Zenco acquired by Siemens AG

Arrowpoint Advisory has advised on the sale of Zenco Systems Ltd, the UK's leading provider of digital traffic and parking enforcement systems, to German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG.

Zenco was established in 2006 to help local authorities realise the potential of using CCTV video evidence to enforce traffic and parking contraventions. Its market-leading ZenGrab Digital Enforcement system is now the preferred choice of a number of Local Authorities across the UK.

Zenco will consolidate into Siemen's UK traffic solutions business. Siemens is the UK market leader in traffic management and enforcement solutions, manufacturing and maintaining the majority of traffic signal and control equipment across the UK. The company also delivered and currently operates the London Congestion Charge and Low Emission Zone on behalf of Transport for London.

The transaction recognises Siemens commitment to the growing traffic enforcement market and follows a number of successful joint projects by both companies, including the London Olympic Route Network.  All Zenco Systems employees will join Siemens, which employs 620 people in its Traffic Solutions organisation in the UK, with Zenco's existing Rugby premises remaining in operation.

Gordon Wakeford, Managing Director of Siemens UK traffic business, said: “We are very excited to have the opportunity to build upon our proven range of traffic technology solutions, and we welcome the employees from Zenco Systems who have unique skills, knowledge and a reputation for state-of-the-art enforcement systems into Siemens to help the expansion of their proven technology through our existing operations.”

Noel Frost, CEO & founder of Zenco Systems, said: “As a small company, the ability to grow our organisation into markets outside of the UK is limited, and we're delighted that Siemens has recognised our enforcement expertise. We are excited about both the possibilities for our enforcement solutions and our people that come with being part of a large technology company with a global reach. We would like to thank Arrowpoint Advisory for their help in finding the ideal partner for us and for guiding us through this complex transaction.”

Alex John, Director at Arrowpoint Advisory, added: “We are delighted to have completed this transaction, selling a leading UK niche technology company to an established global player. The synergy opportunities for the two companies are significant and I'm sure Noel and his team will go on achieve great things as part of the Siemens network.”

Simon Cope-Thompson, Managing Director at Arrowpoint Advisory, concluded: “At the moment we are seeing strong levels of interest from global strategic acquirers in high-quality UK assets. It is also another cross-border transaction for Arrowpoint Advisory and a further example of the benefits to our clients of our global platform.”

The Zenco transaction follows the completion of our other recent deals in the wider parking and traffic management sector, including Zodion and CitySync.

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