PIN Group
Encyclopedia
The PIN Group is a German
courier and postal services
company with around 9000 employees. It belongs to PIN Group S.A., a Luxembourg
-based corporate affiliation made up of several German postal companies.
. In 2004, Axel Springer AG
and the publishing group Verlagsgruppe Holtzbrinck each bought a majority shareholding of 30% from the company founders and venture capital company DKB Wagniskapital GmbH. In October 2005 the remaining shares of the PIN founders were acquired by WAZ-Mediengruppe
and the Luxembourg investment company
Rosalia Investment S.A. before founding the PIN Group. In the summer of 2006 the newspaper publishers Madsack , M. DuMont Schauberg
, Rheinisch-Bergische
Verlagsgesellschaft and W. Girardet merged their postal services divisions into the company, receiving in return a 10 per cent holding of PIN Group AG. Following the takeover of Briefnetz Süd GmbH & Co. KG (BNS), a consortium of postal services providers owned by 12 newspaper publishers in Bavaria
and Baden-Württemberg
, since April 2007 the PIN Group has operated a mail delivery network throughout the whole of Germany. To offer delivery services to German authorities and government departments, the PIN Group acquired Ulm
-based postal services provider DirektExpress.
Since June 2007, the majority shareholder in the PIN Group has been the Axel Springer publishing company, after raising its holding from 23.5% to 71.6%. Axel Springer bought these shares from WAZ, Holtzbrinck and Rosalia for €510 million.
The holding company, PIN Group S.A. is responsible for laying down the strategy of the entire corporate affiliation and planning day to day operations, which are managed and organised by the German subsidiaries and shareholding companies.
In February 2007 around 7000 people worked for the PIN Group. The chairman of the executive board, Günter Thiel announced that the company planned to expand to more than 20,000 employees by the end of 2007
In the autumn of 2007 PIN Group successfully acquired business from a variety of Germany cooperative savings banks.
In November 2007, the German coalition
government set the minimum wage
for postal workers at €8 to €9.80 per hour. Due to the cost squeeze on owner Axel Springer
, the company was quoted by the German Financial Times
as examining "a variety of options" ranging from selling the company to closing down operations entirely. On 5 Dec 2007, PIN Group subsequently announced it was to lay off 1000 employees, more than 1/10 of the workforce, simultaneously criticising the German government for "consciously taking into account that investments worth billions to Germany ... would go to waste." In his 2007 Christmas address to the nation, German President Horst Köhler
described the introduction of the minimum wage
in the postal sector as "risky", stating that "a minimum wage that can not be paid by competitive employers destroys jobs".
The PIN Group CEO, Günter Thiel, resigned his position on 17 Dec 2007 after Axel Springer Publishing turned down his offer to buy its remaining 63.7% share in the company. His plan had been to continue to manage the company under his own finances.
On 29 December 2007 the delivery company saarriva, which is based in the German State of Saarland
and is partly owned by PIN Group filed for bankruptcy.
On 23 January 2008 it was announced by Horst Piepenburg
, the newly appointed chairman, that PIN would agree to pay its workers the newly defined minimum wage which had been set at €9.80 per hour.
Reports at the end of January 2008 stated that chairman Horst Piepenburg had entered discussions with American holding
s, including the Blackstone Group
, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
(KKR) and Advent International
, although the company subsequently denied the claim.
The PIN Group uses the colour green
to differentiate itself from Deutsche Post
, the postal services company formerly run as a monopoly by the German state, whose post boxes and delivery vans are in a distinctive yellow. Postal workers announce their arrival with the words [translated] "PIN, green post". Deutsche Post AG took legal steps to prevent this but lost the case in 2005 when the Hamburg state court ruled that this did not cause confusion with regard to the term "post".
The PIN Group sees itself as the leading alternative provider of postal services in Germany, preparing itself for the abolition of Deutsche Post's exclusive right to deliver letters
under 50 grams, which ran out on 1 January 2008.
s and employee representatives have protested at the treatment and employment terms of PIN staff claiming that the company can only undercut Deutsche Post
postal charges by hiring cheap workers on salaries just above the minimum wage
. The PIN Group has argued that, unlike arch-rival Deutsche Post, it is obliged to pay value-added tax.
In February 2007, leading German trade union Ver.di
announced plans to negotiate a tariff agreement under regular arbitration with the company.
In November 2007, with the impending advent of privatisation raising awareness of the issue, a number of areas of the media - led by newspapers belonging to leading shareholder Axel Springer
- condemned moves by politicians and the unions to introduce a minimum wage
for postal workers.
The PIN Group also owns
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
courier and postal services
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
company with around 9000 employees. It belongs to PIN Group S.A., a Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
-based corporate affiliation made up of several German postal companies.
