The Cornwall family’s Ventura Bus Lines has further extended its coverage of Melbourne with the acquisition of Ivanhoe Bus Company, effective July 1
June 4, 2010
The Cornwall family’s Ventura Bus Lines has further extended its coverage of Melbourne with the acquisition of Ivanhoe Bus Company, effective July 1.
Founded by the Morarty family in 1946, Ivanhoe has a fleet of 29 buses servicing the northern
suburbs of Coburg, West Preston, Northland, Kew, La Trobe and Heidelberg.
Managing Director Andrew Cornwall says Ventura was attracted by Ivanhoe’s
solid reputation under the management of the Morarty family and its complimentary network.
Ventura has grown from a one-man operation in 1924 to a significant business with some 850 employees and 500 vehicles carrying more than 25 million passengers per year across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Based in north Fitzroy, it has depots in Oakleigh, Knoxfield, Doncaster and Croydon.
Cornwall says the business, which employs 41 people, will continue to operate much the same as it is today out of the Heidelberg West depot – although Ventura plans to introduce some new IT systems that assist with the ongoing operations of the business.
The Ivanhoe acquisition follows the earlier purchase of fellow eastern suburbs operator US Bus Lines.