New Zealand’s largest family-owned bus and coach company, Tranzit Group, has acquired long-standing Hawke’s Bay family-owned bus and coach company Nimon and Sons.
The sale of the bus company, which operates charter, luxury tours and school bus services throughout Hawke’s Bay and Taupo, was completed last week.
The sale and purchase agreement includes Tranzit buying Nimon’s existing business contracts and assets, including their fleet of over 130 vehicles, as well as the leasing of the three Nimon depot sites at Whakatu, Napier and Taupo from the Nimon family.
Tranzit Group managing director Paul Snelgrove says the two companies have always had a huge mutual respect and share similar family values.
“Like Nimon and Sons, we are a family-owned transport and tourism company with our roots firmly in the Wairarapa for almost 100 years.
“The Nimon family has built an iconic and well-known business and we appreciate the strength of the Nimon name throughout Hawke’s Bay and Taupo. We are committed to continuing their legacy in years to come by taking on the core of their operations and delivering exceptional services,” he says.
The sale and purchase agreement comes after Tranzit Group was confirmed as the preferred supplier of new Ministry of Education (MOE) daily and technology school runs in Hawke’s Bay from 2022.
This means Tranzit remains the third largest supplier of daily school bus and technology transport throughout New Zealand and the largest provider of SESTA (Specialised School Transport Assistance) services for the MOE. Tranzit is not a newcomer to Hawke’s Bay with three businesses already operating in the region, of which two are in the transport sector.
Since this MOE tender news was announced, Tranzit has been working with the Nimon family through a positive transition period including meeting their existing team members in July and recently, beginning the interview process to bring across many of that team to ensure minimal disruption and continuity of services.
“We are proud to announce we have appointed our management team for Hawke’s Bay and have taken on over 80 drivers. We look forward to welcoming Nimon team members to our Tranzit family,” Snelgrove says.
Nimon’s managing director Bill Nimon will continue his business interests with Roadchill, a road freight company, and Nimon Mechanical, a commercial workshop.
Impressed with their quality and standard, Tranzit have appointed Nimon Mechanical to service and maintain their fleet of vehicles in the Hawke’s Bay.
“Stepping back from the bus industry after 116 years of operation has been a difficult decision for our family to make, however we know this is the right outcome for our team as we are putting them into a safe pair of hands with Tranzit and giving continuity for our team, our customers and suppliers,” says Katie Nimon who worked as company general manager.
Snelgrove says all Nimon’s existing school bus services in term four will continue to operate under Tranzit with minimal disruption to parents, students and schools. This means the same vehicles, same driver and the same team.
Starting in January 2022 there will be a soft transition and gradual introduction of Tranzit fleet and brand into Hawke’s Bay and Taupo.
“We are very confident students, their parents and the schools we are contracted to deliver MOE or private school bus services for, will continue to remain in a safe pair of hands,” he says.
