06/19/2024 / By Ethan Huff
A budget bus alternative to Greyhound is facing bankruptcy as the true American economy bends under the continued pressure of insurmountable debt, inflation and bad bets.
Megabus, which is owned by Coach USA, is known for its tickets that cost as little as $1 a pop. It currently operates in 500 cities across America, having first launched in 2006.
Despite serving more than 50 million Americans, Megabus and its parent company Coach USA are filing for bankruptcy. Coach USA, which serves 38 million people a year, also runs various other brands including Dillon’s Bus Company and Go Van Galder.
According to Coach CEO Derrick Waters, Megabus buses will continue to run as normal during the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
“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.
(Related: Last fall, Rite Aid announced plans to close up to 500 stores as part of the company’s bankruptcy proposal.)
The cause of the bankruptcy is said to be the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) “pandemic,” which caused many people not to travel like they once did. Another cause is private equity.
Coach USA, which operates in 27 locations in the United States and Canada with 2,700 employees and 2,070 buses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware. Its goal is to sell all assets and shed all debt from a poorly-timed 2019 private equity buyout.
The largest privately-owned bus company in the U.S., Megabus was acquired by private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors for $270 million, which completed the buyout using mostly debt that is still on the company’s books.
Immediately after being bought out by the private equity vultures, Coach USA started having trouble servicing its debt. Add to that the 90 percent decline in ridership between 2019 and 2020 and the company was suddenly a sinking ship.
Like clockwork, the “pandemic” coupled with the private equity attack turned Megabus and Coach USA from thriving bus companies to bloody corpses to be picked clean by finance sharks with billions to spare.
This is a big part of what the “pandemic” was all about, by the way: the destruction and takeover of not only the American but the entire global economy by the money masters.
Though bus ridership levels have rebounded somewhat since the lows of 2020, they are still only at about 45 percent of pre-“pandemic” levels, probably because skyrocketing inflation has made it impossible for many people to travel or even eat.
In court filings, Coach USA claimed that higher interest rates and increased costs for basic needs like employee retention and fuel are other factors driving the company’s need to file for bankruptcy.
“Coach entered Chapter 11 with $197.8 million in debt, including $37 million due on a pandemic relief loan under the Coronavirus Aid Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act, and at least $134 million in other unpaid obligations, including trade debts,” media reports explain.
“Coach entered bankruptcy with three sale agreements in place, each of which is subject to higher and better offers. Those sale agreements cover 16 of Coach’s 25 business lines, and they would preserve jobs for about 2,100 Coach employees, according to court documents.”
A private investment company called the Renco Group will now aim to acquire the majority of Coach USA’s assets in exchange for taking on $130 million of company debt as well as union contracts that will remain in place.
It is also being reported that the bankruptcy will also entail:
– Avalon Transportation buying bus lines in Atlanta and several Western states, as well as specialized tour bus divisions operated by Coach USA, for $14.8 million
– ABC Buses buying a fleet of 143 double-decker buses for $2.3 million
Brick by brick, the American economy is being demolished by the globalists. Learn more at Collapse.news.
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Tagged Under:
bankruptcy, Bubble, bus, Collapse, debt bomb, debt collapse, economic riot, finance riot, Inflation, market crash, Megabus, money supply, risk, transportation
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