Release Issued by HP:
A leading online photo services and products site in Europe.
PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 13, 2005 - HP today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire bilderservice.de GmbH, which operates PIXACO.
The acquisition of the privately-held company will enable HP to rapidly extend the reach of its online photo services throughout Europe, building on the purchase of Snapfish earlier this year. HP plans to extend many of its Snapfish capabilities to the PIXACO service - bringing European customers greater choices for printing, sharing and storing their photos.
"This acquisition gives HP the ability to quickly become Europe's largest online photo service, just as it is in the U.S. today," said Ben Nelson, vice president and general manager, Snapfish, Digital Photography and Entertainment, HP. "Together, Snapfish and PIXACO have the experience and scope to provide a world-class online photo experience that will uniquely meet the needs of consumers in Europe."
Today, Snapfish has 20 million registered users in the United States and United Kingdom and is adding up to 1 million new users every month.
The acquisition also is expected to foster the growth of Internet-to-retail digital photography services in Europe. Currently, Snapfish powers online photo services for more than two dozen leading retailers, Internet service providers and consumer brands in both the United States and United Kingdom, and will now look to align with similar partners throughout Europe.
Since PIXACO was established in 2003 by bilderservice.de, customers in 11 countries across Europe have come to recognise and trust the products and services made available through the PIXACO site.
"With this move, Europeans will now be exposed to a whole new level of digital photography services in addition to the best-value offering that they have come to expect from PIXACO," said Karsten Schneider, chief executive officer and founder, bilderservice.de GmbH. "We look forward to providing our customers with a more powerful and sophisticated online digital photography experience."
PIXACO customers will continue to enjoy the same benefits they receive today, along with new features and services from HP's Snapfish portfolio of digital photography solutions.
More information about all of Snapfish's products and services is available at www.snapfish.co.uk (UK) or www.snapfish.com (US)
