Trivest Partners has announced its second investment this year in the transportation industry with the acquisition of Roadrunner Charters, a Texas-based, family-owned motorcoach operator.
The announcement comes one day after the firm’s acquisition of Cline Tours Inc., based in Mississippi, became public record through a filing with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.
That filing reveals Trivest Fund VII LP and Passenger Transport Holdings LP intend to acquire all voting securities of Cline Tours and its subsidiaries, Bus Supply Charters Inc. and Crown Coach Corp., subject to board approval and standard closing conditions.
The deals continues what Miami-based private equity firm calls a larger strategy to invest in founder-led and family-owned motorcoach operations with strong reputations and long-standing commitments to service.
Last June, the San Antonio-based Star Shuttle announced a strategic partnership with Trivest Partners.
“This is a natural step forward for Roadrunner,” says Ron Wills, founder and CEO of the Fort Worth-headquartered company. “We’ve built something we’re proud of, and this partnership gives us the capital and strategic support to grow while staying true to who we are.”
Gradual expansion
Founded in 2001 with a single bus, Roadrunner has steadily expanded over the past two decades to a fleet of about 150 motorcoaches, mostly MCIs and Prevosts, and locations in Fort Worth, Longview and Austin.
With about 250 employees, the company provides charter transportation across Texas and serves a wide range of clients, including professional and college sports teams, churches, schools, and corporate groups.
Wills, 63, built the company from the ground up after a lifetime spent riding and repairing buses while performing in gospel music. He credits his early success to mechanical skills honed from necessity, as his family’s gospel group often traveled in older buses he maintained himself.
“I was the mechanic, the driver, the janitor, the bus washer. You name it, I was it,” Wills says. “We started out as a one-bus operation and just continued to grow.”
The name Roadrunner pays homage to a childhood favorite, a 1958 Fitzjohn Roadrunner coach used by his father’s gospel quartet. “We owned it two or three different times,” Wills says. “It was my favorite bus as a kid.”
The intercity model was manufactured by the Fitzjohn Coach Corp. in Muskegon, Michigan, from 1954-58. The Roadrunner was the final bus produced by the company before it closed, beaten by competition from General Motors.
Roadrunner Charters has completed eight acquisitions since its founding, including the purchase of Lone Star Coaches in 2023.
Cline’s trajectory matches that of Roadrunner. Cline, bought by John McCommon in 1996 when it had a single bus, grew through 19 acquisitions into a 200-vehicle operation with 290 employees and eight locations across the southeastern U.S. The company was named METRO Magazine’s 2024 Motorcoach Operator of the Year and previously received the United Motorcoach Association’s 2020 Vision Award.
Company’s roots remain
Despite the investment and expansion, Wills emphasizes that the heart of Roadrunner remains unchanged. The leadership team will remain in place, including his son Allen, who is General Manager; Donna Maynes, Sales Manager; Duayne Sherman, General Manager of the Austin location, and Jeremy Hunter, Chief Financial Officer.
“We’re not just growing for growth’s sake,” Wills says. “We want to keep doing what we do best, offering great service and building strong relationships.”
That philosophy extends beyond business. In recent years, Wills returned to his musical roots, performing again with his brother in the Inspirationals Quartet of Texas, a Southern gospel group that continues the legacy of the “Singing Wills Family,” which began touring in 1938.
“I married my high school sweetheart, raised a family, and now I’ve started singing again with my brother, Donald,” he says. “This is kind of a full-circle moment, going back to the stage.”
Though Wills sees the Trivest partnership as a step toward long-term sustainability and growth, he’s also savoring the personal rewards of a life well-traveled.
“I’m 63 years old and just want to enjoy the fruits of my labor,” he says.
