US bus company Coach files for bankruptcy to sell its business
CNN
Coach USA, the operator of Megabus and other commuter bus lines in the US and Canada, filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware late Tuesday, seeking to sell its assets and shed debt incurred in an ill-timed 2019 private equity buyout.
Coach USA, the operator of Megabus and other commuter bus lines in the US and Canada, filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware late Tuesday, seeking to sell its assets and shed debt incurred in an ill-timed 2019 private equity buyout. Coach, the largest privately owned bus company in the US, was acquired by private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors for $270 million, mostly using debt that is still on the company’s books. Coach quickly ran into trouble servicing its debt, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused bus ridership to decline by 90% from 2019 to 2020, according to documents filed in Wilmington, Delaware bankruptcy court. While ridership levels have rebounded somewhat since the lows of 2020, they were still only 45% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023, and Coach has faced higher interest rates and increased costs for basic needs like employee retention and fuel, Coach said in its court filings. Coach CEO Derrick Waters said that buses will continue to run as normal during the company’s bankruptcy. “Our top priority remains safely carrying the millions of passengers who choose our buses each year and working closely with our valued contract customers and transportation agency partners,” Waters said in a statement.