While all creditors were paid, the previous owners saw a shortfall in returns.
The combined fleet totals more than 60 vehicles, including mobility vans, and is one of the two largest operators in the city.
Anthony "Starsky" Ware, of Southern Taxis, was contacted and confirmed three operations were now under the Southern banner, running 52 cars, of which he owns 24, plus nine vans of his and a London black cab delivered this week for tourists.
Mr Ware (67) was asked if he and wife Janet were considering expanding their fleet further.
"No, we’re all locked down for now, done new computers and things; closed for now," he said.
Mr Ware had worked for City United until about two years ago, then bought Southern and then a Mosgiel-based company, and had came back full circle to buy City United from liquidation.
It was his third attempt to buy City, and he understood there were four other potential buyers.
He declined to reveal the purchase price.
He started in Dunedin in the 1970s, and despite breaking his neck speedway racing and then having a life-threatening car accident in Dunedin in 2007, the former merchant navy man had largely remained in the taxi business.
The nickname Starsky was bestowed by police "years ago", from the hit 1970s police series Starsky and Hutch, as the characters drove a Ford Gran Torino muscle car and there were still V8 taxis on Dunedin’s roads at the time. Fuel was just 62c a litre then, he said.
Southern Taxis, to be rebranded Southern City from next week, now operates throughout Dunedin and Mosgiel and offers tours of the city, peninsula and wildlife to cruise ship passengers, plus services to Dunedin airport and for the Southern District Health Board.
City United, a taxi depot dispatch service with about 20 self-employed drivers, was placed in liquidation in June by its shareholders with Trevor Laing, of Trevor Laing and Associates, becoming liquidator.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Laing said the business was sold on Thursday and the sale would be settled by Tuesday.
Mr Laing had continued to run the business in the short term to retain the asset value while a buyer was sought.
"We had some concerns about the mobility fleet, but Southern have said they’ll carry that on," he said, which Mr Ware also confirmed.
Mr Laing said while creditors were paid in full, he would not comment whether there were any losses to the company owner-shareholder, who was understood to have bought the company only last year.
"The shortfall is to the shareholders [of City United]. All the creditors were paid but City United didn’t manage to pay its way to [its] shareholders," Mr Laing said.
