Finland Post to enter the German electronic data management market

Finland Post Corporation has acquired the entire capital stock of the German Eurocom Depora GmbH , which specialises in electronic data management, filing and printing services for companies. Through the corporate acquisition the Finland Post will expand its market area and increase its operating opportunities in the growing market of electronic data management and transactions. Prior to this, the Post Group already owned the Finnish Atkos Oy and the Scandinavian Capella Group AB in the sector. The total net turnover of this established group of companies amounts to approximately EUR 110 million.
Eurocom Depora operates mainly in the regions of Frankfurt and Duisburg. Its service range comprises microfilming, electronic management and filing of mass information, information retrieval systems and document management and printing services. The net turnover of Eurocom Depora, which is owned by the English capital investment company Bridgepoint Capital Ltd and the company’s operative management, amounted to EUR 21.1 million in 2001. The company has a staff of 200 employees.
The corporate acquisition is part of the Post’s strategy of growth and globalisation, in which the area of electronic data transfer, management and transactions is considered a significant growth sector.
Atkos Oy is Finland’s leading provider of document management and printing services for companies, while the Capella Group AB operates in the same sector in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Companies increasingly transfer their data into electronic format. At the same time they are outsourcing their data management and processing operations. Through the group of companies, the Finland Post will be able to offer major international organisations, such as financial companies and industrial groups end-to-end services that utilise cutting-edge technology, all the way from the reception and processing of electronic data to printing and filing services.
For further information please contact:
Finland Post Corporation: Vice President, CFO, Finance and Accounts Vesa Vertanen, tel. +358 204 51 5073 or +358 40 846 2753
Bridgepoint Capital Ltd: James Murray, tel. + 44 20 7374 3670
Finland Post Corporation is the leading messaging and logistics company in Finland. During the past few years it has vigorously expanded its operations into electronic messaging and corporate logistics. Employing 24,500 people, the Group’s net turnover in 2000 amounted to EUR 1,069 million. www.posti.fi, www.atkos.com, www.capellasweden.com
Founded in 1970, Eurocom Depora GmbH offers its approximate 800 customers, mainly in the insurance and finance sector, services related to electronic data and document processing and management. The company operates in Germany in the Frankfurt and Duisburg regions. Eurocom Depora’s net turnover in 2001 amounted to EUR 21.1 million.www.eurocom-depora.de.
Bridgepoint Capital is a leading private equity firm focussing on investments in Europe's mid-market companies. With some EUR3 billion under management, it typically makes investments in companies valued up to EUR400 million in a broad range of sectors to fund expansion, management buyouts and buy-ins and public-to-private transactions.
Other investments made by Bridgepoint Capital in the Nordic region include: the SEK205m buyout of manufacturer of long-life industrial lighting products group Aura, the SEK 184m buyout of engineering consultancy Semcon and the EUR37m buyout of cold store manufacturer Huurre. In August 2001, Bridgepoint Capital sold Capella Group AB, the Swedish data services outsourcing business, to Finland Post for an undisclosed sum.