(Updated, 2:45 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – American Traffic Solutions Inc. will pay $7.1 million to acquire Nestor Traffic Systems Inc., the Providence-based traffic-monitoring company that went into receivership three months ago, the company said.
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American Traffic, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., describes itself as the second-largest provider of red-light and speed cameras in North America.
The company said the addition of Nestor will increase its total number of red-light and speed cameras under contract by nearly 30 percent to 2,173 and will expand its footprint from 170 communities in 17 states and Washington, D.C., to almost 200 communities in 21 states and two Canadian provinces.
“I am confident that Nestor’s clients are in good hands with ATS, which is a high-energy, high-quality company that has led the industry in terms of innovation, technology and growth,” Mike James, Nestor’s president, said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the ATS team during the transition period to ensure a positive outcome for Nestor employees and customers.”
R.I. Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein appointed attorney Jonathan N. Savage, a partner at Shechtman Halperin Savage LLP in Pawtucket, to take over management of Nestor Traffic Systems and its money-losing parent company, Providence-based Nestor Inc., as interim receiver on June 3.
Nestor listed $22.1 million in assets and $26.1 million in liabilities on Sept. 30, 2008, the last time the company filed a report with the Securities & Exchange Commission. At the time, it posted a third-quarter loss of $3 million on revenue of $3.83 million.
James Tuton, president and CEO of ATS, said he introduced photo traffic enforcement to the United States in 1987. American Traffic has contracts with a number of major cities, including New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and has 1,147 traffic cameras currently in operation.
Tuton said a group of ATS executives and experts are coming to Providence to review Nestor’s operations. “ATS anticipates a very smooth transition for current Nestor customers and employees,” he said in a statement. “The communities currently served by Nestor have my pledge that we will work closely with them to ensure a smooth transition while continuing to provide public safety.”
Nestor had 55 employees in Rhode Island and 25 more elsewhere in the country as of June. American Traffic did not say whether it plans to change the size of Nestor’s work force.
“It is ATS’s intention to have a Rhode Island presence, and the first step in that process is for ATS to have the opportunity to conduct an operational review, which begins this week,” Bill Fischer, a spokesman for ATS, told Providence Business News.
Additional information is available at Nestor.com and atsol.com.
