Logistics bigwig Lindsay Fox has embarked on a bold play for control of the Australian automatic teller market after acquiring Cuscal's ailing RediATM  network.Fox's wholly owned cash logistics business, Armaguard, announced the purchase of the loss-making network on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum of money.The transaction, which is expected to settle later this year, is likely to fetch a modest price given the large writedowns of the Redi assets by Cuscal in 2018.Cuscal absorbed a post-tax writedown of more than A$19 million last year, which reduced the carrying value of the business to zero.Several payments industry experts told Banking Day that the Redi fleet of 700 machines could be worth up to $8 million, but the value of the transaction was hard to assess because it was unclear whether Cuscal had fully provided for future liabilities such as site leases that do not expire until 2022.Another factor complicating valuations of the deal is the ageing profile of the Redi fleet, which comprises several hundred NCR machines that have been in service for more than a decade.However, the big talking point in banking circles last night was how rapidly Armaguard is now moving to position itself as the leading candidate to manage an ATM utility for the country's largest banks.Banking Day revealed last December that Armaguard had quietly floated its strategic intentions of operating a pooled ATM service throughout the banking industry.The acquisition of a national network with a strong brand appears to have boosted the company's prospects for securing such a mandate.While other private ATM operators such as Cardtronics and Prosegur are also readying to stump up tenders, Armaguard now seems to be firing the loudest shots.Armaguard CEO Gary Allen last night highlighted the strategic importance of the acquisition and indicated that his business was planning a major investment in the Redi fleet."Our core business is currency management, which includes supporting financial institutions with the circulation of cash into the community," he said."We aim to ensure that everyone has access to their cash when they need it, and part of this is the provision of ATMs, an essential service to communities across Australia."We look forward to investing in this well-established network to support ongoing services to the community."The economics of operating ATMs in Australia were transformed late in 2017 when Commonwealth Bank and the other major banks announced the abolition of alien transaction fees in each of their proprietary networks.That decision triggered a rationalisation of under-used ATMs by most banks, led by Suncorp which slashed the size of its proprietary network by 311 machines or 60 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June last year.Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer recently revealed that his bank removed more than 443 machines from its network in the 12 months to the end of September.The rapid contraction in the size of proprietary fleets has stoked industry support for migrating to a pooled ATM service operated by an independent provider.While that might be expected to trigger competition concerns, the Reserve Bank's head