Skip to main content

IRD buys VDS in European expansion

Canadian company on acquisition trail in smart cities and traffic management segments
By Adam Hill April 28, 2021 Read time: 2 mins
IRD is on the acquisition trail again (© Tanewpix | Dreamstime.com)

International Road Dynamics (IRD) has made its second German acquisition in the last few months as it expands its European footprint.

It has bought for 1.9m Löbau-based VDS Verkehrstechnik (VDS Traffic Engineering), which develops, manufactures and sells fixed and mobile monitoring devices for speed and red-light infringements.

The company's manufacturing facility and two service centres in Germany will be absorbed into fibre optic specialist Sensor Line, which IRD bought for €3.8m in January this year.

German firm Sensor Line is one of VDS’s largest suppliers of sensors.

IRD boss Rish Malhotra told ITS International then that strategic acquisitions are a key part of the company's growth strategy as it extends its reach into the smart cities and traffic management market: 'You're going to see a lot more of that from us going forward.'

In a statement on the VDS acquisition, the company said it looked forward "to offering our partners and customers a wider range of ITS solutions, including new traffic data monitoring options, speed enforcement systems, and red-light violation enforcement systems".

It stressed the deal would "have no impact on the relationships VDS has with their customers and partners".

Product manufacturing in Löbau will continue, as will installation, service and customer support to customers. 
 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Vitronic tackles the route to a smarter road network
    March 19, 2018
    Safety, security, road user charging, and how it all comes together as the backbone of a smart road network, are the topics that German machine vision specialist Vitronic is addressing here at Intertraffic. The company is showcasing how its product range can be applied to a host of applications, from speed and red light enforcement, average speed enforcement, wanted cars search and border control to electronic toll collection (ETC).
  • Managed motorways, hard shoulder running aids safety, saves time
    January 30, 2012
    The announcement that, in 2012/13, work to extend Managed Motorways to Junctions 5-8 of the M6 near Birmingham in the West Midlands is scheduled to start marks the next step for the UK's hard shoulder running concept, first introduced on the M42 in 2006. The M6 scheme is in fact one of several announced; over the next few years work will start on applying Managed Motorways to various sections of the M1, M25 London Orbital, M60 and M62. According to Paul Unwin, senior project manager with the Highways Agency
  • GHSA laments ‘staggering’ trend in US pedestrian deaths
    March 14, 2025
    Drivers killed 3,304 pedestrians in the first half of 2024
  • Q-Free wins $6.9m West Virginia traffic deal
    March 29, 2021
    State-wide advanced traffic management solution continues relationship begun in 2008