13 December 2011
Late yesterday Grenda entered into an agreement to sell a majority stake in Volgren Australia Pty Ltd to Marcopolo S.A. Marcopolo is a listed company on the Brazilian stock exchange; it was founded in 1949 and is still controlled by the original founding family. Marcopolo is one of the world’s largest bus manufacturers’ producing around 30,000 buses per annum in 11 plants worldwide. They also have a components factory located in Changzhou China. Marcopolo employs over 18,000 people and has a turnover of around $1.6 billion Australian dollars. They make a variety of products on predominantly European chassis including luxury coaches, intercity buses, city buses and mini buses.
The two companies have a very close alignment on their core values around people and customer service. 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, whilst 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.
The Grenda family will retain a minority interest in the Volgren business, retaining local ownership and ensuring a smooth transition within Volgren and with its customer base.
Geoff Grenda, Grenda CEO said “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”.
The Grenda family was advised by UBS, Arnold Bloch Leibler and MGI Melbourne.
Marcopolo was advised by PWC.
For further media enquiries, please contact
Michelle Jablko (UBS) – 03 9242 6228
RELEVANT FACT
MARCOPOLO S.A. is the leading Brazilian bus body manufacturer and is listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange. It manufacturers around 30,000 buses per annum and employs over 18,000 people. Turnover is approximately A$1.6 billion.
Volgren is the largest bus body builder in Australia and employs over 560 people. The company has a market presence all over the Australian territory with more than 40% market share. It has factories in Dandenong (Vic), Brisbane (Qld.), Malaga (W.A.) and Tomago (N.S.W.). In the fiscal year from July/10 until June/11, the Company posted sales of 698 units with a revenue of A$ 207.1 million.
The acquisition is part of Marcopolo’s expansion strategy and represents an important step towards the Company’s geographical expansion plans in foreign markets.
