Press Releases
Real Deals Magazine
October 2005
British airport operator BAA has invested £7.5m for a 25 per cent stake in Nesta-backed Advanced Transport Systems. Nesta, the UK government backed innovation fund, has invested a total of £250,000 in the company over three rounds. ATS also received grants of £50,000 from the South West Regional Development Agency and a £62,000 grant from the Department of Trade and Industry. The company, which was founded in 1999 having been spun-out from Bristol University, has received £10m of funding in total. ATS has developed a driverless vehicle for use in airports. The Ultra Personal Rapid Transit system consists of automatically controlled vehicles that seat four passengers and travel along a pre-set path. The electric powered modules act like a personal, automated taxi system, using half the fuel used by conventional forms of public transport. BAA will trial the system, which will initially be used to transport people from airport car parks to terminals, in Heathrow airport, before being rolled out across other airports. It is also hoped that the product will be used to solve congestion problems in city centres in the future. “BAA’s investment signals the start of the commercialisation process for us with much of the money earmarked for production tools, the expansion of facilities and getting the company ready for full scale production,” said Martin Lowson, ATS founder and chief executive. Nesta believes the company is worth in the region of £30m following BAA’s investment and values its stake at up to £1.15m. The organisation is anticipating an ultimate IRR of more than 50 per cent.
ICON Corporate Finance secured the funding.
