Pitney Bowes: Acquistions & accusations

STAMFORD, CT-Pitney Bowes Inc. announced that it is in discussions with Fimalac, the French diversified services group, for the acquisition of Secap SA, Fimalac" mailing subsidiary. Secap provides a range of mail processing equipment, supplies, and technology for low- to mid-volume mailers. Pitney Bowes expects customers to benefit from Secap's innovative line of products and shareholders to benefit from Secap's more than 30 percent postage meter market share in France and approximately 60 percent recurring rental revenue stream.

"This proposed acquisition is the next of a series of strategic actions that we've taken to enhance our delivery of leading edge, integrated mail and document management solutions to customers of all sizes worldwide," said Michael J. Critelli, chairman and CEO of Pitney Bowes. "Successful completion of this transaction will strengthen our geographic coverage, expand our distribution, and significantly grow our market presence in Europe, particularly in France, the third largest mailing market in the world. Secap's growing line of digital mailing solutions will help accelerate, especially in Europe, our previously announced global strategy to develop a networked platform that links mailers to postal and carrier information and systems. In addition, Secap will expand Pitney Bowes' line of office folders and inserters, enabling Pitney Bowes to meet paper-handling needs for businesses of all sizes from the office to the production environment."

The parties have discussed a purchase price of approximately French Francs (FF) 1.45 billion. In accordance with French labor law, the proposed transaction has been submitted to the companies' respective employee representatives for review and opinion, and is subject to the execution of definitive documentation, completion of due diligence, and receipt of approvals by the appropriate regulatory authorities and the boards of directors of Pitney Bowes and Fimalac.

Additionally, Pitney Bowes announced that it has filed legal actions against eight companies for infringement of its "272 patent," or variable dot printing patent which enhances the resolution of laser jet printing, that was the subject of a recent settlement with Hewlett-Packard. The suits were filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Legal actions were filed against: Apple Computer, Inc., Lexmark Intl., Inc., Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, Panasonic Personal Computer Co., NEC Technologies, Inc., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and Xerox Corp.

"We are currently engaged in discussions with these companies and seek a business resolution to these claims," said Michael E. Melton, deputy general counsel, Intellectual Property and Technology Law, Pitney Bowes. "We will continue to look for ways to strategically leverage our intellectual property assets for licensing, and to form partnerships that will further enable us to deliver mission-critical, best-- in-class solutions to our customers."

Pitney Bowes has a long history of licensing its technology, and currently has license agreements with companies in a variety of industries, including printing, word processing, shipping and mailing.