CLEVELAND & DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Align Capital Partners (“ACP”) has sold Richardson, Texas-based Electronic Transaction Consultants, LLC ("ETC" or the “Company”) to Quarterhill Inc. ("Quarterhill") (TSX: QTRH) (OTCQX: QTRHF) for total cash consideration of $120 million USD plus transaction related expenses.
For more than 20 years, ETC has been a leading provider of tolling and mobility software solutions to some of the largest U.S. tolling authorities, including in the states of Texas, Georgia, California and Illinois. ETC's flexible riteSuite™ software platform enables authorities to customize operations to their specific needs for roadside operations and back-office customer engagement. The Company's platform processes more than two billion transactions annually representing more than $3.0 billion USD in toll billings across more than 1,500 toll lanes in the U.S.
Acquired as a corporate carveout in July 2020, ETC was the first investment within ACP’s targeted state and local government (“SLG”) technology investment theme. “Our investment in ETC was predicated on the massive need for SLGs to replace antiquated technology systems. ETC is at the forefront of software innovation within the tolling industry. Its cloud-based, modular software platform helps tolling agencies collect more revenue to fund required infrastructure investments, while also better serving its citizens,” said ACP Managing Partner Rob Langley.
ETC management, alongside ACP, executed upon several strategic objectives far earlier than originally planned, which resulted in strong momentum early in ACP’s hold. “During our partnership, ACP helped the Company add key management talent including a strong COO and CTO, streamlined ETC’s technology roadmap and improved the Company’s operating leverage and scalability. Accomplishing these objectives early on led to a number of key customer wins,” said Langley. “ACP’s investment came at a time of increased focus on U.S. infrastructure requirements, and we believe ETC is well positioned to build upon its strong historical growth with Quarterhill given the combined companies offer increased scale and synergistic technology solutions.”
“The investment from ACP last year was a critical next step in the growth journey for ETC,” said ETC CEO Bret Kidd. “We are grateful that ACP moved quickly post-closing to invest in our business and deliver on their promise to bring high-quality industry resources to bear. They were a great partner to management and the business.”
This transaction marks ACP’s second exit of 2021, following the sale of Alliance Technical Group in July, and first exit from Align Capital Partners Fund II. Operating Partner Dave Perotti, Principal Matt Iodice and Associate Vijay Senthilkumar worked alongside Mr. Langley on the ETC investment.
About Electronic Transaction Consultants, LLC
ETC is a leading U.S. software and technology provider to SLG tolling agencies, developing and delivering best in class solutions for tolling, congestion management, urban mobility and multimodal transportation needs. ETC's passionate and innovative team has been driving the future of mobility since 1999, with a number of industry firsts, including all electronic tolling, dynamic pricing, agency interoperability, hosted mobility solutions and machine learning.
For over two decades, ETC has delivered sophisticated solutions to many of the U.S.'s largest toll authorities, including state-wide programs, county networks and tolling-specific authorities. ETC's solutions process over two billion transactions annually totaling over $3 billion in revenues for our customers, incorporating the latest in evergreen open-source and SaaS technologies and Big Data architecture through our innovative riteSuite™ products. For more information, visit etcc.com.
About Align Capital Partners
Align Capital Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm that partners with business owners and management teams to create shared success. ACP manages $775 million in committed capital with investment teams in Cleveland and Dallas. ACP brings experience and resources to help lower-middle market companies accelerate their growth, to the benefit of management, employees and the firm’s investors. ACP makes control investments in differentiated companies within the business services, technology, specialty manufacturing and distribution sectors. For more information, visit aligncp.com.
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