Austrian Post acquires 100% shareholding of German direct marketing service provider meiller direct GmbH

Austrian Post acquires 100% shareholding of German direct marketing service provider meiller direct GmbH
Meiller direct: approx. 1,180 employees achieved annual revenues of EUR 112m in 2006, producing 685m documents

Following the signing of the agreement and the approval granted by the responsible anti-trust authorities, Austrian Post announces the formal closing of the transaction effective July 31, 2007, enabling it to acquire a 100% shareholding in meiller direct GmbH. The initial consolidation of meiller direct takes place at the formal closing date.

meiller is one of the largest direct marketing service providers in Europe. The services provided range from the production of documents and mailings, dialogue services (e.g. CRM, address management and response management), as well as the further processing and finishing of dialogue media (e.g. binding and polywrapping of catalogues). meiller operates production facilities in Schwandorf (Germany) and Nyrany (Czech Republic), and is also represented with sales offices in several Western and Central European markets. Last year, meiller produced a total of 685m documents, of which 175m were designed for international delivery. Starting with its initial business focus on the mail-order business, meiller has succeeded in attracting top customers from other branches in recent years (e.g. Daimler Chrysler, E-on/IS).

“As a result of this acquisition, we are in a position to significantly expand our portfolio of services. Customers in the mail order business now have access to comprehensive services, ranging from the conception and production of their advertising mail to their delivery. Moreover, with immediate effect, we not only offer to deliver the invoices, account statements, official letters of notification, policies, and much more on behalf of all our customers, but to produce, that is to say, to print them. This represents an added value, which our customers will appreciate in the future“, says Walter Hitziger, Member of the Management Board of Austrian Post, with responsibility for the Mail Division and the Parcel & Logistics Division.

“meiller direct superbly fits into our strategic plans. We are aiming to expand on a regional basis as well as along the value added chain of our customers. The acquisition of meiller is a major and important step in our expansion drive“, says Anton Wais, Chairman of the Management Board of Austrian Post.

In particular, meiller will be able to provide considerable support to the subsidiaries recently acquired by Austrian Post in the core countries of Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia, to assist them in more effectively penetrating these markets. At the same time, the transaction opens up significant new sales potential for meiller in the Central and Eastern European region.

In the year 2006, meiller achieved revenues of approximately EUR 112m (2006 business year: October 2005 – September 2006), employing a total of 1,180 people. The enterprise value of the company as at March 31, 2007 was determined to be EUR 60.5m. It was agreed by the parties to the agreement that the purchase price (enterprise value less net financial liabilities) would not be disclosed.