German travel company Flixbus on Thursday said it will acquire historic long-distance bus company Greyhound, expanding its low-cost coach offering in the United States.

Flixbus will pay $172 million (€148m) to FirstGroup, the British owner of Greyhound Lines, which serves 2,400 destinations in North America, carrying almost 16 million passengers a year.

“The acquisition of Greyhound is a major step forward in the US,” Jochen Engert, CEO of Flixbus’s parent FlixMobility said. “The Flixbus and Greyhound teams share a common vision to make smart, affordable and sustainable mobility accessible to all,” Engert said.

Founded in 2013, Flixbus has grown into Germany’s most popular long-distance bus service, operating in 36 countries besides the US. It expanded into rail services in 2018. In the same year, Flixbus launched a US venture to try and take on Greyhound, starting a service along the west coast of the US. The acquisition of the legendary US bus company will join together the two services.

Britain’s FirstGroup is selling its operations in the US to refocus on the UK market in the hope of improving its finances. The group sold First Student, which runs the equally iconic American yellow school buses, and First Transit to an investment fund for the equivalent of €3.8 billion in April.

Britain’s FirstGroup is selling its operations in the US to refocus on the UK market in the hope of improving its finances

Founded in 1914, the Greyhound Lines company is still the US’ biggest intercity bus service although it has faced growing competition from smaller upstarts in recent years. Its buses have been immortalised in countless US films and TV shows, making it a brand known around the world.