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

  • Smart Spanish city trials cell-based traffic management
    November 7, 2013
    David Crawford reports on an urban electronic nervous system. The northern Spanish city of Santander – historically a port - is now an emerging technology showcase attracting global attention as a prototype for a medium-sized smart city of the future. In a move to determine the optimal use of available data, it is creating a de-facto experimental laboratory for sensor and mobile phone-based urban traffic management and environmental monitoring innovations.
    Read More
  • Loop detection still has a part in traffic management
    March 2, 2012
    Bob Lees, co-founder of Diamond Consulting Services, on why the loop detector just refuses to go away. The more strident proponents of newer and emergent detection technologies are quick to highlight what they see as the disadvantages, and hence the imminent passing, of the humble inductive loop. The more prosaic will acknowledge that loops continue to have a part to play in traffic management, falling back on the assertion that it is all a question of application. And yet year after year the loop, despite
    Read More
  • Smith Electric Vehicles attracts Chinese investment
    March 13, 2012
    Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation, a specialist in all-electric commercial vehicles, has signed a letter of intent with Wanxiang Group, an automotive parts manufacturing and supplier.
    Read More
  • The case for integrating urban traffic control and parking
    February 3, 2012
    Although urban traffic control and parking management are inextricably linked in so many ways, there remain fundamental differences which undermine closer integration. Car parking guidance systems can have a significant, positive impact on congestion in town and city centres, however conflicting business models still stand in the way of the more profound integration of car parking management and Urban Traffic Control (UTC) systems.
    Read More

Highlighted Content