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- Based near London’s Tower Bridge, Anderson operates around 40 coaches
- FirstGroup’s latest acquisition comes after it bought York Pullman in March
FirstGroup has bought coach company Anderson Travel for an undisclosed fee, bolstering its FirstBus division.
Based near London’s famous Tower Bridge, Anderson operates around 40 coaches of various sizes from stations in central London and Heathrow Airport.
Among the services offered are a contracted school, minibus, private tours for groups and a day trip program aimed at international tourists.
Acquisition: FirstGroup has bought coach company Anderson Travel for an undisclosed amount to help bolster its FirstBus division.
In the year ending June 2023, it achieved £7.3m in revenue and £1m in earnings before interest and tax.
Gerald Koo, a research analyst at Panmure Liberum, estimates that FirstGroup spent “single-digit millions” on the Anderson acquisition, based on the latter’s historical financial performance.
Mark Anderson, founder and majority owner of the group, will continue to run its day-to-day operations while integrating into First Bus.
FirstGroup’s latest acquisition comes after it bought York Pullman, comprising five coach service brands, in March and Essex-based Ensign Bus last year.
Graham Sutherland, chief executive of FirstGroup, said the deal “builds on our recent strategic acquisitions in the B2B and B2C coach market”.
He added: “We will continue to identify and evaluate opportunities to diversify and grow as we increase our share of the adjacent services market in the UK, where we see considerable opportunities for stable, long-term and value-added growth.”
FirstGroup has been expanding its coach operations amid expectations that the new Labor Government will renationalise Britain’s rail network.
The Aberdeen-based company runs three major train operators: Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway and South Western Railway, as well as open access rail services Lumo and Hull Trains.
In the last financial year covering the 12 months ending March 2024, its First Rail division recorded around £3.7bn of turnover and 274m passengers, an increase of 10.9 per cent on the previous year.
While the company’s FirstBus division only made £1 billion in revenue, it attracted 424.4 million passengers, equivalent to 1.1 million trips per day.
According to FirstGroup, the bus division operates more than 4,800 buses, employs around 13,500 people and serves more than a fifth of the UK population.
first group shares They were up 0.7 per cent on Monday morning at 140.3p, but have fallen around 20 per cent this year.
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