Klopotek AG, the global market leader in standard publishing software, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Klopotek North America, has acquired Global Turnkey Systems, Inc. (GTS), a leading US based supplier of publishing solutions and GTS will operate as a division of Klopotek North America.

The Klopotek group provides standard publishing software and solutions specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of the worldwide publishing industry. With this merger Klopotek has reinforced its position as the premier software supplier, able to support the publishing value chain internationally. As a result of the merger, Klopotek will have more staff, more customers and more locations than any other supplier. It will also be the only company able to effectively support publishers in North America, the United Kingdom, and the rest of continental Europe.

Commenting on the acquisition, Uli Klopotek, Chief Executive of Klopotek AG, said: “Bringing Global’s substantial systems experience and US publishing market knowledge together with Klopotek’s leadership in standard software, will offer substantial advantages to our respective customers. In addition to their excellent reputation in the publishing marketplace, we both share the same commitments to our customers and employees, which is a prerequisite for a successful merger in the long term.”

For most of the 1990’s Klopotek focused on establishing a strong base for their standard software in Germany. Starting in the late 90’s, there was rapid development within the international publishing marketplaces and it became obvious that all major publishers would need to invest in software which could be operated internationally, based on a single integrated database and supporting standardized business processes.

“In order to fulfill this demand, we needed to become a more globally oriented organization with offices in major European publishing centers and ultimately to have operations in North America to support an existing base of publishers in the US,” Uli Klopotek added.

After being in partnership agreements in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for several years, both partnerships were acquired in 2005 and became totally owned subsidiaries of Klopotek AG.

John Wicker, recently appointed Chief Executive for Klopotek North America, added: “I have worked in this marketplace for many years and understand the problems and frustrations publishers are facing everyday trying to manage system investments in the rapidly evolving publishing industry. Until now, the larger and more multi-national North American publishers seeking a technologically up-to-date solution were limited to generic ERP solutions from SAP and Oracle which were designed for manufactures, not publishers. This is why I am so excited about participating with the Klopotek organization. We have consolidated the best publishing products, personnel and support infrastructure

to deliver the right solutions at the right time to publishers throughout the continent and in conjunction with the other divisions of Klopotek throughout the world.”

Al Alteslane, Chief Executive Officer of GTS, stated, “This is clearly one of the most significant events to impact the software marketplace for the publishing industry in North America. The combination of our respective strengths, from industry specific knowledge to long term development philosophy, creates an environment that will not only keep pace with today’s challenges but will assure all of our customers that we are addressing the future challenges to the publishing industry in our development environment today. The level of expertise in our human capital is unequaled by any organization serving our industry. Our new capabilities not only guarantee our customers with the best support and solutions available, but also provides an extremely exciting work environment for all of our employees.”

Carl Mann, Executive Vice President of Klopotek North America, who was instrumental in establishing Klopotek’s North American operations, said, “Ever since Klopotek launched its North American operation, it has been clear that there was a tremendous demand within the publishing industry for a professionally developed standard software solution. With the addition of the Global staff resources to our growing operation, we will be able to provide the very best in implementation and support services to the North American marketplace.”

The combined business will have annual revenues in excess of $23 million (~18.5€ million) and employ over 180 people located across North America and Europe with offices in New York, Parsippany, London, Amsterdam, Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin. The Klopotek Group will be by far the largest provider of solutions specifically designed for the international publishing community, servicing hundreds of individual customers, including the majority of the largest publishing entities in the world. With this acquisition, the Klopotek Group will support more than 11,000 users around the world.

About Klopotek
Klopotek is the leading supplier of international standard software and consulting services for publishers. Hundreds of publishers of every type from trade and specialist literature, school book and education publishers to scientific publishing houses, use Klopotek software to manage their publishing businesses. Klopotek’s customers deliver all types and formats of publications from the classical book to loose leaf editions, periodicals, magazines and advertisements to electronic products such as CD-ROMS, DVDs, videos and online content. Currently, Klopotek software supports more publishers with more users, in more locations developing and distributing more products around the world than any other software company.

Additional information is available at klopotek.com

About Global Turnkey Systems

Global Turnkey Systems has been a leading supplier of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions to the publishing industry for over 20 years. The Global System, UNISON, is designed specifically for publishers of subscriptions and books in the areas of subscription management, customer service and fulfillment. Global’s professional team is comprised of experienced professionals who possess an impressive variety of publishing industry backgrounds. The Global team is unique in the industry, with most of the staff coming from the publishing industry.

Additional information is available at gtsystems.com