History and shareholding
The PIN Group originally traded under the name Briefdienstleistungsunternehmen PIN intelligente Dienstleistungen AG, a postal services company founded in 1999 in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 2004, Axel Springer AG
Axel Springer AG
Axel Springer AG is one of the largest multimedia companies in Europe, with more than 11,500 employees and with annual revenues of about €2.9 billion. The Company is active in a total of 36 countries, including Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland...
and the publishing group Verlagsgruppe Holtzbrinck each bought a majority shareholding of 30% from the company founders and venture capital company DKB Wagniskapital GmbH. In October 2005 the remaining shares of the PIN founders were acquired by WAZ-Mediengruppe
WAZ-Mediengruppe
The WAZ-Mediengruppe is Germany's third largest newspaper and magazine publisher with a total of over 500 publications in eight countries. WAZ-Mediengruppe is privately held by the founders' families and is headquartered in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia.The group's largest paper is Westdeutsche...
and the Luxembourg investment company
Investment company
An investment company is a company whose main business is holding securities of other companies purely for investment purposes. The investment company invests money on behalf of its shareholders who in turn share in the profits and losses....
Rosalia Investment S.A. before founding the PIN Group. In the summer of 2006 the newspaper publishers Madsack , M. DuMont Schauberg
M. DuMont Schauberg
M. DuMont Schauberg is one of Germany's oldest and largest publishing houses. Founded by Bertram Hilden in 1620, Marcus du Mont acquired the "Kölnische Zeitung" in 1805 - then the business's main newspaper...
, Rheinisch-Bergische
Verlagsgesellschaft and W. Girardet merged their postal services divisions into the company, receiving in return a 10 per cent holding of PIN Group AG. Following the takeover of Briefnetz Süd GmbH & Co. KG (BNS), a consortium of postal services providers owned by 12 newspaper publishers in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, since April 2007 the PIN Group has operated a mail delivery network throughout the whole of Germany. To offer delivery services to German authorities and government departments, the PIN Group acquired Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
-based postal services provider DirektExpress.
Since June 2007, the majority shareholder in the PIN Group has been the Axel Springer publishing company, after raising its holding from 23.5% to 71.6%. Axel Springer bought these shares from WAZ, Holtzbrinck and Rosalia for €510 million.
The holding company, PIN Group S.A. is responsible for laying down the strategy of the entire corporate affiliation and planning day to day operations, which are managed and organised by the German subsidiaries and shareholding companies.
In February 2007 around 7000 people worked for the PIN Group. The chairman of the executive board, Günter Thiel announced that the company planned to expand to more than 20,000 employees by the end of 2007
In the autumn of 2007 PIN Group successfully acquired business from a variety of Germany cooperative savings banks.
In November 2007, the German coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
government set the minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
for postal workers at €8 to €9.80 per hour. Due to the cost squeeze on owner Axel Springer
Axel Springer
Axel Springer , was a German journalist and the founder and owner of the Axel Springer AG publishing company.-Early life:...
, the company was quoted by the German Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
as examining "a variety of options" ranging from selling the company to closing down operations entirely. On 5 Dec 2007, PIN Group subsequently announced it was to lay off 1000 employees, more than 1/10 of the workforce, simultaneously criticising the German government for "consciously taking into account that investments worth billions to Germany ... would go to waste." In his 2007 Christmas address to the nation, German President Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
described the introduction of the minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
in the postal sector as "risky", stating that "a minimum wage that can not be paid by competitive employers destroys jobs".
The PIN Group CEO, Günter Thiel, resigned his position on 17 Dec 2007 after Axel Springer Publishing turned down his offer to buy its remaining 63.7% share in the company. His plan had been to continue to manage the company under his own finances.
On 29 December 2007 the delivery company saarriva, which is based in the German State of Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
and is partly owned by PIN Group filed for bankruptcy.
On 23 January 2008 it was announced by Horst Piepenburg
Horst Piepenburg
Horst Piepenburg is a German jurist specialized on bankruptcy law. He is the co-founder of Piepenburg & Gerling, one of the leading bankruptcy law firms in Germany, and has worked more than 1,000 insolvency cases, including Babcock Borsig and PIN Group.In June 2009, Piepenburg was appointed...
, the newly appointed chairman, that PIN would agree to pay its workers the newly defined minimum wage which had been set at €9.80 per hour.
Reports at the end of January 2008 stated that chairman Horst Piepenburg had entered discussions with American holding
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
s, including the Blackstone Group
Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...
, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...
(KKR) and Advent International
Advent International
Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of middle market growth companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia...
, although the company subsequently denied the claim.
