 | |
 American Coach Lines #598 inNew York City. | |
| Parent | Fenway Partners |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 (2003) |
| Defunct | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Dallas,TX |
| Locale | United States |
| Service area | United States except New England and New York, Pittsburgh, and Chicago metropolitan areas |
| Service type | Local bus service, commuter bus service, contract service, charter service, leasing services, crew transport |
| Operator | Various Coach America/American Coach Lines subsidiaries nationwide |
| Chief executive | George Maney |
| Website | Coach America |
Coach America, also doing business asAmerican Coach Lines, was a holding company for American bus services owned by New York-based private equity firmFenway Partners operating under the Coach America, American Coach Lines, andGray Line names (at some locations, operating under pre-existing branding). Coach America consisted of all formerCoach USA operations except for the midwestern United States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New England, along with Lakefront Lines in Ohio (acquired separately).[1] For the nine years of its existence, Coach America was based inDallas,Texas.[2]
The properties that became Coach America were previously owned by Scotland-basedStagecoach Group asCoach USA's Western, South Central, and Southeastern divisions. Coach America was formed in 2003 when, after Stagecoach Group evaluated its Coach USA business, it decided to retain mostly its scheduled and local transit services in the Northeast and North Central region and put the rest of the company up for sale.[3] The South Central and West divisions of Coach USA were sold toKohlberg & Co., LLC,[4] with these companies continuing to use the Coach USA name for a time, but eventually changing to Coach America. The Southeast division was sold to a separate buyer,Lincolnshire Management, and became American Coach Lines.[5]
In 2006, Coach America purchased American Coach Lines from Lincolnshire.[6] In November of that same year, Kohlberg sold Coach America to another private equity firm, Fenway Partners.[7] Coach America acquired the Ohio carrier Lakefront Lines in 2008.[8]
In early 2012, following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the assets of Coach America were sold in units. Stagecoach repurchased eight of the Coach America properties that it had sold in the 2003 divestiture, plus Lakefront Lines/Hopkins Transportation in Ohio. Tornado Bus Company bought the El Expreso operation, Professional Transportation, Inc. purchased Coach America's rail crew division, and Transportation Management Services purchased the remainder of Coach America's operations, formingHorizon Coach Lines, except for theLos Angeles DOT contract, which was sold toMV Transportation; three Florida locations were later flipped toAcademy Bus. The Dallas office closed in July 2012, ending Coach America operations.[9][10]
Coach America was organized into several divisions:[11]
