Australian green bus firm, GoZero group, has hit multiple bumps in its goal to electrify all of NSW’s 8000 buses, after its ambitions to become a public trading company were dashed last week.
International private capital firm The Carlyle Group, which initially helped with the manufacturer’s initial public offering (IPO) by offering a debt facility of more than $200 million in February, had its local partners Amicaa pull out of the deal.
Amicaa’s interest in the deal was what facilitated GoZero Group and all its subsidiaries’ acquisition by the Sydney-based clean energy and hydrogen company, United Hydrogen Limited (UHL), in late February.
The merger was negotiated to allow both companies to become individually listed on the Australian share market, with GoZero Group originally intending to list in mid-2025 with Morgans and MA Moelis Australia appointed as joint lead managers.
The two companies, once combined, would have $400 million in valuations, and UHL would list on the US stock market NASDAQ later, within the year of the transaction being finalised.
To align with the acquisition, UHL said it will also rebrand as New Energy Opportunities Limited, known as “NEO”, subject to shareholder approval, saying it strengthens its brand clarity.
With UHL at the helm, the GoZero group may skirt the consequences that could occur around previous majority owner and eco-investor Kirk Tsihlis.
Early last week, Tsihlis made headlines after one of his firms, M2 Sustainable Services, known as Metsquare 2, was forced into liquidation over $6.7 million owed in GST and Pay as You Go tax.
The company had worked on several NSW government jobs, such as the Victoria Cross Metro Station and Wyong Hospital, and was working on Sydney Children’s Hospital and Westmead Children’s Hospital. It currently has $13 million in contracts under way plus more in upcoming government agency contracts but had accrued almost $30 million in tax over the past four years in its between itself and associated entities.
Federal court documents also show that Tsihlis had recently fought off bankruptcy proceedings in the Federal Court brought on by the tax office – with the matter settled with the ATO. Consystex, another company for which Tsihlis is the director, was also due for in same court this month.
However, the bus company has yet to escape from Tsihlis’s influence. In January, the NSW state opposition questioned the current NSW government over why it had approved the GoZero group’s contract to deliver 126 electric buses when it knew about the tax issues with Metsquare.
Sources had told the AFR that Amicaa’s pull out from the deal was due to “reputational risks” from Tsihlis’s long term involvement with the bus company.
Local bus manufacturers closest to glory
GoZero group was on the path to becoming Australia’s largest local supplier of electric buses after it acquired Australian manufacturer BusTech when it entered voluntary admission in August 2024.
- Read The Fifth Estate’s full story here.
The company had absorbed Bus Tech’s 270 employees as well as its Queensland and South Australian warehouses, which had capabilities to manufacture diesel, hybrid and zero emission buses.
This added to GoZero’s existing 300 staff across its three subsidiaries: Nexport, an electric bus provider for public, school and private transport; NSBC, one of the largest bus charter companies based in NSW; and Foton Mobility, which distributes zero-emission electric trucks and other heavy transport.
Chief commercial officer John Featherstone told The Fifth Estate last year that the company was rolling out its electric buses to regional NSW to meet the state government’s goals to decarbonise buses in regional NSW completely by 2047.
With the acquisition, UHL was due to acquire the group’s 250 electric buses and trucks, as well as a fleet of over 350 charter buses, with more than 350 electric vehicles still in the delivery pipeline.
A confidential flyer acquired by the AFR suggests that Nexport’s key clients for public buses are currently Transport NSW as well as the Tasmanian and South Australian government.
Key clients for coaches were Grace Lutheran College, Danebank, St Andrews Catholic School and Trinity. Through Nexport and Foton Mobility were light commercial vehicle clients Woolworths, Foodbank, Kennards Hire and Mainfreight. Industrial clients included Qantas and Swissport.