Grenda family sells majority stake in bus building arm Volgren Australia to Brazil’s Marcopolo, one of the world’s largest bus manufacturers
December 13, 2011
The Grenda family has sold a majority stake in its bus building arm Volgren Australia to Brazil’s Marcopolo, one of the world’s largest bus manufacturers.
It follows the recent sale of Grenda Transit to Ventura Buslines.
In a statement, the company says the agreement was entered into late yesterday.
The Grenda family will retain a minority interest in the Volgren business, retaining local ownership and ensuring a smooth transition for staff and customers.
Volgren is the largest bus body builder in Australia and employs more than 560 people. The company has a market presence all over the Australian territory with more than 40 percent market share. It has factories in Dandenong (Vic), Brisbane (Qld), Malaga (WA) and Tomago (NSW). In 2010-11 the company posted sales of 698 units and revenue of $207.1 million.
Founded in 1949, Marcopolo is listed company on the Brazilian stock exchange and is still controlled by the original founding family.
As one of the world’s largest bus manufacturers it produces around 30,000 buses annually from 11 plants worldwide, including a components factory located in Changzhou, China.
Marcopolo employs more than 18,000 people, has a turnover of around $1.6 billion and produces a variety of products on predominantly European chassis, including luxury coaches, intercity buses, city buses and mini buses.
The acquisition is part of Marcopolo’s expansion strategy and represents an important step towards the company’s geographical expansion plans in foreign markets.
Grenda CEO Geoff Grenda says the two companies have a close alignment on their core values around people and customer service.
He adds that the purchase is a positive endorsement of Volgren’s people, products and processes, its position as market leader and its potential to grow further.
It will allow for a continued focus on local manufacture and local employment, while at the same time strengthening Volgren’s overall capability and global competitiveness by being part of a very large group with large scale manufacturing know-how and capability.
“We are particularly pleased to be associated with a company that shares our philosophy around people and are looking forward to working with them to ensure Volgren remains at its rightful place at the top of the Australian bus building industry,” he says.
The Grenda family was advised by UBS, Arnold Bloch Leibler and MGI Melbourne.