Kinetic Group (formerly known as AATS Group) is an Australian-based multinational bus company that wholly owns a number of bus operations in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, including the SkyBus business, which operates bus services to a number of airports in both countries. Through its 51%-owned subsidiary Go-Ahead Group based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Kinetic also operates buses and railway services in the United Kingdom,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Kinetic is majority owned by Canadian pension fund OPTrust and Australian infrastructure manager Infrastructure Capital Group.

History

AATS started in 2014 as a consortium that included Catalyst Direct Capital Management and OPTrust Private Markets Group to purchase SkyBus. Michael Sewards and Adam Begg were the founders and became the co-CEOs of the company. AATS purchased Transit Australia Group (TAG) in April 2019, including bus companies Sunbus and Surfside Buslines. It was rebranded the Kinetic Group in August 2019, and remains the parent company of SkyBus and TAG. In the same month, OPTrust began to seek a co-investor in Kinetic Group, who would hold a minority share in the group. Kinetic acquired Sydney bus and coach charter company

Telfords Bus & Coach Telfords Bus & Coach, formerly branded Telford's, was an Australian bus company operating charter services in Sydney. As of late 2022, Telfords Bus & Coach has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. The c ...

in November 2019, followed by Cairns bus operator Love's Bus Service Queensland in January 2020. In March 2020, it was announced that Kinetic would buy GoBus with 1,700 buses, subject to approval by the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office. Approval was given in June and the acquisition was completed in August 2020. In December 2020, Campbell's Coaches,

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

was acquired. In February 2021, Kinetic announced it had agreed terms to purchase Greyhound Australia's resources business Greyhound Resources that provides mine transport for workers in the Bowen Basin, Hunter Valley,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

with 170 vehicles. The deal was expected to close in April 2021. This has since been rebranded as Kinetic Resources. In April 2021, it was announced that

Redline Coaches Redline Coaches was Tasmania's largest coach operator. It operated both route and charter services. As of late 2022, Redline coaches has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic, and has now been dissolved ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

would be acquired. Following OPTrust's 2019 announcement of seeking a co-investor, Infrastructure Capital Group acquired a 49% shareholding in Kinetic in October 2021. On 31 January 2022,

Kinetic Melbourne Kinetic Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Australia, operating a fleet of 531 buses on 43 bus routes, as well as seven SmartBus routes. It commenced operations on 31 January 2022, taking over all routes previously operated by Transdev M ...

took over the routes operated by Transdev Melbourne, with 531 buses, under a contract which runs until June 2031. In February 2022, Kinetic acquired Sainty's North East Bus Service, with vehicles and drivers joining Kinetic's Redline Coaches business. In March 2022, Kinetic announced its acquisition of NZ Bus, which operates in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

and is one of New Zealand's biggest urban bus operators, with 800 buses and 14 depots. In the same month, Kinetic also announced the acquisition of Mersey Bus & Coach Services (Merseylink), the largest private operator in Tasmania which operates 51 general and school bus services in Devonport and north-west Tasmania. In June 2022, in partnership with Globalvia, Kinetic's offer to purchase the Go-Ahead Group was recommended for acceptance by its board The sale was approved by Go-Ahead's shareholders in August 2022. Kinetic has a 51% shareholding. In November 2022, Kinetic began operating a new depot at

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Aylesbur ...

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

, offering school route and charter services, general charter and event services. In late 2022, four of Kinetic's subsidiaries, Sunbus (including Love's Bus Service Queensland), Surfside Buslines,

and

, were rebranded to Kinetic.

Operations

Below is Kinetic's current and former bus companies that it operates: Northern Territory *Greyhound Resources Queensland ''(Love's Bus Service Queensland, Sun Bus and Surfside Buslines are being dissolved and re-branded as Kinetic from late 2022)'' *Campbell's Coaches * Love's Bus Service Queensland * Sunbus **

Sunbus Cairns Sunbus Cairns, previously Marlin Coast Sunbus, was the principal bus operator in Cairns, Queensland operating services under the TransLink (Queensland) scheme in the Cairns region. It is one of Sunbus' operations. As of late 2022, Sunbus has ch ...

**Sunbus Magnetic Island **

Sunbus Rockhampton Sunbus Rockhampton previously Capricorn Sunbus was the principal bus operator in Rockhampton, Queensland operating services under the QConnect scheme in Regional Queensland. It was one of Sunbus' operations. As of 2022 Sunbus has changed its n ...

** Sunbus Sunshine Coast **

Sunbus Townsville Sunbus Townsville was the principal bus operator in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, operating services under the Translink (Queensland) scheme in Regional Queensland. It is one of Sunbus' operations. As of 2022 Sunbus has changed its name as ...

* Surfside Buslines *Kinetic Resources * SkyBus New South Wales ''(Telfords Bus & Coach as well as Surfside Buslines are being dissolved and re-branded as Kinetic from late 2022)'' * Surfside Buslines *

South Australia *Kinetic Resources * SkyBus Tasmania ''(Redline Coaches is being dissolved and re-branded as Kinetic from late 2022)'' *

* SkyBus Victoria *

* SkyBus Western Australia *Kinetic Resources *Kinetic Western Australia (bus hire and charter) New Zealand * Go Bus * Johnston's

Go-Ahead

Through its 51% shareholding in Go-Ahead Group, Kinetic also operates buses in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Ireland, and railway services in the United Kingdom, Norway and Germany.

References

External links

Official website
{{Kinetic Group 2014 establishments in Australia Australian companies established in 2014 Transport companies established in 2014 Companies based in Melbourne Holding companies of Australia Kinetic Group companies