"Green post"
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
to differentiate itself from Deutsche Post
Deutsche Post
Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL, is the world's largest logistics group. With its headquarters in Bonn, the corporation has 467,088 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide and generated revenue of € 51.48 billion in 2010...
, the postal services company formerly run as a monopoly by the German state, whose post boxes and delivery vans are in a distinctive yellow. Postal workers announce their arrival with the words [translated] "PIN, green post". Deutsche Post AG took legal steps to prevent this but lost the case in 2005 when the Hamburg state court ruled that this did not cause confusion with regard to the term "post".
The PIN Group sees itself as the leading alternative provider of postal services in Germany, preparing itself for the abolition of Deutsche Post's exclusive right to deliver letters
Letter monopoly
The Letter monopoly was enshrined in the German Postgesetz law, and until the end of 2005 it granted an exclusive license to the German post office, Deutsche Post, for the transport of letters and catalog deliveries of up to 100 grams. For the period 2005—2007 this limit was reduced to 50 grams...
under 50 grams, which ran out on 1 January 2008.
Critics
A number of trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s and employee representatives have protested at the treatment and employment terms of PIN staff claiming that the company can only undercut Deutsche Post
Deutsche Post
Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL, is the world's largest logistics group. With its headquarters in Bonn, the corporation has 467,088 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide and generated revenue of € 51.48 billion in 2010...
postal charges by hiring cheap workers on salaries just above the minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
. The PIN Group has argued that, unlike arch-rival Deutsche Post, it is obliged to pay value-added tax.
In February 2007, leading German trade union Ver.di
Ver.di
-External links:* * on the ver.di homepage...
announced plans to negotiate a tariff agreement under regular arbitration with the company.
In November 2007, with the impending advent of privatisation raising awareness of the issue, a number of areas of the media - led by newspapers belonging to leading shareholder Axel Springer
Axel Springer
Axel Springer , was a German journalist and the founder and owner of the Axel Springer AG publishing company.-Early life:...
- condemned moves by politicians and the unions to introduce a minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
for postal workers.
Shareholdings
The PIN Group corporate affiliation encompasses the following subsidiaries:- PIN Mail Hannover GmbH, HanoverHanoverHanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
(formerly CITIPOST Gesellschaft für Kurier- und Postdienstleistungen mbH) Citipost - DBU Die Briefunion GmbH, BrakelBrakelBrakel is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek and the Flemish Ardennes. The name is derived from a Carolingian villa Braglo first mentioned in 866 and located in the center of Opbrakel. Since 1970, the municipality has comprised the villages of Nederbrakel,...
- PIN Mail Münsterland GmbH, MünsterMünsterMünster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
(formerly Brief Direkt GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, Alach by ErfurtErfurtErfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
(formerly THPS Thüringer Post Service GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, BrakelBrakelBrakel is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek and the Flemish Ardennes. The name is derived from a Carolingian villa Braglo first mentioned in 866 and located in the center of Opbrakel. Since 1970, the municipality has comprised the villages of Nederbrakel,...
(formerly ANNEN-POST GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, DüsseldorfDüsseldorfDüsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
(formerly NET-DBS Netzwerk Deutscher Briefservice GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, EssenEssen- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
(formerly WPS Westdeutscher Post Service GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
(formerly Punkt Direktvertriebs GmbH) - PPD, Bremen (Privater Postdienst),
- PIN Mail GmbH, KasselKasselKassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
(formerly ANNEN-POST Kassel GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, NeumünsterNeumünsterNeumünster is an independent town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, which has a total of four independent towns.-Current Situation:Neumünster station is major railway junction with lines running in six directions, including the important Hamburg-Altona–Kiel and Neumünster–Flensburg lines.Near...
(formerly Porto sparen im Norden GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, WildauWildauWildau is a German municipality of the state of Brandenburg, located in the district of Dahme-Spreewald. It is located close to Berlin and easily reached by the S-Bahn...
(formerly Brief - Express Röder GmbH) - PIN Mail GmbH, WoltersdorfWoltersdorfWoltersdorf may refer to the following places in Germany:*Woltersdorf, Brandenburg, in the Oder-Spree district, Brandenburg*Woltersdorf, Lower Saxony, in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district, Lower Saxony...
(formerly Speedy-Express GmbH) - BriefNetz Süd postal network
- DIREKTexpress Holding AG UlmUlmUlm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
The PIN Group also owns
- PIN MAIL AG, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, which has now been renamed Pin Mail AG, Berlin.
External links
- PIN Group website
- http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2007/gb2007082_647870.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+storiesEnding of Deutsche Post's monopoly, Businessweek.com quoting SpiegelDer SpiegelDer Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
-online]