WALL N.J. — Student Transportation of America, Ltd. last night announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide transportation services to Duval County, Fla., Public Schools beginning in the 2009-2010 school year. The initial five-year contract is valued at $14.3 million per school year with annual increases provided. With a total value of more than $71 million in the first five years, the contract also includes an option to renew beyond the base years for an additional five-year period giving the company a new platform for growth in the Southeast.
STA will purchase an entirely new fleet of school vehicles to serve more than 250 routes covering the 841 square-mile area surrounding Jacksonville, Florida.
“This contract is a huge win for STA; and certainly one of the largest in our company’s 12-year history,” said STA Chairman and CEO Denis J. Gallagher. “It’s a testament to our outstanding reputation for safe, reliable quality service. With this new contract, we have firmly placed a flag in the ground in Florida which will serve as a base as we grow our regional density throughout the Southeast, an area of the country with the largest concentration of school districts that still own and operate their own school bus fleets.”
“We have been asked to review the transportation needs of a number of school districts this year where modernization of fleets and cost reductions are necessary to help relieve already strained municipal budgets. Our investment here is long term, which was one of the most attractive things we liked about this opportunity. We will put tremendous resources into this contract and, with the experience we have, we plan to do an excellent job for the school district, and the community as well as provide our drivers and staff with a great family atmosphere in which to work,” Gallagher said.
As the fourth largest provider of school bus transportation services in North America, STA currently serves more than 200 school districts and continues to pursue strategic growth opportunities through acquisitions, bids and school district conversions throughout the United States and Canada. The company conducts operations through a family of local operating subsidiaries and regional teams firmly routed in the local communities they serve.
About Student Transportation Founded in 1997, Student Transportation is the fourth-largest provider of school bus transportation services in North America, conducting operations through local operating subsidiaries. Student Transportation has become a leading school bus transportation company by aggregating operations through the consolidation of existing providers and conversion of in-house operations and currently operates more than 5,600 school vehicles in North America.
For more information, please visit www.rideSTA.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.
