

[winston270twm]

Yeah, I had forgotten the Central Buses one but was thinking more recently on the other purchases like the Hoppa ops

Is Hanson’s less than year.....seems ages ago!

Central Buses is the most recent one, Hoppa was Dec 2017, CB Feb 2018. I doesn't look as though the proposed Manchester one is going to happen, it's been 10 months since first mooted.

Yes, Hanson's was announced 28th July 2017

 

[Lynford1976]

OMG !! - - On today's online Route One magazine, it reveals that ROTALA have secured a new revolving credit facility with HSBC, involving an eight-figure sum to "help drive it's ambitious acquisitions strategy" (sorry I cannot provide a link).

"Me - No - Happy !"

Perhaps Rotala would be better off using the money to make good what they already have...

http://www.route-one.net/articles/Whisperer/Not_a_great_day_

 

[Goldfish62]

Perhaps Rotala would be better off using the money to make good what they already have...

http://www.route-one.net/articles/Whisperer/Not_a_great_day_

Or just go away and stop sullying the industry with their presence..

 

[Anthony ross]

in regards to the Walton to Clacton route im presuming there will be dead runs to and from Colchester depot as this is the only service in Clacton they are keeping although I think they might be better off extending the service from Colchester and Clacton although myself cant see this happening

 

[InspectorBloke]

I doubt there will be many dead runs from Colchester. I think the routes will either be combined or interworked.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I doubt there will be many dead runs from Colchester. I think the routes will either be combined or interworked.

Quite - in effect, I suspect it’ll be a through service but still maintained as two routes. Perhaps journeys will run dead from Colchester direct to Walton first thing a.m. and vice versa at end of day.

 

[winston270twm]

OMG !! - - On today's online Route One magazine, it reveals that ROTALA have secured a new revolving credit facility with HSBC, involving an eight-figure sum to "help drive it's ambitious acquisitions strategy" (sorry I cannot provide a link).

"Me - No - Happy !"

Forgot to say, Rotala have maintained a revolving credit facility with circa £10 Million headroom available for acquisitions / unexpected opportunities for the past few years, it's nothing new. For the latest batch of acquisitions including Hanson's & Hotel Hoppa, these were funded by raising of £3.5 Million via a subscription and placing of new shares which were purchased by to two new investors.

 

[DD12]

Forgot to say, Rotala have maintained a revolving credit facility with circa £10 Million headroom available for acquisitions / unexpected opportunities for the past few years, it's nothing new. For the latest batch of acquisitions including Hanson's & Hotel Hoppa, these were funded by raising of £3.5 Million via a subscription and placing of new shares which were purchased by to two new investors.

Is the new "headroom" still only £10 Million, I wonder ?

 

[DD12]

See Clacton to Walton on the Naze service, how on earth will that be operated? Are they going to clamp it on to the Colchester services? Or have dead runs?

in regards to the Walton to Clacton route im presuming there will be dead runs to and from Colchester depot as this is the only service in Clacton they are keeping although I think they might be better off extending the service from Colchester and Clacton although myself cant see this happening

I doubt there will be many dead runs from Colchester. I think the routes will either be combined or interworked.

Quite - in effect, I suspect it’ll be a through service but still maintained as two routes. Perhaps journeys will run dead from Colchester direct to Walton first thing a.m. and vice versa at end of day.

Are these services currently run by FIRST, and will they continue to be ?

-- Sorry for my confusion , but this is a thread about the new financing of ROTALA's future acquisions !

 

[overthewater]

The posts were moved to a new thread from the first group thread to stop that being cluttered. To your Q: YES any follow up Q.. you can happily post them here: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ares-and-survival.65668/page-266#post-3444297

 

[winston270twm]

Is the new "headroom" still only £10 Million, I wonder ?

Yes - see extract from Chairman's statement:

Banking

Just after the year end, the Group changed its principal bankers to HSBC Bank plc and entered into new and enlarged facilities to support its greater scale of operation. These facilities are generally on more favourable terms than the ones they replaced but the borrowings of the Group were initially unchanged. The new facilities comprise a term loan of GBP5.5m, a revolving facility of GBP15.5m and an overdraft facility of GBP3.5m, with a maturity date for all these facilities of 5 December 2021. Taking into account these new facilities and parallel asset finance facilities, the Group has approximately GBP10 million of headroom with which it can finance further potential acquisitions.

