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ComfortDelGro Australia

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ComfortDelGro Australia
FormerlyComfortDelGro Cabcharge
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryBus services
Taxi services
Patient transport
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Headquarters
Level 7, 91 William Street[1]
Melbourne, Victoria
,
Australia
Area served
Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
Western Australia
Victoria
Key people
Nicholas Yap (CEO)[2]
RevenueIncrease S$690.1 million SGD (Q4 2022)[3]: 24 
Increase S$51.7 million SGD (Q4 2022)[3]: 25 
Number of employees
4000 (Q4 2022)[3]: 13 
ParentComfortDelGro
Subsidiaries
Websitecomfortdelgro.com.au

ComfortDelGro Australia is a major Australian public transport company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed company ComfortDelGro. Founded in October 2005 as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, a joint venture between ComfortDelGro (51%) and Australian-listed Cabcharge (49%), it became fully owned by ComfortDelGro in 2017. It operates public transport, taxi and patient transport services nationwide across Australia, except in the states of Tasmania and South Australia.

History

[edit]
Former ComfortDelGro Cabcharge logo

A joint venture, known as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (CDC), was established between ComfortDelGro (51%) and Cabcharge Australia (49%) in October 2005 to purchase loss-making Westbus Group, which included Westbus (both Australia & UK), Hillsbus and Blue Ribbon from National Express and the Bosnjak family.[4] Blue Ribbon was rebranded Hunter Valley Buses at the same time. After the purchase, Westbus UK continued independently from the Westbus in Australia, despite bearing the latter's name, old logo and livery to this day. It became part of CityFleet Networks, initially also a joint venture between ComfortDelGro and Cabcharge, and now a wholly owned subsidiary of ComfortDelGro in the United Kingdom.[5] Cabcharge sold both of its stakes in CDC and CityFleet to ComfortDelGro in February and June 2017 respectively.[6][7][8]

In August 2006, the routes of Baxter's Bus Lines were purchased by and absorbed into Westbus Region 3 operations.[9][10] In August 2007, Morisset Bus Service, Sugar Valley Coachlines and Toronto Bus Service were purchased and absorbed into Hunter Valley Buses.[11] In June 2008 a bus charter division was established under the Charterplus name.

In November 2008, it was announced that Kefford Corporation in Victoria would be acquired.[12] The acquisition was finalised on 23 February 2009.[13] The group was renamed CDC Victoria, but the names of the bus companies within the group were retained until replaced by the CDC brand in 2014.

In September 2012, Deane's Transit Group comprising Deane's Buslines (renamed as Qcity Transit) and Transborder Express in southern New South Wales were purchased.[14][15] In August 2014, CDC purchased Blue Mountains Bus Company, which was subsequently renamed Blue Mountains Transit in December 2014.[16]

In December 2016, ComfortDelgro announced it had agreed to purchase Cabcharge's 49% stake.[6][17][18] The sale was completed on 16 February 2017 after Foreign Investment Review Board approval was granted.[19] The former joint venture was then renamed ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia, still keeping the abbreviation CDC.

In April 2018, ComfortDelgro acquired Tullamarine Bus Lines in Melbourne and integrated it into CDC Melbourne in August 2018.[20][21] At the same time, it acquired National Patient Transport, one of the largest private providers of non-emergency patient transport services in Australia.[22] In August 2018, ComfortDelgro acquired Coastal Liner on the Central Coast, and in September 2018, Forest Coach Lines with operations in Sydney, the Mid North Coast and North West Slopes.[23][24][25]

In November 2018, the Buslink business was acquired with 401 buses operating in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.[26][27] In the same month, Charterplus was renamed CDC Travel.

In April 2019, ComfortDelGro acquired Blanch's Bus Company and Brunswick Valley Coaches with a fleet of 48 buses and coaches in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.[28][29] In the same month, ComfortDelGro announced it would formally establish a ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia office. Nicholas Yap, who was the incumbent CEO of CDC Victoria, was appointed as the inaugural CEO of ComfortDelGro Australia, effective 1 July 2019.[2][30][31]

In mid-2019, two of Buslink's operations, Buslink Sunraysia and Buslink Broken Hill, moved to the control of CDC Victoria.[32] In March 2020, these operations were rebranded to CDC Mildura and CDC Broken Hill respectively.[33] In October 2020, the Buslink Queensland operations were rebranded to CDC Queensland, with Buslink Sunshine Coast and Buslink Gladstone rebranded to CDC Sunshine Coast and CDC Gladstone respectively.[34][35]

In July 2021, ComfortDelGro announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Young's Bus Service which operates services in Rockhampton, Queensland.[36] In August 2021, ComfortDelGro announced its intention to list ComfortDelGro Australia on the Australian Securities Exchange.[37][38][39]

In October 2021, CDC acquired a school bus contract and five buses from KA & VK Stubbs in Narrabri, New South Wales. The school bus operation was merged into CDC's existing Forest Coach Lines business in Narrabri and Wee Waa.[40]

In July 2022, the remainder of the Buslink operations was renamed CDC Northern Territory.[41]

In November 2022, it was announced that CDC retained and was awarded the contracts for Sydney bus regions 4 (Hillsbus) and 14 (Forest Coach Lines) in Sydney, as well as winning the contract for region 12 (consolidated into region 14).[42][43] The Hillsbus and Forest Coach Lines (in Sydney) brands were replaced by the CDC NSW brand when the new contracts for region 4 and the consolidated region 14 began in April and May 2023 respectively.

