Vestland
Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
which resulted from the
merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
of
Gaia Trafikk
Gaia Trafikk was the largest public transportation provider in Bergen and Os, Norway until it merged with HSD forming Tide.
Gaia was formed by the 1998 merger of Pan Trafikk, the bus company serving northern and southern Bergen, and Bergen S ...
public transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
network in the city of
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
, and most of the bus service in the former
Hordaland
Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...
county on contract with
Skyss
Skyss is the public authority that plans, purchases and markets the public transport services governed by the county authority in Vestland, Norway. Skyss does not have a board, but is governed by the county council. Skyss was established in 2007 ...
. Tide also runs the buses in northern
Rogaland
Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...
on contract with
Kolumbus :This article is about a transport agency. "Kolumbus" is also Elisa's GSM brand.
Kolumbus AS, formerly Rogaland Kollektivtrafikk FKF, is the public transportation administration in Rogaland, Norway and organised as a county agency. The agency is r ...
.
The group has two daughter companies, Tide Buss AS that operates the scheduled busses, and the leisure travel company Tide Reiser AS that also operates express, airport and charter buses and chartered ferries and fast passenger craft.
Formerly, Tide operated the passenger- and car ferry routes previously operated by HSD and Stavangerske, with the daughter company Tide Sjø.
The company was delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange when it was acquired by
Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap
Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap AS (DSD) is a private Norwegian transport and shipping company, established in 1855 with headquarters in Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway. The company operates internationally through its subsidiary companies DSD Shipp ...
.
Assets
At the time of the merger, Tide had a total of
*1040
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es
*30 car ferries
*10 boats
The company has about 3000 employees. The total value of the company was estimated at
NOK
Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site.
Archaeology
The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...
800 million. The company has 39 million passengers per year, of which 25 million are in Bergen. The company operates the only
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
service in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, Line 2 in Bergen, with eight trolleybuses. Another trolleybus service in Scandinavia runs in
Landskrona
Landskrona (old da, Landskrone) is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona t ...
, Sweden.
The merger process
Plans for mergers and takeovers in Hordaland's public transport business came forth in September 2005 when
Connex Norge
Boreal Norge AS (formerly Veolia Transport Norge AS and Connex Norge AS) is a Norwegian public transport operator. Established as a subsidiary of CGEA Transport in 1999, it operates through its subsidiaries buses, ferries and trams in the counti ...
reported interest in purchasing Gaia. On November 8 Gaia and HSD suggested a merger between the two companies instead, but the city cabinet leader of Bergen,
Monica Mæland
Monica Mæland (born 6 February 1968) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party who served as Minister of Justice from 2020 to 2021. Previously she served as Minister Local Government from 2018 to 2020, and Minister of Trade and Indus ...
and the mayor of Os opposed the idea. The employees of both companies openly supported the idea in June 2006. Two other companies,
Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Nettbuss
Vy Buss, formerly branded as Nettbuss, is the largest bus company in Norway, owned by Vy. It was established on 10 February 2000 as the continuation of the bus operations from former NSB Biltrafikk. In addition to bus services in major parts of N ...
, a subsidiary the
Norwegian State Railways
Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...
also showed interest in a takeover.
As majority shareholder in Gaia, the city council in Bergen decided to vote in favour of the HSD-Gaia merger on June 19, 2006. The name "Tide" was presented on June 27. Just a day before the
Extraordinary General Meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wou ...
s in both companies,
Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Henning Warloe, voted ''against'' the merger at Gaia's general meeting on June 29. As this was against the city council's resolution a
motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
was proposed. This motion failed on November 20, 2006 A new general meeting was called for Gaia and on July 17, the merger was approved in that company as well. The
Norwegian Competition Authority
Norwegian Competition Authority ( no, Konkurransetilsynet) is Norwegian Government agency responsible for managing the ''Competition Act'' of 2004, including regulations imposed through the European Economic Community. This includes regulating coo ...
approved the merger on October 25.
Initially, the buses in the new company retained their old colors, yellow for Gaia, red and white for HSD, with only the logo being changed. New buses will have a white livery.
The value of both the new brand name "Tide", as well as the new logo have been subject to some debate. "Gaia" and "HSD" were both well-established trademarks, and two experts on trademarks stated that the replacement name and logo were too anonymous. Tide itself have argued that the name is positive ("i tide" means "on time" in Norwegian), and that the logo represents both the land and sea-based transportation. Another criticism of the logo is that it resembles the word "shit" when viewed in a mirror.Shit, er ikke bussen i Tide?
Bergensavisen
''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage ...
November 20, 2006
On May 2, 2007 the boards of Tide and
Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap
Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap AS (DSD) is a private Norwegian transport and shipping company, established in 1855 with headquarters in Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway. The company operates internationally through its subsidiary companies DSD Shipp ...
(DSD) approved Tide's acquisition of Stavangerske AS, the ferry operating subsidiary of DSD. Jun 26, 2007 the Annual General Meeting of Tide approved the acquisition. At the same time there was an
equity issue
Equity may refer to:
Finance, accounting and ownership
*Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them
** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business
** Home equity, the diffe ...
in the company aimed at new owners which successfully raised approx. MNOK 300. Effective from Jan 1, 2008 Stavangerske AS was merged with Tide Sjø AS. The new company retained the Tide brand. Prior to this Stavangerske and HSD had won several tenders throughout Norway through their 50/50
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
Norferger. Tide Sjø was fissioned out of Tide and the company became
Norled
Norled (earlier Tide Sjø AS) is a Norwegian shipping company responsible for the group's ferry transport. Tide operates automobile ferries and fast ferries in Rogaland, Vestland, Sunnmøre and Trondheim Fjord on contract with the Norwegian Publi ...