 

[Robertj21a]

Yes - see extract from Chairman's statement:

Banking

Just after the year end, the Group changed its principal bankers to HSBC Bank plc and entered into new and enlarged facilities to support its greater scale of operation. These facilities are generally on more favourable terms than the ones they replaced but the borrowings of the Group were initially unchanged. The new facilities comprise a term loan of GBP5.5m, a revolving facility of GBP15.5m and an overdraft facility of GBP3.5m, with a maturity date for all these facilities of 5 December 2021. Taking into account these new facilities and parallel asset finance facilities, the Group has approximately GBP10 million of headroom with which it can finance further potential acquisitions.

Just a shame that, to many people, it's still a rubbish operator !

 

[DD12]

Yes - see extract from Chairman's statement:

Banking

Just after the year end, the Group changed its principal bankers to HSBC Bank plc and entered into new and enlarged facilities to support its greater scale of operation. These facilities are generally on more favourable terms than the ones they replaced but the borrowings of the Group were initially unchanged. The new facilities comprise a term loan of GBP5.5m, a revolving facility of GBP15.5m and an overdraft facility of GBP3.5m, with a maturity date for all these facilities of 5 December 2021. Taking into account these new facilities and parallel asset finance facilities, the Group has approximately GBP10 million of headroom with which it can finance further potential acquisitions.

Great info from you again, thanks Winston !

 

[winston270twm]

Just a shame that, to many people, it's still a rubbish operator !

As a group, Rotala are heading in the right direction and tick a lot of boxes for investors, even in these uncertain times i.e. turnover is growing, as is profit and they seem to be able to attract new investors / better banking deals etc. At an operational level there's still plenty of scope for improvement, fleet presentation is typically poor, reliability issues & frequent breakdowns appear rife and wheels should not be falling off. I really think some emphasis should now be put in to raising and maintaining higher levels of operational / fleet standards and ultimately improving service quality before expanding further. I believe that would create growth organically and hopefully they could then shake off the poor perception and negativity they receive.

They have made a big effort to launch the new Diamond Bus North West Bolton services (571/2 & 575) with all buses in Diamond livery, some '575 route branded' from day 1, plus online marketing / fare initiatives in advanced etc. They are also offering real time tracking & contactless at DBNW, DBWM & Heathrow before most others. Credit where it's due, they've proved they can do it, they need to put that kind of effort in across the board at the various operations and continually improve.

 

[DD12]

As a group, Rotala are heading in the right direction and tick a lot of boxes for investors, even in these uncertain times i.e. turnover is growing, as is profit and they seem to be able to attract new investors / better banking deals etc. At an operational level there's still plenty of scope for improvement, fleet presentation is typically poor, reliability issues & frequent breakdowns appear rife and wheels should not be falling off. I really think some emphasis should now be put in to raising and maintaining higher levels of operational / fleet standards and ultimately improving service quality before expanding further. I believe that would create growth organically and hopefully they could then shake off the poor perception and negativity they receive.

They have made a big effort to launch the new Diamond Bus North West Bolton services (571/2 & 575) with all buses in Diamond livery, some '575 route branded' from day 1, plus online marketing / fare initiatives in advanced etc. They are also offering real time tracking & contactless at DBNW, DBWM & Heathrow before most others. Credit where it's due, they've proved they can do it, they need to put that kind of effort in across the board at the various operations and continually improve.

I like the idea of a bus operator that can say to the local authorities and politicians - "we are the lowest cost operator, and have got only easily serviceable debt, and are not cross-subsidising rail services, and that service and vehicle reliability REALLY is improving and REALLY will continue to do so " -- - then paint their buses with mellow colours that will still look ok after 7 years !!!

- - I was going to start a separate thread to ask the question -- but I'll start here --

How good a reputation does Rotala have with it's PRESTON operation ??

 

[Robertj21a]

I like the idea of a bus operator that can say to the local authorities and politicians - "we are the lowest cost operator, and have got only easily serviceable debt, and are not cross-subsidising rail services, and that service and vehicle reliability REALLY is improving and REALLY will continue to do so " -- - then paint their buses with mellow colours that will still look ok after 7 years !!!

- - I was going to start a separate thread to ask the question -- but I'll start here --

How good a reputation does Rotala have with it's PRESTON operation ??

I'd suggest that Preston operations are far better than the West Midlands.

 

[winston270twm]

I'd suggest that Preston operations are far better than the West Midlands.

I'd be inclined to agree, I would say Preston is the best operation within Rotala, standards seem much higher and you don't seem to see any negative comments on social media towards them. Preston did also have all it's fleet in livery and were well turned out. That is the only thing currently letting Preston down, over the past 12 months various deckers & Solo's have been drafted in from group / used 14 plate Solo SR's acquired etc these are still in a mix of Wessex & Diamond base liveries with Preston Bus fleetnames, whilst the Solo SR's are in all over white with fleetnames.