In August 2023, CDC moved its national head office to the Melbourne CBD after three years in Malvern and a year in Camberwell prior to that.[44][45] In December 2023, CDC entered into a scheme of arrangement to purchase its former joint venture partner A2B Australia (which had rebranded from Cabcharge in 2018), subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.[46]

Operations

[edit]

ComfortDelgro Corporation Australia operates:

CDC's Regional Australia Division (RAD) was established in early 2021 and has responsibilities over the Northern Territory, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and regional NSW (Blanch's, CDC Canberra and Forest outside Sydney) operations.[47][48]

CDC NSW

[edit]
Main article: CDC NSW
Hillsbus Bustech CDi at Castle Hill bus interchange in July 2013

CDC NSW is the first of ComfortDelGro Australia's bus operations in Australia. In 2005, Westbus, Hillsbus and Blue Ribbon were the first three bus companies to be purchased by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge. Since then, ComfortDelGro Australia continued to acquire bus operations across New South Wales. The CDC NSW brand was established in 2017 to be the umbrella brand of ComfortDelGro's operations in the state.[49]

Between April and May 2023, the Hillsbus and Forest Coach Lines (Sydney only) brands were replaced by the CDC NSW brand.[42][43]

CDC Victoria

[edit]
Main article: CDC Victoria
CDC Melbourne Volgren bodied Scania K230UB at Wyndham Vale station in June 2015

In February 2009, when ComfortDelGro Cabcharge entered the Victorian bus market with the acquisition of Kefford Corporation for A$149 million, with its fleet of 328 buses and six depots.[12][13] Kefford was immediately renamed CDC Victoria. The fleets retained their individual identities and liveries, with small CDC Victoria markings, until they were rebranded to their respective CDC brands in 2014.[50]

CDC Northern Territory

[edit]
Main article: CDC Northern Territory

CDC Northern Territory is a bus operator which operates in Alice Springs, Darwin, Palmerston, Jabiru and Humpty Doo in Northern Territory. It was rebranded from Buslink in July 2022, after ComfortDelGro acquired Buslink in 2018.[41] It operates all of Darwin and Palmerston's bus services.[51]

CDC Queensland

[edit]
Main article: CDC Queensland

CDC Queensland a bus operator in Queensland, operating in Gladstone and Sunshine Coast as CDC Gladstone and CDC Sunshine Coast respectively. It was renamed from Buslink Queensland on 1 October 2020.[34][35] ComfortDelGro acquired Rockhampton-based Young's Bus Service in 2021.[36]

National Patient Transport

[edit]

National Patient Transport is one of the largest private providers of non-emergency patient transport services in Australia. ComfortDelGro acquired National Patient Transport in April 2018.[22]

Western Australia

[edit]

Swan Taxis

[edit]
Swan Taxis Toyota Camry in November 2018, bearing the ComfortDelGro name below the Swan Taxis logo

ComfortDelGro fully owns Swan Taxis, a taxi company operates taxis in Perth. Swan Taxis was formed by Matt Reid in 1928. In October 2010, it was acquired by ComfortDelGro after an offer was made in July earlier that year.[52][53][54] In October 2017, Swan Taxis acquired Metro WA Taxi Management Pty Ltd (Metro Taxi), the largest taxi management company in Perth.[54] The acquisition marked Swan Taxis' entry into fleet management and ownership.[55]

Being ComfortDelGro Cabcharge joint venture became wholly owned by ComfortDelGro since acquisition, the Swan Taxis operation was never part of the joint venture, and therefore remains (as of 2023) a direct subsidiary of Singapore's ComfortDelGro rather than a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia.[3]: 218 

Purple Coaches

[edit]

