October 28, 2004

IOS Announces Second Acquisition in Germany

Frankfurt, Germany – International Outsourcing Services, one of the world's largest suppliers of outsourcing services and a specialist in the banking and insurance segments, announced a second company acquisition in Germany. After acquiring PMC in the first half of the year, IOS announced at the European Banking and Insurance Fair (EBIF) that it has also acquired LDC. Both companies are noted outsourcing specialists with an emphasis on banking.

"Instead of making indiscriminate mega-acquisitions, we are very deliberately focusing on the specialists in the industry with top service and good customer bases," said Rainer Lechner, CEO of IOS Germany.

LDC focuses on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), particularly the processing of white mail. Lechner said the new acquisition is especially important strategically because LDC provides services that are close to the core business of bank customers.

Both PMC and LDC provide services in Germany, which create jobs in that market. "The common argument that outsourcing destroys jobs in Germany can't be applied across the board, as our concrete examples prove," said Lechner. Many of the jobs are in Eastern Germany or will be created there, he stated, and other acquisitions in Germany are being considered in the future.

France is the model for the German strategy: IOS started there in 1998 and acquired nine companies. More than 30 percent of all checks in France are processed by IOS today. International Outsourcing Services specializes in the finance sector in Germany, too. Customers of IOS Deutschland include Bank of America, Barclays Bank, Diba, ATOS Worldline, GZS, and Quelle-Bank.

IOS — International Outsourcing Services (iosnet.com) is one of the world leaders in outsourcing. The U.S. company has been on the market for more than 40 years and has 6,000 employees worldwide. Its customers include Axa Investment Managers, Banque de France, BNP Paribas, Bosch, Credit Agricole, Credit Lyonnais, Deutsche Post, Ferrero, Henkel, Siemens, and Time Warner.

Additional Information: IOS Deutschland GmbH, Rudolf-Braas-Straße 20, 63150 Heusenstamm, Phone: +49/6104/9341 - 0, Fax: +49/6104/9341 - 126, E-mail: merdsiek@iosnet.com

Public Relations: Team Andreas Dripke GmbH, Phone: +49/611/973150, E-mail: team@dripke.de