The sale of Invercargill-based McDermott Coachlines to Go Bus was completed yesterday.
McDermott Coachlines has a fleet of 81 buses and employs 76 staff operating school and charter services throughout the Southland region and has depots in Winton and Invercargill.
Go Bus operates across New Zealand and has a fleet of about 1800 vehicles.
The purchase of McDermott would give Go Bus the opportunity to expand its range of services "significantly" in the lower South Island, Go Bus chief executive Calum Haslop said.
“Our intention is to continue to operate the McDermott school services through to the end of the year on their current contracts, and then deploy all staff and vehicles on to the new Ministry of Education contracts that Go Bus was recently awarded in the area.
"These new contracts commence in January 2022 and will run for between nine and 12 years," Mr Haslop said.
"We will also continue to operate the separate school contracts at Aparima and Waianiwa and McDermott’s existing charter business," he said.
All McDermott staff would carry on in their current roles as usual, and there would be no changes to pay rates or conditions, Mr Haslop said.
In a statement, the McDermott family shareholders said it was a good time to exit the business.
"This is a very positive step for the business, our staff and customers," the family said.
