| Welcome
Dear Investors,
On July 31, 2007, two industry leaders joined to create a new company that has the capacity to truly change our industry and create a global force in the wireless distribution and customized services value chain.
Here is why I believe one plus one will be more than two:
- Brightpoint: #1 player in North America
- Dangaard: #1 player in Europe
- Combined: #1 player in the world
- In 2006, the combined company handled 64 million wireless devices
- Our combined employee strength is approximately 3,700 in 25 countries servicing a customer base of over 25,000 B2B customers
- In 2008, we expect to handle between 90-110 million wireless devices
Leading our global operations are Mark Howell, Co-Chief Operating Officer and President of the Americas, and Michaél Køehn Milland, Co-Chief Operating Officer and President International Operations. Mark is a long-time Brightpoint executive who will continue to lead our growing operations in the Americas, and Michaél is a new addition to the Brightpoint team from Dangaard who is experienced in international operations. We are excited to have two industry experts leading our operations teams.
We believe our organizational structure allows us to adapt the business model that best suits each particular marketplace while collectively making progress on our global strategy. Additional information on each key region is included in this newsletter.
Best regards,
Bob Laikin
Chairman of the Board and Chief
Executive Officer
Brightpoint, Inc.
Integration
Managing the Integration Process
An Overview and Update from the Office of Integration
Brightpoint Office of Integration (from left to right): Michaél Køehn Milland, Co-COO, President International;
Anthony Boor, Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer; Mark Howell, Co-COO, President Americas
In February our companies announced a plan to come together. We entered into this agreement with the understanding that there are many opportunities to leverage our resources in a combined organization. Our internal motto became “One plus one must equal MORE than two." Recognizing the challenges and scope of the business combination, our CEO formed the Office of Integration and asked the three of us to lead the efforts. Our team’s objectives were to begin the initial planning to ensure that best practices in each company are identified and utilized in order to optimally combine both businesses and to create a world class, winning business platform. All three of us view leadership of the ‘Integration Office’ as our most important responsibility.
Our Key Objectives:
- Optimize our global footprint (now 25 countries) to attract and retain key customers
- Identify and deliver cost savings based upon best practice and overlapping areas
- Driving revenue growth by transferring knowledge and technology in all directions
- Optimize our supplier relationships - globally, the combined company handled 64 million wireless devices in 2006 and we expect to handle between 90-110 million wireless devices in 2008
The Americas
An Overview and Update from the Americas
Mark Howell
Co-COO,
President Americas
The Americas division of Brightpoint employs over 1,200 associates and has six facilities that are strategically located in Plainfield, Indiana (2); Louisville, Kentucky; Reno, Nevada; Miami, Florida; and Bogota, Colombia that in aggregate encompass over 1 million square feet of warehousing space.
We operate the Americas in two regions, North America and Latin America, and manage our business based on two distinct services lines that include Product Distribution Services and Logistic Services. In our Product Distribution business we distribute devices for Nokia, Motorola, Palm, HP, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, Kyocera, and HTC. Additionally, we also generate activations for Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile through our Activation Services and Master Agent programs. In our Logistics Services line of business we provide inventory management, software loading, kitting, credit management, e-business, and reverse logistic services to companies such as ALLTEL, Cricket Communications, COMCEL, MetroPCS, Sprint, T-Mobile, TracFone, and Virgin Mobile.
The past twelve months have been an active and exciting time for our team as a result of several significant events including the signing, integrating, and launching of the T-Mobile USA logistics business, the CellStar transaction, and the purchase of Trio Industries Inc. We are confident that these transactions will significantly contribute to our ability to compete in this highly competitive marketplace. As an example, the CellStar transaction provides us a solid foundation to build our Latin America business through the Miami operations.
In 2007 you will see the Americas investing in and focused on business development, operational excellence, asset management, cost management, customer/vendor relationships, and information technology.
In the Americas, we are extremely excited about the Brightpoint/Dangaard combination. We look forward to sharing our experiences and expertise and to learning from our new partners ways that we can improve and expand our business.
Europe
Great Business Opportunities in Europe
Steen F. Pedersen
President Europe
The period from the announcement of the merger last February has been the most interesting and exciting of my twenty-years-plus career as Executive Manager in the company. I can’t imagine a larger or more exciting challenge than the merging of the two most successful and respected telecommunications distributors in the world. I look forward to working together with the new combined management team. I believe that together with our employees all over the world we will create extraordinary results for the future.
