Ned Johnson is saying goodbye to his own limousine and taxi service.

The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald both report that Fidelity's [profile] private equity arm, Devonshire Investors, is selling BostonCoach to nearby rival Harrison Global. The deal is slated to close next month.

Though the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the Globe notes that BostonCoach reported $83 million in revenue in 2010, down 43.5 percent since 2006. The company boasted more than 560 employees nationwide, as well as 200 vehicles in Boston alone. Waltham-based Harrison has 150 vehicles spread through the Boston area, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

As the Globe writes, Johnson founded BostonCoach in 1985, "the story goes, after waiting too long for a taxi at the airport." Brothers David and Derek Marcou founded Harrison a year later.

"Both companies share a similarities, which makes it a logical fit," a Boston Behemoth spokesman told the Herald. "Since the '80s, the portfolio [of Devonshire] has comprised a series of majority-owned operating businesses that have been developed over the years either through acquisitions or incubations … Some companies of the portfolio, such as Fidelity Investments Life Insurance become part of Fidelity's financial services division. The others, such as Sebastians, Community Newspapers, Wentworth Gallery have been sold."

The Fidelity spokesman confirmed that current BostonCoach CEO Larry Moulter, who took over in 2008, is leaving Fidelity. Harrison's Russ Cooke, who once led BostonCoach as president, will take over BostonCoach again even as Harrison keeps the BostonCoach brand alive. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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