MAINBOARD-LISTED ComfortDelGro Corporation : C52 0% is acquiring Irish coach operator GoBus for 12 million euros (S$17 million), a move that will catapult it to be the third-largest inter-city coach operator in the country.

Acquiring through its wholly-owned unit ComfortDelGro Irish Citylink, the Singapore transport behemoth will get a fleet of 31 buses and 3 inter-city coach routes, namely, the Galway-Dublin Express, the Cork-Dublin Express and the Galway-Ballina Express.

These routes have been experiencing “strong” commuter demand in recent months, with the Cork-Dublin route already operating at pre-pandemic levels, ComfortDelGro said in its regulatory filing on Wednesday (Jul 13).

The purchase price was arrived at on a “willing buyer willing seller” basis following arms’ length negotiations, taking into account factors including projected performance of Evobus and Coach based on relevant historical analysis, ComfortDelGro said.

Evobus and Coach operates the GoBus coach service.

ComfortDelGro Irish Citylink offers a range of services in Galway, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Clifden, Loughrea, Athlone and Ballinasloe. Currently, the company operates a fleet of 33 buses and transports over 28,000 people a week across all routes, and is forecast to reach a ridership of more than 35,000 by end-2022.

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ComfortDelGro shares closed unchanged at S$1.42 on Wednesday, before the announcement was made.