Article - October 29, 2026
IPS Highlights the Parking Technology Opportunity
Featured Professionals: Andy Leed, Chris Toussaint
Cities around the world are looking to improve safety, mobility, sustainability, and operating efficiency through investments in connected infrastructure and digital technologies.
For corporate buyers and investors, the opportunity spans advanced software, critical hardware systems, digital payments, and support services. Solutions that deliver measurable customer value for municipalities and their citizens are particularly appealing.
Below, our Industrials Group and Technology Group explore the smart city opportunity and the characteristics that differentiated our recent client IPS.
A Need to Innovate
The global evolution of cities reflects a practical need to improve infrastructure with new technologies that enhance safety, efficiency, sustainability, and quality of life for citizens. Applications range from adaptive traffic lights that respond to and help manage congestion, to power generation that shifts to meet changes and optimize energy use, to buildings that automatically optimize systems based on occupant requirements.
And with rising urban populations around the world pushing existing infrastructure to its limits, and budget-constrained municipalities needing new ways to drive revenue, intelligent, connected infrastructure is becoming a greater priority. A 2024 Deloitte–ThoughtLab survey of 250 global city leaders points to expanding use of AI, digital twins, drones, robotics, and connected infrastructure over the next several years.1 Revenue-generating infrastructure, including modern tolling and parking systems, can help municipalities and transportation agencies fund essential services and infrastructure while easing pressure on constrained budgets.
In fact, the global smart city market, spanning infrastructure, transportation, governance, and citizen services, is forecast to reach $1.2 trillion in 2026 and grow at a 23.2% CAGR to $6.32 trillion by 2034.2 More specifically, smart infrastructure is currently estimated at $286.7 billion and anticipated to reach $681.9 billion by 2034 at an 11.44% CAGR.3
“Cities are increasingly adopting technologies to improve critical infrastructure and services for their residents while generating revenue and alleviating rising budget deficits,” says Chris Toussaint, a managing director in our Industrials Group.
Within IPS’ Intelligent Transportation Solutions (ITS) market, applications include next-generation parking, tolling, and automated traffic enforcement systems. “The most compelling ITS companies are combining reliable field devices with software and payments to provide end-to-end technology ecosystems, which are more efficient for municipalities to manage than disparate solutions from several vendors,” adds Toussaint. “That integration can create lasting customer relationships and are more difficult to disintermediate.”
Intelligent parking illustrates this convergence. Integrated systems can simplify payments, streamline parking administration, and give operators better visibility into how parking assets are used. “In this new AI world, buyers and investors are attracted to platforms like IPS that integrate software, payments, and installed hardware to address essential customer needs,” says Andy Leed, a managing director in our Technology Group.
IPS: A Leader in Intelligent Parking
IPS Group provides intelligent parking technology systems, mobile and digital payments, enforcement and permitting software, vehicle detection, and curb data analytics. Harris Williams served as exclusive advisor to IPS, a portfolio company of Windjammer Capital Investors, on its sale to Nayax.
The company’s payment-enabled technology platform serves municipalities, universities, and private parking operators. With more than 250,000 parking spaces and 600,000 annual parking transactions across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland, IPS brings an established installed base and more than two decades of field experience. The platform’s strong recurring revenue and ongoing revenue streams helped draw significant attention. “IPS combines proven proprietary software and data with digital payment solutions, an established installed base, and integrated hardware systems to form a differentiated parking technology ecosystem that’s difficult to replicate,” says Leed.
Nayax’s acquisition of IPS marks its strategic entrance into parking, complementing its existing global commerce enablement, payments, and loyalty platform. The combination pairs IPS’ purpose-built parking technology with Nayax’s payments infrastructure and international commercial presence. “IPS has already proven what’s possible in parking technology,” says Toussaint. “Now, paired with Nayax’s global footprint, it has the potential to bring smarter parking solutions to more markets and customers than ever before.”
A Smart Opportunity
For acquirers and investors, the opportunity extends beyond the growth of intelligent infrastructure spending. Harris Williams sees the most compelling businesses as those that solve essential operating challenges, demonstrate measurable customer value, and combine differentiated technology with durable customer relationships and recurring revenue.
The convergence of software, hardware, and payments creates opportunities for a broad range of strategic buyers and investors, including industrial technology, technology, and infrastructure investors where business models align with their evolving mandates. IPS illustrates how these capabilities can come together within a single platform, and how a strategic partner can create new avenues for expansion.
“Federal and state governments are increasingly prioritizing funding toward next-generation technologies that improve infrastructure and budget challenges. As a result, we see long-term opportunities across the smart city ecosystem,” says Toussaint.
To further discuss investment and M&A opportunities throughout the smart city market, please contact our senior professionals.
