Q-Free strengthens ATMS business

Q-Free has strengthened its position in the market for advanced transportation management systems with the signing of a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) supplier TDC Systems for an estimated cash and equity consideration of US$16.6 million dependent on future financial performance. Established in 1998, TDC Systems comprises TDC Systems in the UK and its sister company TDC Systems in Australia, both of which are owned by founder and managing director
March 28, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
108 Q-Free has strengthened its position in the market for advanced transportation management systems with the signing of a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) supplier 131 TDC Systems for an estimated cash and equity consideration of US$16.6 million dependent on future financial performance.

Established in 1998, TDC Systems comprises TDC Systems in the UK and its sister company TDC Systems in Australia, both of which are owned by founder and managing director Mark Phillips. The company specialises in research, design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of ITS, including advanced weigh-in-motion systems, traffic counters and classifiers, journey-time monitoring systems, air quality monitoring systems, and detection systems for pedestrians and cyclists.

“The acquisition of TDC Systems is in line with our long-term strategy to build a strong position within Advanced Transportation Management Systems (ATMS), which is a growth area complementing our current main business in the Road User Charging (RUC) market,” says Q-Free CEO Thomas Falck.

Q-Free expects to see significant growth in the ATMS market, given the benefits of new technology deployment in terms of traffic safety and traffic flow, pollution, and operating costs. In 2012, the company acquired US based parking guidance company 7045 TCS International, which was followed up with the acquisitions of the Serbian traffic management company ELCOM and a strategic 10 per cent investment in 7316 Intelight in the US in 2013. TDC Systems significantly broadens Q-Free’s ATMS portfolio.

“TDC Systems holds advanced technologies, products, and systems software solutions for highways, roads, bridges, tunnel management and urban areas that provide a natural extension of Q-Free’s solutions portfolio. This gives us the opportunity to offer more traffic management solutions to our customers in international markets, “says Falck.

For TDC Systems, the acquisition implies significant increase in market reach, through Q-Free’s international operations and partnership network.

“Becoming a part of Q-Free will further strengthen our market leadership, and all employees are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to become part of a much larger international operation with a global network. The additional market exposure and availability of resources will contribute to further expansion of our business together with the rest of the Q-Free family,” says Mark Phillips, founder and managing director of TDC Systems.

In the longer-term, Q-Free expects that the markets for ATMS and Road User Charging will converge into a joint market for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) – both technologically and commercially. Q-Free intends to play an important role in this market, and will continue to build its position through acquisitions as well as further development of its current businesses within this area.
Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection Charging, Tolling & RUC

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Pelmorex enhances traffic and traveller information
    September 13, 2012
    Ontario-headquartered Pelmorex Media, parent company of The Weather Network and MétéoMédia, has acquired Beat The Traffic, Californian provider of vehicle traffic reporting solutions for broadcast media and consumers. The acquisition gives Pelmorex Media a significant boost to its expertise in traveller information and access to technology and patents that will enhance the services that will be provided by Travelers Network, to be launched in late October. Travelers Network will be established as its own d
    Read More
  • Predicting the future for video camera systems
    March 12, 2012
    Jo Versavel, Managing Director of Traficon, talks about near-term trends in video camera systems. Jo Versavel starts by making one thing clear: long-term forecasts as to what the future holds for video-based traffic monitoring are to all intents and purposes meaningless. The state of the art is developing so fast that in reality it's impossible to say where we'll be in 10 years' time, says the Managing Director of Traficon. In his opinion making firm predictions even five years out is too ambitious, whereas
    Read More
  • Xerox Achieves ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification
    March 7, 2014
    Following a multi-location assessment of seven work sites Xerox’s Government and Transportation Sector Technology Delivery Center (GTS TDC) has achieved ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System certification. Xerox GTS TDC designs, develops and delivers technology transportation solutions in electronic tolling, parking, photo enforcement, fare collections and management, and computer-aided dispatch/automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL) systems. The assessment found that Xerox GTS TDC yielded ‘zero nonco
    Read More
  • Peer-to-Peer carsharing in Europe projected to grow significantly
    August 24, 2012
    According to Frost & Sullivan, by 2020 more than 200 traditional carsharing organisations (CSOs) and another 24 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) CSOs are expected to take the European market for carsharing to new heights. More than 14 million new members are expected to use carsharing services in Europe by the same year, while three new sub-segments will emerge in the market: electric vehicle carsharing, corporate carsharing and one-way carsharing. While the new segments arise in particular due to continued urbanisation
    Read More

Highlighted Content