Kapsch TrafficCom to acquire Mark IV IVHS

81 Kapsch TrafficCom AG has agreed to acquire, through subsidiaries, the businesses of Mark IV IVHS, part of Mark IV, LLC (US), in the United States, in Canada and in Mexico, for a purchase price of US$70 million, subject to certain closing conditions and subject to certain potential price adjustments based on working capital included with the business. The transaction is structured as a stock purchase of the holding companies which own the Mark IV IVHS business and closing is targeted for 30 November 2010.

Mark IV IVHS is a designer and manufacturer of dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) devices that are widely used by highway, toll, turnpike, tunnel, and bridge authorities to enable intelligent transportation systems (ITS) such as electronic toll collection (ETC) and automated weigh station bypass. With more than 21.8 million transponders on-the-road and more than 3,700 lanes equipped, Mark IV IVHS is the largest supplier of ETC equipment in North America. The company has enabled many landmark ITS deployments, including: the world’s first non-stop, all-electronic toll road (Highway 407 ETR, Canada); interoperability between truck electronic preclearance systems and toll collection (PrePass); and, the E-ZPass system of the 24 toll authorities in 14 states who comprise the E-ZPass Group in the Northeastern United States. EZPass is a regional ETC system that can be used throughout the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. Mark IV also recently announced a contract award in Mexico.

With 142 employees, Mark IV IVHS generated in its last fiscal year 2009/2010, ended February 28, 2010, net sales of approximately US$50 million at a clear positive free cash flow and at an EBITDA margin accretive to the EBITDA margin of Kapsch TrafficCom Group generated in its last fiscal year 2009/2010, ended 31 March, 2010.

With approximately 240 references in 39 countries on all five continents, and with more than 18 million transponders (on-board units - OBUs) delivered, and nearly 13,000 lanes equipped, Kapsch TrafficCom, which is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, has positioned itself among the leading suppliers of ETC systems worldwide and has subsidiaries and representatives offices in 25 countries. In addition to ETC systems, particularly multi-lane free-flow deployments, Kapsch also supplies traffic management systems, with a focus on road safety and traffic control, and electronic access systems and parking management.