Chambers Coach Hire, the North's largest independent bus and coach company, has been taken over by Enterprise Equity, a Belfast-based private equity group.

No price was given for the deal, but Chambers, which has a fleet of 105 vehicles, is forecast to have revenue of £7 million (€10.6 million) in the current financial year.

The company, which has 65 full-time employees and is adding a further 30 drivers, was founded in 1967 as a taxi service by Derry entrepreneur Des Chambers.

Since then it has grown into the North's leading private bus company, operating its trademark yellow coaches, mini-buses and limousines across the island of Ireland.

Last year the group won a contract to operate three additional routes for Translink, the integrated public transport operation of Citybus, NI Railways and Ulsterbus, including the Dublin to Belfast route. It also started a new door-to-door transport service for the elderly and people with disabilities on behalf of the NI Department for Regional Development.

Mr Chambers, who will stay on with the company as an adviser, welcomed the acquisition, saying the new owner appears determined to continue the development of the business.

"I am satisfied that Chambers has an exciting future ahead of it," he said.

Craig Holmes of Enterprise Equity, who will also join Chambers' board as a non-executive director, described it as a significant deal for the group. Mr Holmes said Chambers was an excellent example of the type of growth story the fund likes to invest in.

Tony Hesketh, a former managing director of Translink, will become Chambers' chairman.