Fort Valley, Georgia – Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. has completed its acquisition of School Bus Holdings Inc., owner of Blue Bird Bus, from a subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus affiliates will continue to own approximately 58% of the outstanding common shares.
The business combination was approved at Hennessy’s special meeting of stockholders that concluded on February 23, 2015. Blue Bird is the leading independent designer and manufacturer of school buses, with more than 550,000 buses sold since its formation in 1927.
As part of the transaction, Hennessy changed its name to Blue Bird Corp. and will trade on the NASDAQ as BLBD.
“We are thrilled to have completed our business combination with Blue Bird,” says Daniel J. Hennessy, the former chairman and CEO of Hennessy, who will assume the role of Vice Chairman of the combined company. “Blue Bird is an iconic brand that has demonstrated significant growth momentum. We are excited by the prospects for continued growth as management executes on their strategy.”
The company will have a new board of directors that will bring in six members of Blue Bird’s existing board. Chan Galbato, CEO of Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company LLC, who has served as non-executive chairman of the Blue Bird Board of Directors since 2009, will continue in that capacity with the combined company.
Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird, will continue to serve in those roles and will hold a seat on the new board. The remainder of the Blue Bird management team will also remain in place. The Company will remain located in Fort Valley, Georgia.
Horlock adds, “We have a strong reputation for product quality as our focus has always been to build the world’s finest school bus. Our passion for safety, quality, durability and serviceability runs through our entire workforce and can be seen in the industry-leading buses we produce every day.”
Source: Blue Bird Corp.