Wilbraham, MA

www.gobeacon.com

Shawnee, KS

www.dsbuslines.com

www.midwestbussales.com

The Companies

DS Bus Lines is a provider of general and special-education student transportation to school districts in the lower Midwest and Southwest United States. Midwest Bus Sales is a school bus dealership and leasing facility with several locations throughout the Midwest. The companies are both headquartered in Kansas and have remained family-owned since they were founded by the Kincaid Family in 1974. DS Bus Lines and Midwest Bus Sales add incredibly strong brands and management team members to the Beacon family and the CEO of both companies, Scott Kincaid, will lead Beacon’s Central region as Senior Vice President of Operations going forward.

The Deal

Beacon Mobility (“Beacon”) has invested in DS Bus Lines and Midwest Bus Sales to further accelerate the organic growth of the company and expand its footprint in the Midwest and into the Southwest United States. The deal brings Beacon into new markets, including New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. In addition to helping scale Beacon’s national platform, Midwest Bus Sales’ complementary dealership and leasing segments bring significant supply chain and capex savings to Beacon’s core business.

The Thesis

Audax completed its investment in Beacon in May 2018. Audax has invested in the company’s growth initiatives and expanded its service offerings, growing from a Massachusetts-based provider of transportation services catering to special needs students to a national specialty transportation platform operating in 21 states across the U.S. Consistent with the original thesis to build the consolidator of choice in specialty transportation services, DS Bus Lines and Midwest Bus Sales mark Beacon’s 15^th and 16^th acquisitions under Audax ownership. 

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