Hoekstra Transportation is expanding its dealer network into Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee following the purchase of equity interest in The Bus Center.
The company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, announced the merger on Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Both Hoekstra and The Bus Center — the latter which operates Mid-South Bus Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Transportation South in Pelham, Alabama; and The Bus Center in Atlanta and Acworth, Georgia — both sell new and used Thomas Built Buses and provide vehicle service. The Bus Center adds Forest River, which recently bought the Collins Bus brand.
Hoekstra said in a statement that the merger equates to 1,300 new school bus deliveries a year, about 3 percent of the average national output, as well as 1,400 commercial buses and vans annually. It also results in a combined $4 million in local parts inventory, $500 million in regional production distribution centers, and $16 million in annual parts sales.
The five stand-alone bus and van service facilities combined employ 250 people.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us, as we look to grow our operations and partnerships,” said Mark Hoekstra, president and CEO of Hoekstra Transportation. “The teams in place at The Bus Center locations are second to none, allowing all operations to remain intact, which made this merger even more attractive. We are thrilled to come together with another family-owned business that shares our principles and for the synergies and scale this brings to all of us.”
Bucky Law, president of The Bus Center, said he has no immediate plans to retire but can begin transitioning the companies to “likeminded owners.”
“The Hoekstra family and the Law family have been friends for many years, share the same values, and consider employees and customers as if they were family,” he continued. “These were important factors in making a succession decision for a business that has been in my family for a half century.”
Hoekstra also operates Hoekstra Truck Equipment and Hoekstra Specialty Vehicles.
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