Original constituent companies – Buses Ltd ran Hamilton buses from at least 1928. About 1980 it was bought by Hamilton City Council and renamed Hamilton City Buses Ltd Simpsons ran Huntly buses since at least 1929. Hodgsons of Te Awamutu were granted a licence in 1932. Merger – In 2004, Go Bus was formed by the merger of C.J. Worth Ltd., trading as Blue Worth Coachlines and Hamilton City Buses, Simpsons and Hodgsons. Craig Worth was still commercial director in 2015. Controlling shareholders – Wellington investment group Morrison and Co. had become a 41% shareholder by 2005. In 2007, Direct Capital bought 87% of GoBus. The other 13% remained with GoBus managers and directors. GoBus then had 410 vehicles, 4 workshops, 8 depots and 460 staff. By 2010, it had 650 buses and over 700 staff. From 2007 to 2012, GoBus more than doubled its fleet and increased its staff to 950. Direct put GoBus up for sale, saying it needed more capital to continue expanding. In 2012, another private equity fund, Australia's Next Capital, bought Direct's 86.8% of GoBus for $84.6m. In 2014, Ngāi Tahu Holdings Corp and Tainui Group Holdings bought Go Bus for a reported $170m. In 2020, Ngāi Tahu Holdings and Tainui Group Holdings agreed to sell passenger transport company Go Bus to Melbourne-based industry operator Kinetic. Expansion – some growth has been by acquisition of bus companies, some by winning new contracts. Among the latter have been –
2009 contract for Napier and Hastings, renewed in 2015 after a 60% growth in passengers.
2009 Tauranga $7.5m 5½ year contract with Environment Bay of Plenty Bay. Bayline had run 25 buses daily, but the new service used 35 buses and 42 staff, with depots in Tauranga, Mt Maunganui and Te Puke.
2013 won Gisborne contract by cutting the $320,000 a year Waipawa Red Bus service to $217,776, with two air-conditioned 27-seat 'GizzyBuses' and a reduced timetable. GoBus also tendered for large buses at $225,941 a year.
2015 won 8 bus Gisborne school contract from Waipawa.
In April 2014, Go Bus took over Invercargill Passenger Transport, which at that time was trading as Passenger Transport Citibus throughout the southern South Island.
Johnston's Coachlines
In August 2016, Go Bus announced that they had acquired Johnston's Coachlines for an undisclosed sum. Johnston's is a tourism-based bus company with depots in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. The main purpose of the acquisition was the company's experience in the high-end tour market. It was stated that the companies will operate in a parent-subsidiary manner, as Johnston's will retain its own brand and division. The purchase did not include Johnston's Gray Line tours.
