An Post acquires UK e.CommerCell
15 February 2002
e.CommerCell, was part of the Caudwell Group which is a leading provider of logistics and airtime reselling services for the mobile telephone industry in the UK and mainland Europe.
In the UK it has provided mobile telephone top-up services, top-ups for international calling card operators and debit/credit card merchant acquiring services via terminals in more than 5,000 retail outlets.
In Spain, where it is the largest such operator, it provides electronic mobile top-ups for three network providers through 5,000 retail outlets.
The acquisition is a significant development of An Post’s electronic transaction services business which currently processes more than 100 million transactions through its automated post office branch network.
Also in Ireland through a further 2,100 PostPoint electronic terminals, based in convenience retail stores countrywide, it services the top-up mobile telephone market in Ireland providing facilities for Eircell Vodafone, Esat Digifone and Meteor networks.
It also offers electronic top-ups on behalf of SwiftCall, the leading international call card operator, provides debit and credit card transactions for retailers and will shortly offer bill payment services.
Following the acquisition, An Post will have 13,100 terminals servicing the telecoms and general payments markets in three countries, making it a very substantial player in this segment.
Eamonn Ryan, managing director of the Post Offices Division of An Post said "The acquisition allows us to expand the market opportunities for our core electronic transaction service business.
"We intend to use the acquisition and our experience in the mobile top-up and general payment markets to exploit the growth potential of the Irish, UK and Spanish markets," he said.
An Post Group Chief Executive John Hynes said "Our investment in this aspect of our business is in line with our policy of investing in enterprises which, into the future, will provide us with growth and a significant return."
