(Reuters) - Australian travel and tourist firm SeaLink Travel Group <SLK.AX> said on Tuesday it will acquire bus operator Transit Systems Group for an enterprise value of A$635 million ($427.48 million), in a move to help the firm tap international markets.
The acquisition also includes a A$63 million earn-out component, based on Transit's FY20 earnings.
Transit, Australia's largest private operator of metropolitan public bus services, also operates in London and Singapore.
SeaLink, which caters to over 8 million travellers annually, plans to partly fund the acquisition by raising A$154 million through a placement and an entitlement offer.
The acquisition will also see a shake up of the top management, with current Transit Group Chief Executive Clint Feuerherdt replacing Jeff Ellison as SeaLink's CEO.
Transit's current Chairman and founding member Neil Smith will also join SeaLink's board as a non-executive director.
"I see significant opportunity for the combined group to target integrated multi-modal passenger transport contracts across the public and private sectors," said current Transit Systems chief executive Clint Feuerherdt.
(Reporting by Syed Saif Hussain Naqvi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler and Uttaresh.V)
