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 the ...
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, typic ...
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 o ...
, 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 Munici ...
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 on contract with Kolumbus.
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.
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 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 trol ...
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 the ...
, 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, 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 s ...
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 m ...
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 November 20, 2006
On May 2, 2007 the boards of Tide and Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap (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 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 economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
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 ...