acquisition

Austria-based Kapsch TraficCom has increased its shareholding in Norwegian competitor Q-Free to 20%, requiring formal notification under Norwegian law.

Q-Free CEO Øyvind Isaksen comments that Kapsch had not approached its Board before the share purchase, and haven't disclosed their strategic intentions and rationale:

The PBSJ/PBS&J name is being abandoned at midnight tonight and the company becomes Atkins, part of the London UK-based international engineering consultancy. The new president of Atkins North America is the former chairman and president of PBSJ/PBS&J Robert J Paulsen.

He is quoted in a statement today:

As of this morning Feb 1, 2011 Mark IV IVHS - the sole source supplier of E-ZPass group transponders and readers since the inception of electronic toll collection in the mid-1990s -is no more. Gone is the heavy thick ultra-bold compressed MARKIV and the 'Reinventing the road' slogan underneath.

Kapsch, the large international toll systems company has completed the acquisition of Mark IV IVHS, the Toronto-based toll systems operation that has made a major business out of supplying E-ZPass electronic toll collection equipment since its introduction 12 years ago.

Kapsch the big European-based toll systems company is buying Mark IV IVHS, sole supplier of transponders and readers to the huge E-ZPass group of tollers in America.

Federal Signal which is acquiring a range of toll system specialist companies is said to be close to announcing acquisition of a back office outfit based in southern California. 'Back office' covers establishment and management of toll accounts, customer service operations, processing camera license plate images for video tolling, billing and collections.

TOLLROADSnews 2010-03-03

see later story:

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4635

Sirit shareholders have approved 46c/share (C-shares) price for their acquisition by Federal Signal (FS) after a mystery competitor for control of the Toronto Canada based electronic toll systems supplier caused two previous increases in the price bid by Federal Signal. Approval was by majority vote at a shareholder meeting in Toronto today.

Federal Signal has upped its offer for Sirit by 43% after a mystery competing bid for the Toronto Ontario manufacturer and supplier of RFID transponder-reader systems. The offer is now $69m v the $43m previously agreed for the acquisition.

Stock of Sirit were trading on Canadian stock exchanges before the announcement today at the 30c per share from the earlier agreement with Federal Signal.

Sirit, the leading electronic toll supplier to California is being acquired by Federal Signal. The Toronto Canada based company says it has signed a "definitive agreement to be acquired" by Federal Signal in a $48m (C$49.5m) deal.

Chicago-based Federal Signal Corp (NYSE: FSS) has bought Diamond Consulting Services Ltd (DCS), a British based single product company, whose product Idris has established a strong following in North America for use in open road toll lanes.  The Idris system known generically as 'smart loops' uses speciall