ESPOO, Finland, Feb.20, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- TietoEnator has taken a majority holding in Seals Document Services GmbH, a German company specialising in electronic exchange of invoices and other commercial documents. The acquisition strengthens TietoEnator's e-invoice business and expands its scope outside the Nordic countries.
TietoEnator introduced its electronic invoice centre services in Finland just over a year ago. The company believes that electronic invoicing will grow rapidly throughout the world. The same activity has now been started in Sweden.
"Electronic invoicing alone can save billions even in a country the size of Finland. Broadening this service to cover other commercial documents like orders will generate even higher savings", states General Manager Matti Nieminen of TietoEnator.
Seals' customers include Lufthansa AirPlus, TNT, Nestle, Lloyds and Kimberly-Clark. Besides Germany the company also has customers in Great Britain, Switzerland and Austria, and its services are available worldwide via the Internet.
The invoice center forms part of TietoEnator's total service package for digital financial management. It covers the generation of invoices, their electronic circulation and approval, payment, accounting and electronic archiving. Demand for digital financial management services is growing in Finland as the Accounting Act of 1997 permits electronic accounting for everything except the balance sheet ledger.
Financial management is one of a company's four key corporate resources alongside its human resources, customer relations and information management. Efficient management of key resources will become an increasingly important strategic issue and a key area of management in the years ahead.
With over 10,000 employees and annual net sales of EUR 1.1 billion, TietoEnator is a leading supplier of high value-added IT services in Europe. TietoEnator specialises in consulting, building and hosting its customers' business operations in the digital economy. The Group's services are based on a combination of deep industry-specific expertise and latest information technology. www.tietoenator.com
Seals is a leading European service provider for document and process management. Using the network "Sealsnet" enterprises can exchange invoices, orders and other documents with their clients, suppliers and other partners in their individual data format. The service leads the technological development in the environment of XML/EDI and EBPP (Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment). Seals' services are based on the idea of strengthening partnerships among companies, creating a closer network and at the same time communicating in a more secure, efficient and cost-effective way. www.sealsnet.de
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