ALSO Group forms strategic partnership with HP Inc

Emmen, Switzerland, April 26, 2017

ALSO is forming a partnership with HP Inc. to shake up the European A3 printing market. As part of a new cooperation, ALSO will begin marketing HP's new A3 product line-up, which merges uncompromising quality with faster output speeds at attractive prices. HP Inc. selected ALSO to market its products across 14 countries in Europe, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the three Baltics and Hungary. The first sales are expected in the second quarter of 2017. 

"We look forward to partnering with HP Inc. to roll out their innovative new A3 products. Working together, we can help our certified managed printer resellers to bring the next generation of A3 printing to end-consumers across Europe. Besides serving as a logistics partner, we aim to provide additional services such as machine staging, supplies replenishment, reverse logistics, and project management," said Gustavo Möller-Hergt, CEO of ALSO Holding AG (SIX: ALSN). 

Inspired by HP's large-scale commercial printers, the new A3 product portfolio includes Mono and Color Laserjets with output speeds up to 60 pages per minute as well as Inkjets equipped with PageWide technology featuring speeds up to 80 pages per minute. The product range will be complemented by an array of accessories and supplies. 

Direct link to the press release: http://www.also.com/goto/20170426en  

Contact person: Brunswick Group GmbH Dr. Marc Langendorf Phone: +49 89 80 99 025 17 Email: mlangendorf@brunswickgroup.com  

ALSO Holding AG (Emmen/Switzerland) brings providers and buyers of the ICT industry together. The company offers services at all levels of the ICT value chain from a single source. In the European B2B marketplace, ALSO bundles logistics services, financial services, supply services, solution services, digital services, and IT services together into individual service packages. ALSO's portfolio contains more than 188 000 articles from some 500 vendors. The Group has around 3 520 employees throughout Europe (annual average 2016). In fiscal year 2016 (closing on December 31), the company generated net sales of 8.0 billion euros. The majority shareholder of ALSO Holding AG is the Droege Group, Düsseldorf, Germany. Further information is available at http://www.also.com

Droege Group  (Major shareholder) Droege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent advisory and investment company entirely family-owned. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made transformation programs aiming to enhance corporate value. Droege Group combines its corporate family-run structure and capital strength into a family-equity business model. The group carries out direct investments with own equity in corporate subsidiaries and medium-sized companies in "special situations". With the guiding principle "Implementation - following all the rules of art," the group is a pioneer of implementation-oriented corporate development. Droege Group proves its implementation excellence daily within its own portfolio. The entrepreneurial platforms of the Droege Group are aligned to current megatrends (knowledge, connectivity, prevention, demography, shopping 4.0, future work). Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines the company's development. As a result the Droege Group has successfully positioned itself within the market, both nationally and internationally and operates in 30 countries. More information: https://www.droege-group.com  

Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the ALSO management. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements made here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation, and performance of our Group. The Group accepts no responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements or adapting them to future events or developments.