Q-Free Acquires TCS International

Q-Free ASA has purchased 100 percent of the shares of TCS International. The acquisition brings together two companies with different strengths and similar goals.

Q-Free, based in Norway, supplies solutions and products for Road User Charging and Advanced Transportation Management offering applications mainly within electronic toll collection for road financing, congestion charging, truck-tolling, law enforcement, and parking/access control.

Dr. Oyvind Isaksen, Q-Free CEO, says bringing TCS into its business plan will help Q-Free build its Advanced Transportation Management Systems market in the United States. In addition, he says, it will help the company prepare for changes in the market as technology and infrastructure merge.

TCS was established in 1999 and specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing intelligent parking transportation systems. The company has 15 employees with offices in Massachusetts and a subsidiary in Toronto, ON, Canada.

“TCS is a market leader within parking guidance systems in the USA and Canada, and as such will form a strong basis for further growth within the parking technology market, both inside and outside North America,” Oyvind says. “Advanced Transportation Management and Road User Charging will over time converge, both from a market and technology platform perspective, and as such it is important for us to build capabilities in both these areas.”

Current CEO and president of TCS, Greg Parzych, will continue as president after the acquisition. The company has many parking guidance installations in the North American market, including many municipalities, hotels, casinos, retail centers, office blocks, universities, and hospitals.

“We are the North American leader in parking guidance systems with over 150 systems installed around the world,” Parzych says.

Parzych says his company’s reputation, profit margins, and consistent growth drew the offer from Q-Free. He saw the acquisition as a way to further his company’s reach into Europe and other markets through Q-Free’s wide distribution channels, as well as give Q-Free an immediate presence in North America.

“This is a an expansion program that we are involved in, with respect to the acquisition, so we can take our product and offer it globally,” Parzych says. “We’re growing and we’ve got some leading edge technology to bring to the international stage.”