Australia Post acquires PrintSoft
Australia Post today announced that it has acquired the global operations of PrintSoft, including PrintSoft Americas Inc., effective July 1, 2005. PrintSoft is a global leader in providing variable print software solutions for corporate, financial, utility, direct marketing and service bureau environments. This will be the first time that Australia Post has owned a business operating in the United States.
In 2002, Australia Post and PrintSoft jointly developed Australia Post's successful Post eLetter service, enabling clients to create letters, invoices, statements and postcards on their desktops, then securely submit them electronically to the Australia Post service bureau, where they are automatically aggregated, sorted and produced with bar codes for optimal production and postage saving.
PrintSoft Americas, Inc.
The first leg of the journey from the desktop for any of these mail pieces is by electronic network. The final print, fold and insertion production is performed in the Australia Post capital city bureau nearest the point of delivery, thus saving transportation cost, time and energy. This combination of part electronic network delivery and final-leg physical delivery is referred to, in the postal trade, as Hybrid Mail.
"Hybrid Mail is likely to be the historical bridge between an all-physical mail and an eventually all-electronic mail world. Just as with Hybrid car engines, which bridge the transition from gasoline engines to electric engines, Hybrid Mail saves transportation time and fuel costs," said David Frenkel, president and CEO of PrintSoft Americas.
The PrintSoft software that powers Australia Post's Post eLetter was initially developed to help a major financial institution consolidate costly desktop mail production processes across its organization. Now more than 80 Australian companies use the service to produce and mail more than 12 million documents annually. The result has been significant staff time and cost savings for these users.
"This new application offers not only the most efficient way to generate desktop mail, but is also the most effective, due to sophisticated data-driven personalization," said Mark Worsley, President of PrintSoft. "The success of Post eLetter in Australia led to the desire to bring this technology to other major world markets, commencing with the United States. The U.S. launch is anticipated in early fall this year."
Early users of Post eLetter include Australia's largest retailer, Coles Myer, with 1,900 stores; one of Australia's largest banks, National Australia Bank (NAB); and the Dun & Bradstreet collection agency. The PrintSoft product suite has the potential to provide significant cost and operational benefits to the mail industry globally.
About PrintSoft
PrintSoft will operate as an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Australia Post and will retain the existing PrintSoft management team. It will be based in its current Melbourne, Australia, headquarters, with its American headquarters offices in Chicago, Ill. PrintSoft's existing range of document- composition products will continue to be supported and enhanced.
The acquisition of PrintSoft will help to realize the potential of desktop mail automation opportunities around the world. PrintSoft also has offices and distributors in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Brazil. PrintSoft provides software solutions for personalized document systems. It has greater than 5,500 systems installed in more than 50 countries.
About Australia Post
Australia Post is a US$3.08 billion corporation equal to A$4.16 billion in Australian dollars, with a US$386 million profit (A$521 million). The corporation, a Government Business Enterprise, is self-funding and makes the best use of its assets and resources in order to earn profits, which may be reinvested in the business or returned as dividends to the Commonwealth of Australia. It serves 1.10 million customers every day in 4,477 postal outlets and delivers mail to 9.68 million Australian addresses. Australia Post has its own board of directors, management, employees and business strategy.
CONTACT: Susan Benjamin of PrintSoft Americas, +1-630-625-5400, Ext.
107, [email protected] , or Elly Krumwiede of Porter Novelli,
+1-312-856-8813, [email protected]
