DALLAS -- Coach America, North Americas largest motorcoach operator, has completed its acquisition of Lakefront Lines/Lakefront Trailways and its sister company Hopkins Airport Limousine of Cleveland. (See March 15 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

Lakefront is the largest coach operator in Ohio, and one of the oldest passenger transport companies in the state, with operations in Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati and Detroit.

It provides charter, tour, contract and scheduled services from its base in the Cleveland suburb of Brookpark.

Lakefront and Hopkins have been owned by the Goebel family for 40 years. Thomas Goebel will continue as general manager and Chris Goebel is assuming the title of assistant general manager.

"This purchase comes at just the right time for me and my family," said Thomas Goebel. "We had hoped for a sale to a large national company that would respect our heritage and help us take advantage of additional opportunities in the surrounding markets. Coach America fit that image perfectly."

Mike Haley, executive chairman of Coach America, said his company was "highly impressed with the reputation of Lakefront in Ohio and the model by which it operates its business. There arent many coach companies in the U.S. that have a fleet this size with each of the coaches less than five years old, and a strong emphasis on providing safe, dependable and high quality service to its customers and a great workplace for its employees."

According to Metro magazine, Lakefront is the 20th largest motorcoach operator in North America, with a fleet of nearly 120 coaches plus assorted other vehicles.

The purchase of Lakefront represents an expansion into new geographic territory for Coach America. The company maintains a No. 1 position in most of the 30 major markets where it operates in the western, southeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S.

Haley said Lakefront "adds to that stature in the Midwest and provides an excellent platform for growth within the region."

However, said Haley, "we see this transaction in terms of Lakefront's excellence rather than an indicator of our plans for the future. Lakefront is an outstanding company, a leader in its markets.

"When it became available, we seized the opportunity to bring Lakefront into Coach America. It has a new fleet, excellent maintenance and safety performance, and a large group of loyal customers which testifies to the high quality of its customer service," said Haley.

In January, Lakefront was the recipient of the United Motorcoach Association Vision Award for large operators at UMA Motorcoach Expo.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the acquisition, Moody's Investors Service said it has affirmed all credit ratings, including the 'B3' corporate family and probability of default ratings, of Coach America Holdings Inc.

Moodys said the rating affirmation reflects Coach America's high debt load, under performance following its leveraged buy-out a year ago, and the turnaround plan that has been underway since the fourth quarter of last year.

The ratings outlook for Coach America remains negative reflecting significant challenges the company faces in executing its turnaround plan, the ratings firm added.

Dallas-based Coach America operates a fleet of more than 2,800 vehicles.