Tag: Europe

Wincor Nixdorf takes over majority stake in IT services provider prosystems and expands outsourcing portfolio

Posted by | May 9, 2008 | |

Effective retroactively from January 1, 2008, Wincor Nixdorf AG has assumed a majority stake and the operative management of prosystems IT GmbH. prosystems, which is headquartered in Bonn, specializes in the provision of IT services in the Sparkassen environment. This new stake is part of Wincor Nixdorf’s targeted expansion of its activities in the area of IT operations management for retail banking. “We’ve seen that the trend toward outsourcing and automation in retail banking continues. So we’re strengthening our outsourcing portfolio with prosystems IT. We already have customers in this area, but we want to attract additional banks with our portfolio so that we can continue to grow,” explains Eckard Heidloff, President and CEO of Wincor Nixdorf AG. For Wincor Nixdorf, this is the second joint venture specializing in the operational management of information technology for branch-related processes.

prosystems IT was created in 2004 when the IT operations of two savings banks, Stadtsparkasse Köln and Kreissparkasse Köln, were merged with the subsidiary of the now amalgamated Sparkasse Bonn and Kreissparkasse Siegburg, PROSERVICE GmbH, and with the SDZ Sparkassen-Dienstezentrum, a savings bank service center. The participating Sparkassen have outsourced large parts of the operational management of their IT to prosystems IT.

prosystems has 223 employees and had sales last fiscal year of approximately 43 million euros.

In the future, Wincor Nixdorf will hold 51% of the interests in prosystems. The remaining interests will be held by Kreissparkasse Köln (20.17%), by Sparkasse KölnBonn (26.38%) and by SDZ Sparkassen-Dienstezentrum (2.45%), which itself is the subsidiary of the savings banks Verbandssparkasse Goch, Sparkasse Wiehl, Stadtsparkasse Wermelskirchen, Stadtsparkasse Bad Honnef and Kreissparkasse Düsseldorf.

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Sale of vegetable processing business & interim management statement

Posted by | May 9, 2008 | |

Christian Salvesen announced that it has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of its frozen vegetable business, Christian Salvesen Foods (“the business”), comprising stock, plant, machinery, people and contracts to Pinguin Foods UK Limited, a subsidiary of Pinguin NV (“Pinguin”) for estimated total cash consideration payable at completion of GBP 17.2m. The consideration is subject to adjustment for the actual amount of stock at the date of closing. In addition, Christian Salvesen will continue to provide storage and distribution services to the business on normal commercial terms for a minimum term of sixteen months. The transaction is expected to close in mid-September following employee consultation.

The business consists of vegetable processing, packing and storage activities at three sites in Lincolnshire, located in Bourne, North Thoresby and Easton. In the year ended 31st March 2007 the business reported revenues of GBP 44.6m and operating profit of £0.7m; operating profit included exceptional net income of GBP 0.4m and an allocation of £0.8m of Group overheads. The gross assets of the business were GBP 29.5m at 31st March 2007.

The impact of the transaction on earnings is expected to be broadly neutral. The proceeds will be used for general working capital purposes.

As part of the transaction structure, Christian Salvesen will retain responsibility for the debtors and creditors at the date of closing. The land and buildings at the three sites will be retained by Christian Salvesen, with rent-free leases granted for 6 years to Pinguin. In addition, Pinguin has been granted an option to buy a 999 year lease of the Bourne site for GBP 4m within two years.

The Christian Salvesen sites at Grimsby, Hull and Lowestoft, which provide contract processing and storage services and are reported as part of the UK Logistics business, are not included in this transaction and will remain with Christian Salvesen.

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Mory Group: Press release from Alain Breau

Posted by | May 9, 2008 | |

MORY confirmed the launch of an operation aiming to strengthen the equity of the holding, after re-capitalization of its subsidiary MORY TEAM late last December.

This new operation, agreed by all MORY group shareholders, totals EUR 35M split as follows:

– EUR 15M capital increase, raising from EUR 28 M to EUR 43 M
– EUR 20M of subordinated convertible bonds, of near common equity nature.

At the end of the operation, which will take place over the next few weeks, managers will hold 65 pct of the capital and half of the convertible bonds, whilst the two investment funds (Bridgepoint and Barclays) that support the company since 1999 will hold 35 pct of the capital and the other half of the convertible bonds.

Through this transaction, shareholders renew their support and confidence in the future of MORY group, especially for 2008 which will see consolidated sales exceed 1 billion euros, i.e. twice that of 2000.

Recent securing of major contracts in transportation and logistics, as well as growth of overseas subsidiaries, along with tariff increase needed on the French market will allow MORY group to return in 2008 to profitability rates it had in the years 2000 to 2005 (i.e. 2 pct of EBIT/turnover).

As previously announced, in order to further strengthen their commitment to their company’s performance, group profit centre managers will then be sought to enter the capital of the group main operating subsidiaries.

Through these legal and financial operations, MORY group intends to establish the foundation of a 3 year development plan (2008-2010) which will allow the group to continue expansion in France and abroad in transportation and logistics, whilst ensuring its independence and home control.

This 3 year plan will be presented and discussed in detail in April.

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Azkar integrates into its own structure the operator "servicios logísticos internacionales Bisa"

Posted by | May 9, 2008 | |

Azkar has integrated into its structure of branches the operator “Servicios Logísticos Internacionales BISA”, creating a new society called Azkar Bisa International, S.A.

The principal aim is to harness the international traffic by highways, parcels and pallets of both partners with origin and destination within Europe.

Enric Lleida and Josep Giner, managers and owners of the former BISA will remain in the new branch as managers and shareholders of the new company, contributing with their great experience in the international sector.

Azkar Bisa International, S.A. was born with a share capital of 2 million Euros, a structure of professionals and means to total performing from the very first day, with a turnover estimated for 2008 in more than 36 million euros in European terrestrial traffic trades.

This way, AZKAR offers to their customers a powerful international network for the management of imports and exports of goods, from any origin or destination in the world outside Europe, through Azkar Overseas, like in European traffics through Azkar Bisa International, as well as in the Iberian Peninsula and Islands, where the company has 73 facilities between Spain and Portugal, with more than 500,000 m2 built over more than 1 million m2 of land, a human team of 5,000 employees and a fleet of 2,400 trucks.

AZKAR, that registered a net business of 378 million in 2007, can help their clients from the very first origin of the goods until the last mile in the distribution capillary end.

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Swiss Post: Competition calls for entrepreneurial freedom

Posted by | May 8, 2008 | |

Swiss Post believes in offering a top-quality basic service. And it intends to do so, efficiently and successfully, even in a postal market completely deregulated by legislation. This is certainly possible, providing Swiss Post is granted the necessary entrepreneurial freedom as part of this new legislation. In its feedback during the consultation process, Swiss Post requested a number of amendments, the most important of which being – in the absence of any state guarantee – the opportunity to determine for itself in which markets it will operate. There was also mention of a banking licence and a basic service mandate without the limitations that result from having to define individual infrastructure elements.
Swiss Post expects this new legislation to completely open up the postal market. Over the coming years, therefore, it wants to develop and thus prove itself capable of providing an efficient basic service in an open market. Thanks to successful restructuring, improved levels of efficiency and positive performance figures in recent years, it is already well on the way to achieving this goal. The current positive results mean that Swiss Post can make important investments in advance of complete market deregulation in what is expected to be just under four years. It can also continue to promote innovation and customer orientation, consolidate the pension fund and compensate the Swiss federal government for capital it provided.

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