WiLAN to acquire International Road Dynamics

Canadian patent licensing company WiLAN is to acquire intelligent transportation systems (ITS) supplier International Road Dynamics for an equity value of approximately US $47.4 million (CA$63.5 million). The acquisition is part of WiLAN’s growth strategy which will see it operate under the Quarterhill name from around the beginning of June 2017.
April 20, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Canadian patent licensing company 8619 WiLAN is to acquire intelligent transportation systems (ITS) supplier 69 International Road Dynamics for an equity value of approximately US $47.4 million (CA$63.5 million). The acquisition is part of WiLAN’s growth strategy which will see it operate under the Quarterhill name from around the beginning of June 2017.

As IRD is an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) company specialising in ITS and producing a portfolio of integrated hardware and software solutions to better detect, measure and analyse a variety of transportation challenges, the acquisition fits in with Quarterhill’s growth strategy. Quarterhill will focus on acquiring technology companies in the IIoT segment across multiple verticals. The acquired businesses will operate independently as subsidiaries of Quarterhill. WiLAN will continue as a key subsidiary of Quarterhill focusing on patent licensing.

According to Shaun McEwan, interim CEO of WiLAN, IRD fits its acquisition profile and has built an attractive portfolio of IP protected technology and an enviable track record of financial performance that includes a growing base of recurring revenue and solid cash flow generation.

Terry Bergan, president and CEO of IRD, said, “The Quarterhill platform, once in place, will give us the opportunity to focus 100 per cent of our energy on strengthening and accelerating the growth of our business. We have a history of innovation and look forward to having the expertise of the WiLAN team under the same corporate umbrella.”

Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection Charging, Tolling & RUC

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Industry-led consortium to develop oneTRANSPORT smart city initiative
    August 18, 2015
    An innovative smart city initiative focused on addressing the challenges in transportation systems with Internet of Things (IoT) technology has been awarded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK to a consortium of leading European industry, academic and transport authority partners. The project, oneTRANSPORT, is an integrated transport initiative targeted at transport authorities. Totalling approximately US$5.4 million (with co-funding by Innovate UK provided as a result of a successful competition
    Read More
  • Tighten up on cyber security before hackers infiltrate ITS infrastructure
    October 19, 2015
    This year’s ITS World Congress in Bordeaux will have three sessions dedicated to cyber security and the issue will also be addressed under connected and automated vehicles categories. Jon Masters finds out why. American security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek attracted international press coverage recently when they demonstrated how they could hack into and take control of a vehicle from a remote laptop. While the implications are clearly serious for vehicle manufacturers, highway and transpor
    Read More
  • Tolling expected to be fastest growing application of ALPR, says report
    February 12, 2014
    According to global information company, the growing adoption of automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology is having an adverse impact on the vehicle entrance control industry, specifically the vehicle barrier and off-street parking systems markets, according to IHS. The presence of ALPR technology is increasing the most for toll ways and off-street parking garages, which is negatively impacting the growth of vehicle barriers, the research firm reports. In ALPR mature markets such as the Amer
    Read More
  • Six easy steps to security
    October 22, 2018
    As security threats become increasingly vast and varied, multinationals are beginning to see the need for an effective global security operations centre to protect their organisation. James I. Chong spells out what is required. You know you need a global security operations centre (GSOC) to support what you’ve built, identify threats, and prevent disasters before they happen - but how do you know if it’s truly effective? There’s no shortage of information coming into operation centres. Too often, it’s the
    Read More

Highlighted Content