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Pitney Bowes to Acquire Ibis Consulting

STAMFORD, Conn., April 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) today announced that its Management Services subsidiary has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the stock of Ibis Consulting, Inc. for approximately $67 million. Ibis is a leading provider of electronic discovery (eDiscovery) services to law firms and corporate clients. Subject to regulatory approval and completion of other customary conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2006.

This acquisition will help the company do more for customers and shareholders, according to Michael J. Critelli, Chairman and CEO of Pitney Bowes. "One of our strategies for growing customer and shareholder value is to leverage our mailstream management expertise in transaction-intensive verticals like the legal market. Last year we created Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions within Management Services to deliver customized technology and services for the physical and electronic mail and document flows of customers in the legal market. Ibis Consulting's technology and offerings complement those of Compulit, which we acquired last year, and expand our range of solutions and services for the complex litigation support needs of law firms and corporate legal departments. Pitney Bowes and Ibis Consulting customers will all benefit from our combined portfolio of mailstream solutions and our expanded capability to manage both hard copy and electronic documents."

Litigation support is a $3 billion market that is rapidly expanding, and eDiscovery is one of the fastest growing segments within litigation support. eDiscovery covers a wide range of functions, including the processing of different types of electronic files into a format that is usable by standard document management tools, indexing and searching electronic files, and electronic archival and retrieval. Ibis Consulting generated approximately $23 million in revenue in its last fiscal year by providing eDiscovery services and solutions for independent resellers, law firms, corporations and other partners involved in large-scale litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and mergers and acquisitions.

According to Jay McNally, founder of Ibis Consulting, "We are excited about this transaction because we share Pitney Bowes' vision for providing more software, services and solutions to the legal and compliance markets. This acquisition provides our channel partners and other customers continued access to Ibis' state of the art eDiscovery services along with Pitney Bowes' wide array of products and services. I see this as a big benefit for all Ibis and Pitney Bowes customers."

Ibis Consulting is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. It employs approximately 100 people.

Pitney Bowes provides the world's most comprehensive suite of mailstream software, hardware, services and solutions to help companies manage their flow of mail, documents and packages to improve communication. Pitney Bowes, with $5.5 billion in annual revenue, takes an all-inclusive view of its customers' operations, helping organizations of all sizes enjoy the competitive advantage that comes from an optimized mailstream. The company's 85 years of technological leadership have produced many major mailstream innovations, and it is consistently on the Intellectual Property Owners Association's list of top U.S. patent holders. With approximately 34,000 employees worldwide, Pitney Bowes serves more than 2 million businesses through direct and dealer operations. More information about the company can be found at http://www.pb.com. More information regarding Ibis Consulting can be found at http://www.Ibisconsulting.com.

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve risks. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as the words "expects," "anticipates," "intends" and other similar words. Such forward- looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about growth strategies, market expansion, etc. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: negative developments in economic conditions, including adverse impacts on customer demand, timely development and acceptance of new products or gaining product approval; successful entry into new markets; changes in interest rates; and changes in postal regulations, as more fully outlined in the company's 2005 Form 10-K Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements are subject to change based on the timing and specific terms of any announced acquisitions. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and we do not assume any obligation to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

    Media Contact:

    Sheryl Y. Battles
    Pitney Bowes Inc.
    VP, Corporate Communications
    203-351-6808
SOURCE  Pitney Bowes Inc.
    -0-                             04/04/2006
    /CONTACT:  Sheryl Y. Battles, VP, Corporate Communications,
+1-203-351-6808, or Charles F. McBride, VP, Investor Relations,
+1-203-351-6349, both of Pitney Bowes Inc./
    /Web site:  http://www.pb.com
                http://www.Ibisconsulting.com /
    (PBI)

CO:  Pitney Bowes Inc.; Ibis Consulting, Inc.
ST:  Connecticut
IN:  CPR STW WRK
SU:  TNM

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3452 04/04/2006 09:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com