SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Mr Raymond Ng, executive chairman of mainboard-listed Enviro-Hub Holdings, has acquired taxi firm Premier Taxis through a unit of property development firm BS Capital Group, which he owns.
In a statement on Friday (Aug 5), BS Capital Group announced that its subsidiary Carros Project Management has successfully purchased 100 per cent of the shares in Premier Corporation. This means it will take control of Premier Taxis, a holder of a street-hail service operator licence (SSOL) and Class 2 ride-hail service operator licence (RSOL), along with its other subsidiaries.
In 2012, BS Capital Group founded Carros Project Management to expand the group's presence. Carros ventured into the motor-vehicle leasing business with the launch of BIS Motoring at the end of 2017.
It now runs a fleet of more than 1,000 private-hire vehicles.
Mr Ng told The Business Times that the group sees "natural synergies" of the taxi-leasing business with Carros' private-hire vehicles, and that the acquisition was part of the group's expansion plan in the motoring business.
BS Capital Group operates a portfolio of industrial, commercial, retail and residential assets."With this acquisition, we will be able to take advantage of the economies of scale in terms of hirers, repair and maintenance of the fleets," Mr Ng said.
"We will also be able to leverage both Premier Taxis' and our network to connect with new and existing customers. We hope that through this acquisition, we will be able to strengthen our foothold in the automotive space."
Despite being "heavily affected" during the pandemic, the group is confident that point-to-point transport will "be back to its shape soon" as Singapore moves back to normalcy, Mr Ng noted.
"As we emerge at the tail-end of the pandemic, it's important that we take steps well in advance so that we can best position ourselves to capitalise on opportunities that arise. The acquisition of Premier Corporation comes at a time of renewed interest in travel and leisure activities," he added.