Former Wessex 40602 B9TL/Gemini after being in store at Diamond Bus since Jan has finally arrived at Preston in-touched, however, comments suggest Preston will be prepping/re-painting it locally prior to them entering service:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mjrprestonbus/40018697650/in/dateposted/

Whilst here in the Midlands:

Public Inquiry (76823) to be held at Wyre forest District Council, Wyre Forest House, Council Chamber, Finepoint Way, Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY11 7WF, on 21 June 2018 commencing at 10:00

PD0001374 SN
DIAMOND BUS LTD
Director(s): SIMON LEE DUNN, ANTHONY CHARLES GOOZEE, KIM TAYLOR, ROBERT BAKER
HALLBRIDGE WAY, TIPTON ROAD, TIVIDALE, WARLEY, B69 3HW

S17 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 17 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
Sch.3 - Consideration of Transport Managers Repute under Schedule 3 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
S26 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 26 (The Transport Act 1985)

 

[Robertj21a]

I'd be inclined to agree, I would say Preston is the best operation within Rotala, standards seem much higher and you don't seem to see any negative comments on social media towards them. Preston did also have all it's fleet in livery and were well turned out. That is the only thing currently letting Preston down, over the past 12 months various deckers & Solo's have been drafted in from group / used 14 plate Solo SR's acquired etc these are still in a mix of Wessex & Diamond base liveries with Preston Bus fleetnames, whilst the Solo SR's are in all over white with fleetnames.

Former Wessex 40602 B9TL/Gemini after being in store at Diamond Bus since Jan has finally arrived at Preston in-touched, however, comments suggest Preston will be prepping/re-painting it locally prior to them entering service:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mjrprestonbus/40018697650/in/dateposted/

Whilst here in the Midlands:

Public Inquiry (76823) to be held at Wyre forest District Council, Wyre Forest House, Council Chamber, Finepoint Way, Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY11 7WF, on 21 June 2018 commencing at 10:00

PD0001374 SN
DIAMOND BUS LTD
Director(s): SIMON LEE DUNN, ANTHONY CHARLES GOOZEE, KIM TAYLOR, ROBERT BAKER
HALLBRIDGE WAY, TIPTON ROAD, TIVIDALE, WARLEY, B69 3HW

S17 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 17 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
Sch.3 - Consideration of Transport Managers Repute under Schedule 3 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)
S26 - Consideration of disciplinary action under Section 26 (The Transport Act 1985)

The general appearance of a fleet can often give a surprisingly accurate reflection of the company as a whole. The W Mids part of Rotala is well down the bottom of the pile.

 

[winston270twm]

The general appearance of a fleet can often give a surprisingly accurate reflection of the company as a whole. The W Mids part of Rotala is well down the bottom of the pile.

Totally agree, lots of buses with battered skirt panels / scrapes / half the logo missing or accident damage to say 3 lower panel (2 are replaced, without logo retro-fitted & third panel left damaged) etc. Roof's aren't repainted on single decker either.

The newly acquired / cascaded buses that are repainted generally look smart, but they don't stay like long. Presentation is as important as service delivery, reputation is everything!

 

[northwichcat]

Yes, thanks TGW - - and they may be focussing on "catching a big fish up-north" (I hope).

What's the probably that they are looking at D&G Bus? South Lancs Travel was a sister company of D&G (so same directors who sold them South Lancs Travel.) Since then Rotala have also added Go Goodwins (who ran a few routes in the Altrincham area) to the Diamond Bus North West business, while D&G have recently increased the number of services they run in Altrincham and have started serving Manchester Airport, meaning D&G's operating area overlaps with theirs and at the same time they could expand their operations in to Cheshire and Staffordshire with an acquisition. (I don't think there's any overlap between D&G's Staffordshire services and Diamond Bus' West Midlands operations.)

 

[ARN556B]

I'd suggest that Preston operations are far better than the West Midlands.

Rotala bought Preston Bus as a going concern and the day to day operations are under the control of longstanding, totally professional, local managers, whose efforts are reflected in the fleet turnout and operations.

 

[northwichcat]

Rotala bought Preston Bus as a going concern and the day to day operations are under the control of longstanding, totally professional, local managers, whose efforts are reflected in the fleet turnout and operations.

How many management changes have there been though? Preston Bus were originally an independent company competing with Stagecoach, who almost went out of business and finished up being acquired by Stagecoach. I'm pretty sure the company Stagecoach sold to Rotala as 'Preston Bus' (by order of the CMA) included some routes that Preston Bus didn't previously run, while some routes they did run remained with Stagecoach.