Dallas, TX-based Coach America Inc. will cease operations on July 23 and will layoff more than 70 employees. According to the Dallas Business Journal, Coach America’s Vice President of Human Resources Robert Baglio said the shutdown was for a variety of reasons.
Coach America Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early January in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. At the time Coach America was the largest tour and charter bus operator and the second largest motorcoach service provider in the U.S. As of late November the company, with its more than 3,000-vehicle fleet, had $402 million in debts and some $274 million in assets.
Earlier this month England’s Stagecoach Group agreed to buy nine Coach America businesses out of bankruptcy protection for $134 million to increase its Megabus network. The businesses purchased are centered in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington to California, Florida and Texas.
Also in May, Transportation Management Services Inc. (TMS) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets and operations of Coach America. According to TMS, the acquired assets and operations will provide TMS with further market expansion in Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, San Diego, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas, NV, Denver, CO, Houston, TX, Miami, FL, West Palm Beach, FL, Orlando, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Charlotte, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Raleigh-Durham, NC, and Jacksonville, NC.
In late November 2006, Fenway Partners, a middle market private equity firm, entered in to an agreement to acquire Coach America, then the largest tour and charter bus operator and the second largest motorcoach services provider in the U.S., from Kohlberg & Company. The New York firm acquired Coach America for $60 million. The company was generating $393 million in revenues at that time. Fenway became the company’s largest shareholder when it invested in Coach America back in 2006.