GC Cabs reaches end of the road

HEAR FROM TOURISM AND MAJOR EVENTS EXPERTS INCLUDING: | | THE Gold Coast Cabs brand is set to disappear after shareholders in owner Regent Taxis Ltd voted overwhelmingly to sell to 13cabs for $2.5 million.

Ninety-nine per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the acquisition by 13cabs operator A2B at a meeting yesterday morning.

The sale will see the listed A2B, formerly known as Cabcharge, take over the booking and dispatch service of Regent Taxis, leaving the company with 23 taxi licences and its Helensvale property.

It will wipe out Regent’s $1.825 million debt pile (as of FY18), which is understood to be the prime motivation for the sale.

Revenue fell from $7.054 million in FY17 to $6.693 million the following year.

The transaction requires the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for completion.

A2B COO Stuart Overell said yesterday’s result was “a great vote of confidence that 13cabs is the way forward”.

He said if ACCC approval were granted, the company would rebrand the taxis as 13cabs and extend its network beyond where it currently operates in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney.

P2P Transport, which owns 157 vehicles in the 380-strong Gold Coast Cabs fleet, has indicated it will pull out of its arrangement with Regent Taxis, which it is suing, and operate under the Black & White Cabs banner.

Mr Overell said he expected a “significant” number of taxis to be replaced in the wake of the deal.

The company has a policy that sedans and maxi cabs cannot be older than 10 years.

Mr Overell said the ridesharing industry was its biggest competition and a lot of new technology had been put in place to take on Uber.

He said that included its own app, which mirrors Uber’s, and has been downloaded more than two million times.

Gold Coast Cabs executive general manager Benjamin Lee said the acquisition would not result in job losses, with employees offered like-for-like jobs at A2B.

“13cabs is a national very well recognised brand that is well respected,” he said. “We’re keen to try and take whatever steps are appropriate to make the transition as quick as possible pending ACCC approval.”