Bristol-headquartered law firm TLT has advised Smart Transactions Group, the UK leader in contactless payments and ticketing, on the multi-million pound sale of its West of England subsidiary to Japanese IT giant Fujitsu.
The acquisition of ACT (Applied Card Technologies), based near Chippenham, paves the way for Fujitsu and transport company Arriva to introduce the UK’s first smartphone-based rail ticket issuing system.
ACT, which also has offices in Cardiff and Manchester, designs, builds and manages smart transaction systems for retail, tourism, public sector and transport clients worldwide. 
Its technology will enable Fujitsu to provide cloud-based ticketing systems to transport operators, allowing them to offer passengers a fast, stress-free, convenient service which could spell the end of ticket office queues and paper tickets.
The TLT team working on the deal included corporate partner Andrew Webber, partner and head of technology, media & telecoms James Touzel, corporate associate James Webb, commercial associate Dan Read, employment legal director Harry Parker, real estate associate Philip Collis, commercial solicitor Ruth Fisher and tax solicitor Natalie Stoter.
Andrew Webber said: “This deal enables our client to focus solely on its sQuid digital transaction business in the UK and Africa, helping it implement the next stage of its ambitious growth plans.
“It also provides a great opportunity to ACT to combine its next generation digital ticketing and payments solutions with Fujitsu’s global innovation portfolio to provide the foundations for further expansion. We are delighted to have worked on this deal and wish both companies every success with their growth plans.”
John Holland, director of Surrey-based Smart Transactions Group added: “This divestment was significant for our group and required legal support across a wide range of areas including finance, tax, real estate, technology and intellectual property.
“TLT brought together a professional and focused team of specialists that complemented well both our financial advisors and our team. We appreciated their support in bringing a successful and satisfactory conclusion to the transaction.”
