Belgian postal operator bpost has sold a part of its subsidiary Certipost to Basware, a FinnishPurchase-to-Pay and e-Invoicing company, for €18.2 million.
Bpost has sold the network and e-Invoicing business of Certipost but its activities related tosecuring documents, certificates and the Belgian electronic identity card remain with thecompany.
The postal operator said this agreement guarantees Certipost’s future growth within aninternational company specialised in electronic invoice exchange. This also ensures continuousquality of electronic invoicing for Certipost’s customers.
Founded in 2002 by bpost and Belgacom, Certipost is the leading provider in the field of secureelectronic document exchange in the Benelux. In 2011, Certipost had more than 85,000 companiesusing its technology to exchange documents electronically and it reaches over 100,000 companies inEurope through roaming. Certipost employs currently 84 people of which 76 employees work in thenetwork and e-Invoicing business. Since 2008, the company has been wholly-owned by bpost.
With the acquisition, the Certipost document exchange organisation will be integrated within theBasware global organisation. Basware counts over 1 million individual users in 60 countriesconnecting 800,000 active buyers and suppliers in an open network to more than 140 partnernetworks.
Johnny Thijs, bpost CEO, said: “This sale is a good deal for all parties involved. Theimportance of the customer database in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Certipost’sexpertise in electronic data interchange (EDI), were crucial for the subsequent agreement relatedto future development of Certipost.”
Esa Tihilä, Basware CEO, commented: “We are actively looking for possibilities to gain astronger position in selected markets both organically and through acquisitions. The synergybenefits of the acquired network and e-Invoicing assets of Certipost derive from accelerated growthpotential: our global Open Network will expand further and our offering for small and mediumenterprises will increase. Together, we will grow stronger in the Benelux market, with joinedglobal offering for all of our customers. Strategically, we will achieve significant marketposition with a single acquisition in the Benelux, where we expect the e-Invoicing market to growsubstantially in the upcoming years.”
Basware said it aims to become the largest business commerce network for both buyers andsuppliers and wants to reach 150 million transactions by the end of 2015. With the acquisition,approximately 12 million transactions are estimated to be added to its global Open Network.