One company - one name
During many years we have developed the Dangaard Telecom brand to be a known and respected name in the European telecommunication industry. I believe it is important that an organization have shared values and that common identity and a joint brand name is a key factor of growth and success. It worked for us in Europe and it will also work for us in the new combined company - but now on a global level. We have selected Brightpoint as the future brand name and the platform for our global identity. The Brightpoint name is an impressive platform for future growth, and all together we will outperform the competition and we will be proud to represent the company. Over the coming months we will work on the re-introduction of the Brightpoint brand, the goal is to have finalized the re-branding process by January 2008.
Focus on business opportunities
I look forward to using the next months and years to optimize our new global platform to develop and grow the business opportunities in Europe. We will specifically focus on transforming our plans into actions, with continued and sustained focus on our customer base.
Our combined company strength means that we can now offer our customers greater ‘value added solutions.’ As the combined Brightpoint team, no European competitor can offer our level of distribution services, logistic capabilities, smartphone concepts and mobile enhancement services to their customers. The business units located in the 15 European countries and the support functions in the European headquarters will work closely together to utilize our combined strengths and deliver positive business results on a daily basis.
Emerging Markets
An Update from India, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates
Jac Currie
President Emerging Markets
The Emerging Markets territory covers Africa, Middle East, CIS (former Soviet Republics of Central Asia, but excluding Ukraine and Baltics), India and across South Asia to Bangladesh and is run by Jac Currie, President – Emerging Markets. Jac has been with Brightpoint since January 1998 and has been working in the mobile industry since 1988.
Today Brightpoint has a number of legal entities in this region, including Brightpoint India (Pvt) Limited, based in Delhi, India; and Brightpoint Middle East FZE based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The potential growth of this rapidly developing region is large, and Brightpoint is ideally situated in terms of geographical locations, capabilities, resources, and customer/supplier relationships.
Within Emerging Markets, Brightpoint offers a broad range of services including Integrated Logistics Services, Product Distribution, Channel Management, E-commerce and Advanced Wireless Services.
One of the unique services Brightpoint provides to network operators in this region is the supply of customized SIM cards, which often include local language SIM toolkit applications and network operator specific packaging, fulfillment and serial tracking. Brightpoint was in fact the first in the world to provide a SIM toolkit application in Arabic!
Brightpoint in India currently provides Repairs and Reverse Logistics services to manufacturers, through eight dedicated repair facilities across the country.
In addition to these services, Brightpoint India also distributes products for Nokia, Motorola, HTC and Haier. Through a network of warehouses across India, Brightpoint reaches 32,000 retail points of sale, with 98% of customer orders delivered within 24 hours. Brightpoint employs over 600 staff across India.
In Dubai, Brightpoint Middle East has been operating since 1998, and today employs over 50 people. Dangaard’s business in Dubai, which employs 10 people, will be merged into Brightpoint Middle East. Besides serving as the Emerging Markets regional office, the primary focus of Brightpoint in Dubai is the provision of services to Middle Eastern network operators seeking specialized logistics and fulfillment services and to device manufacturers seeking value-added distribution services into the region.
Asia Pacific
An Update from Asia Pacific
Bruce Thomlinson
President Asia Pacific
The Asia Pacific (APAC) region covers all markets from China, east to Japan, into South East Asia and across into the South Pacific, excluding India. Based out of Sydney, Australia, we currently have operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.
Bruce Thomlinson, Asia Pacific President, has been with Brightpoint since 1996 and has worked within the telecoms industry for approximately 20 years.
The business in Singapore is primarily wholesale distribution servicing South East Asia, while Australia and New Zealand provide both wholesale and logistics solutions to telecom operators, over 5000 retailers and up to 100,000 end consumer shipments per month. The key logistics services contracts in these markets are with Vodafone along with several smaller MVNO channels.
Our immediate focus now is on regional expansion and optimizing business opportunities in the regional market.
“Having personally spent the past two years overseeing both our European and APAC operations, I recognize the value that this transaction will bring to both parties and we are all truly excited about the new opportunities and goals, that united we can achieve,” said Thomlinson.
Brightpoint Corporate Team (from left to right): Anurag Gupta, Senior Vice President Global Strategy, Investor and Public Relations; Steve Fivel, Executive Vice President and General Council; Gary Butts, Senior Vice President Strategic Business Development; Robert Laikin, Chairman of the Board and CEO; Anthony Boor, Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer; Annette Cyr, Senior Vice President Global Human Resources
Global Brightpoint Locations
Upcoming Global Industry Events
To schedule an appointment with Brightpoint at an upcoming industry event, please contact Abby Hirt at 317-707-2276 or abby.hirt@brightpoint.com.
CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2007
October 23-25, 2007
San Francisco, CA
VON Fall
October 29-November 1, 2007
Boston, MA
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