Student Transportation Completes Acquisition
Wall, NJ — North America’s fastest growing school transportation provider, Student Transportation of America, Ltd. (“STA”) (TSX: STB) announced today it has completed the acquisition, after the previously announced Letter of Intent, of the combined operations of Jordan Transportation, Inc. and related companies (“Jordan”) based in Butler NJ. The transaction and closing was contingent upon meeting certain conditions and receiving various consents and renewals, which have been obtained. Management expects the deal to be immediately accretive to shareholders of its common stock.
Jordan is the company’s 35th acquisition since inception and will add over 135 vehicles, annualized revenues of US$7.2 million, and two locations to STA’s operations in New Jersey. The Company utilized availability under its senior credit facility, recently created with the proceeds of the common share offering completed in June 2009, to fund the acquisition.
“We are pleased to welcome the entire staff of Jordan to our growing family of companies. Mark Jordan will be joining our management team in NJ and we welcome his leadership. We certainly plan on continuing the tradition of service excellence the Jordan’s have developed over the past forty years,” said Denis J. Gallagher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of STA. “I have known the Jordan family for over 33 years and they have always had a great company. I am honored that they have chosen to be part of the STA family. Mark’s experience and commitment to the school bus industry as President of the Garden State School Bus Contractors Association fits very well with our on-going operations in other parts of the state.”
Gallagher added, “This year we will continue to look at great opportunities like Jordan. We have been very successful this past year, with good growth by winning new bid-in contracts that have good margins and very good cash flow. This is our fifth year as a public company. The sustainability and growth we have achieved is not seen in many businesses today and we hope shareholders value the cash we generate for dividends. We have always been a positive cash flow company that re-invests back into our fleet, our people, and our communities while also paying an attractive dividend to shareholders. We will continue that plan and believe the markets will respond positively. ”
Sun Mergers & Acquisitions, based in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ acted as sole financial advisor for the Jordan companies.
About Student Transportation
Founded in 1997 by Denis Gallagher, Student Transportation of America (STA) is North America’s third-largest and fastest-growing provider of school bus transportation services, operating more than 6,300 vehicles. STA’s family of local companies delivers safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation solutions to school districts throughout the US and Canada. Services are delivered by drivers, dispatchers, maintenance technicians, terminal managers and others who are caring members of their local communities. For more information, please visit www.rideSTA.com.
About Sun Mergers & Acquisitions
Sun, in conjunction with its affiliate, Sun Business Valuations, is a full-service professional business intermediary firm specializing in handling all aspects of the confidential sale, merger, acquisition and valuation of privately held middle-market companies, along with exit strategy planning and transaction consulting. For more information, please visit www.sunmerger.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which reflects the expectations of management regarding STA’s results of operations, expense levels, cost of capital, financial leverage, seasonality, cash flows, performance, liquidity, borrowing availability, financial ratios, ability to execute the STA’s growth strategy and cash distributions. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “track”, “targeted”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “should”, “plans” or “continue” or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. These forward looking statements reflect STA’s current expectations regarding anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations, which are not historical facts. Forward looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not or the times at which or by the performance or results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results discussed, expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement made by us or on our behalf, including, but not limited to the factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Information Form. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
INVESTOR CONTACTS:
Student Transportation of America Ltd.
Denis J. Gallagher
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Patrick J. Walker
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Keith P. Engelbert
Director of Investor Relations
(732) 280-4200
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.rideSTA.com