Berlin, 28 May 2018 – One of the fastest-growing sectors in the world of IT is the Internet of Things (IoT) – market researchers predict growth rates of around 20% per year in the next ten years here. The FP Group, the expert in secure mail business and secure digital communication processes, is expanding this business and acquiring the Berlin-based IoT specialist Tixi.com. The business will be continued under the FP brand.
Tixi.com has 15 employees and has sold over 30,000 gateways to date. The company has over ten years of experience in the fields of machine-to-machine communication and smart metering and is successful in the sale of IoT gateways for industrial controllers. The hardware components serve to read and evaluate data from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) of machines and systems and from energy meters, e.g. for electricity or water, remotely. The big advantage of Tixi Cloud Gateways is that they can be connected to virtually any controller or meter and can be linked with cloud platforms for data transmission. However, they do not have the strong security features of FP Secure Gateways.
For faster market penetration and expansion of the range of products and services, FP is taking over the customers and employees of the innovative and successful provider Tixi.com effective immediately. “We are using our strength and continuing our growth with this targeted and smart acquisition,” says Sven Meise, Chief Digital Officer at FP.
The FP Group has a crucial competitive advantage with its FP Secure Gateway. It is a gateway with hardware-based security and currently offers the highest security standard in the industry. FP’s IoT gateway is the progression of a security module installed in FP franking machines for billing services. For many years, this technology has allowed, among other things, the secure transmission of postage payments of over EUR 1 billion per year in more than 140,000 franking systems around the world. All machines of the PostBase family are connected to the FP Repository in Berlin. Here, the data from the individual machines are read and control commands are issued or security updates installed.
Companies all over the world can use FP Secure Gateways to interlink technical equipment or machinery securely and to transfer confidential data to a cloud at the highest security level. In March, FP presented its gateway to the public at Hannover Messe. As a newcomer, the company also scored points because the first customers are already trying out the technology.
“The gateways from both providers complement each other perfectly. This opens up brand new markets and applications for us, as the Tixi technology can communicate with nearly every controller (PLC),” says Meise. FP is thus gaining additional technological options to integrate a virtually unlimited range of sensors and actuators – without further development effort on its part. This will accelerate the FP Secure Gateway’s market opportunities considerably. The Tixi business will likewise benefit: Tixi is gaining access to FP’s high-security modules and cryptography know-how. In addition, FP’s financial flexibility and size will make it easier to win contracts from further major customers in the future. The joint service range is to be expanded by merging the research and development teams, and the shared growth potential is to be quickly and permanently unlocked via intensive and targeted sales initiatives.
“This is a perfect deal. In pursuit of our ACT-strategy we capitalize on our proven know how in sensor and actuator systems, connectivity and cryptography to enter new multi-billion-dollar markets such as IoT and cloud technologies”, says FP Group CEO Rüdiger Andreas Günther: “With this acquisition we gain further momentum. Tixi already has a large number of renowned customers. FP provides the support required to accelerate growth and acquire new large orders.”
For press enquiries, please contact:
Dr Joachim Fleϊng, Head of Investor Relations
Tel.: +49 (0)30 220 660 410
E-mail: j.fleing@francotyp.com
Karl R. Thiel, VP Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 (0)30 220 660 123
E-mail: kr.thiel@francotyp.com
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About Francotyp-Postalia (FP)
The FP Group, a listed international company headquartered in Berlin, is an expert in secure mail business and secure digital communication processes. As the market leader in Germany and Austria, the FP Group offers products and services for efficient mail processing, consolidation of business mail and digital solutions for businesses and authorities with its product segments "Franking and Inserting", "Mail Services" and "Software". The Group generated revenue of more than EUR 200 million in 2017. Francotyp-Postalia is represented in ten countries with its own subsidiaries and in a further 40 countries via its own network of dealers. Thanks to a history spanning more than 95 years, FP has a unique DNA in the fields of actuator and sensor technology, cryptography and connectivity. It has a share of over 11% in the global market for franking systems.
You can find out more at www.fp-francotyp.com.
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