Metropolitan European Transport (MET), the high-growth European local bus operator run by a team of experienced UK-based transport industry executives, has secured £8.3m from Business Growth Fund (BGF) to fund continued growth in Europe.
MET plans to use the funds to acquire bolt-on regional bus operators and support tendering activity.
The UK-based management team has significant sector experience and a track record for growing businesses in the sector.
Before co-founding MET, CEO David Leeder was a main board director at First Group and CEO of West Midlands Travel. MET’s CFO is Guy Houston, a former UK bus FD for FirstGroup, who has also held senior finance roles at Transport Scotland and Stagecoach UK Bus. The company’s Chairman is Iain Lanaghan, a co-founder of transport group Abellio and the former CFO of First Group plc.
Business Growth Fund (BGF) is a £2.5bn UK-based firm that invests UK-based small and medium enterprises. It was created in 2011 and is owned major UK banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered. BGF exists to support small and medium sized UK growth businesses with financial investment .
MET was set up in 2011 with a focus on providing local and regional bus services in Germany, Europe’s largest and most fragmented local bus markets. The business now operates from two regional hubs, based in Frankfurt and Cologne, providing local bus services, special needs transport and school transport for local authorities, government entities and corporate bodies.
MET CEO David Leeder explained: “BGF’s significant investment in the business will allow MET to continue our expansion. We see many opportunities for profitable growth through both the consolidation of small bus businesses, and as more local authorities place transport services to public tender. BGF’s investment will give us the capital to take advantage of these opportunities.”
David Gammie from BGF added: “We’ve backed a high calibre team with very credible sector experience. David and his team has already grown the business significantly since founding it in 2011. They have demonstrated their ability to grow through competitive tendering and successfully making bolt-on acquisitions. We look forward to supporting the business on the next stage of its growth story.”
The investment was led for BGF by David Gammie, Mike Sibson and Keith Barclay and for MET by Iain Lanaghan, Guy Houston and David Leeder. MET was advised by Noventus Partners.
