Bankers board Vic bus operator Ventura; binding bids loom
Things are getting wheel-y serious in Victorian bus bigwig Ventura Group’s search for a new owner.
Andrew Cornwall, owner of Ventura Bus Company. Josh Robenstone
It is understood Singapore-listed Keppel Infrastructure Holdings has tapped Flagstaff Partners to help prepare its binding bid, while rival suitor Mobility ADO is working with Sydney corporate advisor Origin Capital Group.
The two overseas suitors’ decision to hire advisors is a clear sign they aren’t just kicking tyres at the family-owned bus operator. As Street Talk previously reported, the two were among parties shortlisted after sell-side advisor Goldman Sachs collected binding bids on August 25.
Keppel, Mobility ADO and their respective advisors are expected to spend the coming weeks weighing Ventura’s future prospects. While the 99-year-old business has enviable market share in Victoria, it also faces earnings risk come 2028, thanks to government contracting changes announced earlier this year.
Mobility ADO, in particular, should be interesting to watch. The trade player has sought to invest in local operators for years but without much luck – it lost out to OPTrust’s Kinetic at Queensland’s Transit Australia Group in 2019 and then again at Next Capital’s NZ Bus last year.
Still, if there’s one party who should be able to price Ventura’s earnings risk accurately (early expectations were for $1 billion sale price), the Spanish trade player would be top of the list. (Other strategics, Kinetic and ComfortDelGro, did not make it through to the second round The latter submitted a joint indicative bid with Pacific Equity Partners).
Ventura has been owned by the Cornwall family since 1924. It makes $300 million in revenue annually, thanks to its 44 per cent
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