Top SA tourism companies strike $161 million deal
Two of Adelaide’s top companies have struck a major deal over SeaLink tourism that will see extensive assets across the nation change hands.
Kelsian Group has today agreed to sell its SeaLink tourism portfolio – apart from its Kangaroo Island ferry service – to fellow South Australia-based business Journey Beyond for $161 million.
The portfolio includes its Adelaide Sightseeing business, which operates bus tours to the Barossa, Hahndorf, Adelaide, Victor Harbor and on Kangaroo Island.
But the SeaLink ferry service to Kangaroo Island will be retained by Kelsian, which today also reported a record half year result of $32.4 million, buoyed by its US bus business and ferry services on Fraser Island and in Sydney harbour.
Journey Beyond, which operates The Ghan rail service, the Melbourne Skydeck, and Monarto Safari Resort, bought Kelsian’s assets that “are highly complementary to our existing brands”.
The deal includes Kelsian’s tourism operations across Sydney Harbour, Perth and the Swan River, the Whitsundays, Bruny Island Tasmania and Darwin.
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It also includes the Kingfisher Bay and K’gari Beach Resorts, Murray Princess Cruising and Adelaide Sightseeing tours.
Journey Beyond said the expanded network would unlock new opportunities for guests, with CEO Chris Tallent noting the agreement represented a “significant milestone in the company’s growth strategy”.
“We are proud to broaden our portfolio with a collection of highly respected tourism businesses that share our commitment to delivering extraordinary guest experiences,” Tallent said.
“Importantly, they are highly complementary to our existing brands. They create new opportunities for guests to seamlessly extend their journeys across Australia – whether that’s transitioning from rail to reef, river to resort, or city to sea – and further cements Journey Beyond’s leadership in experiential tourism.”
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Kelsian, formerly known as SeaLink and one of the state’s top 100 companies, first mulled the sale of its tourism portfolio in April last year, at the time noting it wanted to “streamline the business, reduce debt and improve shareholder value”.
Kelsian retains its core businesses such as Transit Systems, one of the nation’s largest public bus operators and the operator of the Adelaide metro bus system.
It also owns All Aboard America! Holdings – the second largest motorcoach operator in the USA.
The company said the divestment would allow it to focus more on its marine, bus and motorcoach transport businesses while lowering capital intensity and further increasing the stability of the group’s earnings base.
Today, Kelsian CEO Graeme Legh said he was “delighted to have reached this agreement”.
“On completion of the transaction, Kelsian will emerge as a leading global transport business delivering contracted marine, bus and motorcoach operations,” Legh said.
The deal remains subject to approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Foreign Investment Review Board. Completion of the deal is expected in the first half of the 2027 financial year.
Kelsian today unveiled its first half financial results for the six months to 31 December 2025, showing a 10.6 per cent increase in revenue to more than $1.1 billion and a 16.4 per cent increase in earnings to $153.8 million.
The group’s statutory net profit after tax was $32.4 million, and the company attributed strong revenue growth to new bus contracts in the US and strong trading from its K’gari and Sydney harbour ferry and tourism services.
The company lifted guidance too, and now expects its full year earnings to come in between $303 million and $312 million.
Shares in Kelsian are up 9.04 per cent at the time of writing.
