TNT Post announced strategic partnership with Süddeutscher Verlag and Ippen Publishing Group

TNT Post, the Süddeutscher Verlag and the Munich-based Ippen Publishing Group are entering into a strategic partnership in the German mail delivery market. Furthermore, TNT Post took a 25.1 percent share in ecoflash Briefservice GmbH, a regional mail delivery specialist jointly owned by the Süddeutscher Verlag and the Ippen Publishing Group. The partnership will provide TNT Post access to 1.6 million households and secure the “final mile” delivery in the Greater Munich Area. The new partners are also aiming to cooperate more closely in other areas of Germany where these publishers have interest in local mail delivery companies.

Since the beginning of 2005, the joint venture of Süddeutscher Verlag and the Ippen Publishing Group has provided business clients with regional mail deliveries in the Munich area.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval by the German authorities.

About Süddeutscher Verlag
Süddeutscher Verlag is one of the leading media companies in Germany. It is an offshoot of the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper publishing house, founded in 1945, and currently operates in numerous areas of business. In addition to newspapers (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Hof/Coburg/Suhl Regional Newspaper Group), the media group owns specialist publishing companies (books and newspapers), printing works and electronic media (internet, TV and radio), etc. Süddeutscher Verlag posted sales of more than € 700 million in 2006 and has around 4,000 employees on its payroll.

About Ippen-Verlagsgruppe
The Ippen Publishing Group is a loose association of local daily newspapers created by Dr. Dirk Ippen. The group’s activities are centered primarily on Bavaria, Hessen, Westphalia and Lower Saxony. With the exception of the Münchner Merkur and tz, the newspapers focus mainly on small and midsize towns and cities and on rural areas. In addition to daily newspapers and newspaper printers, the group owns advertisers, telephone directory publishers, internet operations and radio holdings.

TNT Post Germany
In addition to mail deliveries and consolidation services for business customers, the primary focus of TNT Post Germany is on the distribution of direct mail advertising to private households. For its mail delivery operations, TNT Post has its own network with 17 sorting centres and more than 2,500 delivery staff. With its own delivery structures and those of 150 partners, TNT Post covers over 90 percent of households in the Federal Republic. With 41 million advertisements distributed each week and around 36,000 leaflet and brochure deliverers on its books, the company is second only to Deutsche Post AG in the direct mail advertising sector.