Purple Coaches is a private charter bus operator based in Bayswater, Perth. It was acquired by ComfortDelGro in August 2018.[56] As of December 2018, Purple Coaches (legal name ComforDelGro Swan Pty Ltd) is a subsidiary of Swans Taxis, and hence it is also not a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia.[57]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Contact Us". ComfortDelGro Australia. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b "SBST names Aussie unit boss as COO". Straits Times. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Annual Report 2022". ComfortDelGro. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  4. ^ "New Westbus owners guarantee jobs, services". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 August 2005.
  5. ^ Annual Report year ended 30 June 2014 Cabcharge
  6. ^ a b "ComfortDelGro buys out Aussie subsidiary Cabcharge for $196m". Straits Times. 21 December 2016. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  7. ^ "ComfortDelGro to buy remaining stake in CityFleet Networks for S$14 million". Business Times. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Cabcharge sells stake in CityFleet for $13.3m". 29 June 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  9. ^ CDC Group Australian Bus Fleetlists
  10. ^ "Changes Galore in Sydney" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Buses Worldwide November 2007 page 8
  11. ^ Toronto Bus Service Australian Bus Fleet Lists
  12. ^ a b Kefford Group finds a buyer Australasian Bus & Coach 20 November 2008
  13. ^ a b "ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Victoria". Archived from the original on 6 October 2010.
  14. ^ Deane's buses sold for $53 million ABC News 4 August 2012
  15. ^ Deane's sold Australasian Bus & Coach 3 August 2012
  16. ^ Cabcharge buys bus company for $26.5 million Blue Mountains Gazette 13 August 2014
  17. ^ Acquisition of Shares in ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd Archived 6 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine ComfortDelGro 21 December 2016
  18. ^ Cabcharge departs Aust bus market Special Broadcasting Service 21 December 2016
  19. ^ Australia Bus Archived 3 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine ComfortDelgro
  20. ^ "CDC Victoria further strengthens bus footprint in Victoria" (PDF). CDC Victoria. 13 April 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  21. ^ "CDC Victoria - Unite! Newsletter - September 2018" (PDF). CDC Victoria. September 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  22. ^ a b "ComfortDelGro Expands into Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services in Australia" (PDF). ComfortDelgro. 9 April 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  23. ^ "ComfortDelGro Deepens Footprint in Australia With Two Acquisitions Totalling A$134.45 Million". ComfortDelgro. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  24. ^ "ComfortDelGro invests S$136.5m in Australian bus assets". Channel NewsAsia. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  25. ^ End of an era for Forest Coach Lines Manly Daily 28 September 2018
  26. ^ CDC to Buy Buslink for AUD$190M - Its Largest Australian Purchase to Date Australasian Bus & Coach 6 November 2018
  27. ^ "Comfortdelgro Further Deepens Footprint in Australia With A$28.3 Million Bus Acquisition". ComfortDelGro. 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  28. ^ ComfortDelGro buys Australian bus operator B&E Blanch for A$28.3m Business Times 23 April 2019
  29. ^ "ComfortDelGro taps Nicholas Yap as CEO of Australia Operations". Shenton Wire. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  30. ^ United Revamped CDC Victoria June 2019
  31. ^ "$2 million bus upgrade". Barrier Daily Truth. 5 June 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  32. ^ "Buslink Sunraysia & Broken Hill Officially Renamed CDC Mildura & CDC Broken Hill". CDC Victoria. 1 March 2020.
  33. ^ a b "Sunshine Coast school bus network changes for Term 4 effective Tuesday 6 October 2020". Buslink. 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  34. ^ a b "CDC Queensland". CDC Queensland. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  35. ^ a b "ComfortDelGro Australia Further Strengthens Bus Footprint in Australia". ComfortDelgro Australia. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  36. ^ "ComfortDelGro seeks ASX listing for its Australian subsudiary", ComfortDelGro, 16 August 2021.
  37. ^ Cotter, Fabian (17 August 2021). "ComfortDelGro seeks CDC Australia ASX Float by year's end". Australasian Bus & Coach. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021.
  38. ^ Tan, Christopher (16 August 2021). "ComfortDelGro looking to float Australian unit by year end". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  39. ^ "ComfortDelGro Australia Increases Presence in Regional NSW". ComfortDelGro Australia. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  40. ^ a b "Buslink Rebranding to CDC Northern Territory". CDC Northern Territory. 20 June 2022.
  41. ^ a b "ComfortDelGro Australia Group Wins Bid to Expand Bus Services in Sydney". CDC NSW. 7 November 2022.
  42. ^ a b "ComfortDelGro wins city bus contracts worth A$1.7b in Sydney". The Business Times Singapore. 7 November 2022.
  43. ^ "CDC announces Melbourne relocation". Australasian Bus & Coach. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  44. ^ "We have moved to a brand new office". Linkedin. ComfortDelGro Australia. August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  45. ^ ComfortDelGro Australia announces agreement to acquire ASX listed A2B Australia Limited ComfortDelGro Australia 22 December 2023
  46. ^ "Annual Report 2021". ComfortDelGro. p. 48-49. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  47. ^ "CDC Bus Industry Veteran Honoured in State Awards". ComfortDelGro Australia. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  48. ^ "CDC NSW". 2017. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017.
  49. ^ CDC A brand new look for CDC Victoria Archived 3 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  50. ^ "CDC Commences Services Under New Darwin Contract". CDC Northern Territory. 1 July 2022.
  51. ^ "About Our Company". Swan Taxis. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  52. ^ "$38m offer for Swan Taxis". WA Today. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  53. ^ a b "Australia - Perth". ComfortDelGro. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  54. ^ "Annual Report 2017". ComfortDelGro. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  55. ^ "Australia - Perth". ComfortDelGro. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  56. ^ "Annual Report 2018". ComfortDelGro. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
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