Skip to main content

Eberle sold to private equity

Vance Street Capital continues ITS investment with traffic control systems manufacturer
By Adam Hill June 15, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
Vance Street is planning 'significant investments' in EDI (© Guernica | Dreamstime.com)

Eberle Design, Inc (EDI) has been sold for an undisclosed sum.

Los Angeles-based private equity provider Vance Street Capital has acquired EDI from PPG, which itself bought EDI in December 2020 as part of the Ennis-Flint business.

Ennis-Flint remains as PPG’s traffic solutions business unit and is not impacted by the sale of EDI, PPG says.

EDI’s existing management team will continue to lead the day-to-day business operations under its new ownership.

Vance Street says EDI , formed in 1980, will become part of its traffic and pedestrian safety ITS platform.

This comprises Polara Enterprises (bought in 2021) and Carmanah Technologies (which Vance Street acquired last month). 

Vance Street plans to put money into its new buy; partner Steve Sandbo said: "We are prepared to make significant investments at EDI to accelerate the businesses product innovation, organisational infrastructure and manufacturing excellence.”

EDI president Dr. John Shearer said the deal opened up "significant opportunities for EDI to further its position as the leader in intersection safety and mission critical ITS products for safe & connected infrastructure".

“EDI is a great example of our efforts to invest organically as well as through M&A to build a leading ITS platform to support Vision Zero’s movement to eliminate traffic-related fatalities through providing a holistic product and technology solution to municipalities and DoTs,” said John LeRosen, partner at Vance Street.    

Harris Williams and Paul Hastings acted as financial and legal advisors to Vance Street and Polara/Carmanah.  Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Barings’ Global Private Credit and Manulife Investment Management.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Australian road pricing, road funding needs more debate
    January 31, 2012
    Everyone in the road transport industry in Australia is talking road pricing - everyone, that is, except the politicians. Christine Keyes reports. At the end of 2008, Australia's road transport industry was wringing its collective hands, unable to raise more than $100 million from an individual bank for any Public Private Partnership (PPP). The A$750 million Peninsula Link project, announced by the Victoria Government in March 2009, was the first road project in the country to be put out to market as an ava
  • The twisting path to enforcement’s future
    June 5, 2014
    Survey reveals some division of views about enforcement’s future as Colin Sowman discovers. Technological advances and legislative changes pose many questions for those involved in road enforcement, ranging from the changing demands of privacy and data protection legislation to the practicalities on multi-speed enforcement. So to get the industry’s views ITS International took soundings on some of these bigger questions. In a world where many vehicles are fitted with GPS linked ‘black box’ telematics system
  • Electric minicabs to debut in London
    October 25, 2012
    Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD and London green minicab company greentomatocars have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create London’s first fleet of all-electric minicabs. BYD will supply greentomatocars with 50 of its pure electric e6 models for trial use in the capital. The cars are expected to be available for customers to use from the second quarter of 2013.
  • Zipcar to control Spain’s largest car sharing operator
    March 27, 2012
    Zipcar, a leading car sharing network, has announced the exercise of its option to purchase a majority ownership interest in Barcelona-based Catalunya Carsharing, known as Avancar. The company operates a fleet of vehicles throughout the cities of Barcelona and Sant Cugat del Valles. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2012, and builds on Zipcar's initial equity investment in Avancar in December 2009. With this transaction, Zipcar increases its percentage ownership in Avancar to a controlli