Singapore taxi firm ComfortDelGro to acquire AZ Bus charter assets for $10.25m

April 11, 2018

Singapore’s largest taxi operator ComfortDelGro has announced that it will acquire the private bus chartering assets of AZ Bus Pte Ltd for $10.25 million as it seeks to consolidate its position in the industry.

In a statement, ComfortDelGro said, the acquisition will be conducted by its bus operation arm ComfortDelGro Bus Pte Ltd. When completed, it will increase ComfortDelGro Bus’ fleet to 300 buses and, including sub-contractors’ buses, the total fleet will be about 460.

“Private charter continues to see strong growth thanks to corporate hire and large ad hoc events. With this acquisition, we will be able to leverage on size and scale as we bid for even more contracts,” said Yang Ban Seng, CEO of ComfortDelGro.

AZ Bus, established in 1985 as Yeo Keng Sin Transport Service, operates private charter, school bus and tour bus services. Its customers include American, Japanese and Korean multinational corporations as well as local enterprises from the semiconductor, manufacturing, construction, oil and gas, and leisure & hospitality industries.

ComfortDelGro, meanwhile, is one of the world’s largest land transport companies with a total fleet size of over 42,500 buses, taxis and rental vehicles. Headquartered in Singapore, the Group also has operations in China, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

ComfortDelGro Bus which also operates premium bus services and shuttle bus services for industrial parks, shopping malls, educational institutions and condominiums, recently secured a 10- year contract by Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd to provide bus transportation services in Bukom, according to the statement.

Last month, ComfortDelgro Savico Taxi, a joint venture of Saigon General Service Corporation (Savico) of Vietnam and ComfortDelGro, suspended its business to preserve funds and restructure its taxi-related business in the wake of competition from rivals.