APCOA's origins go back some 60 years to when APCOA Inc was founded in the USA. The company specialised in setting up and managing car parks at airports around the States. In fact, the name APCOA is an acronym and stands for Airport Parking Corporation of America.

APCOA first appeared in Europe in 1970 as an associate parking company in Germany and Austria, with the UK soon following. As the range of services on offer developed to include on and off street parking, the APCOA businesses in Europe became fully independent and no longer linked with the USA.

In the 1980s and 1990s, APCOA AG in Germany began acquiring parking companies across Europe, including the APCOA business in the UK.

The APCOA Group was purchased by the French investment company Eurazeo in early 2007 for the sum of €885 million. With plans to further expand the company across Europe, APCOA will continue to be Europe’s largest parking organization.