GS1 US, GS1 Germany Embark on Joint Venture
GS1 US and GS1 Germany, two of the largest member organizations of the GS1 system, have signed a letter of intent to combine their 1SYNC (GS1 US) and SA2 Worldsync (GS1 Germany) subsidiaries. The transaction is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2012.
Together, 1SYNC and SA2 Worldsync provide product data synchronization services and solutions to more than 15,000 businesses, directly or indirectly, in more than 40 countries. The highly complementary organizations manage product data for more than 7 million items, enabling some of the world’s largest brand owners to share trusted product information with hundreds of trading partners through the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN). The subsidiaries’ customers include companies of all sizes in such industries as consumer packaged goods, retail, foodservice and health care.
“1SYNC and SA2 Worldsync … have a shared vision and complementary strengths that will benefit the global communities they serve,” said Rodney McMullen, president and COO of Cincinnati-based Kroger, as well as chairman of the GS1 US board of governors.
“The new company will be more global, and provide better data services today while creating scale and a smoother path to meeting our industry’s requirements,” added Otmar Debald, managing director of Procter & Gamble Germany, who is also chairman of the GS1 Germany supervisory board.
“This joint venture is all about meeting businesses’ needs in rapidly changing, increasingly global markets,” noted Bob Carpenter, president and CEO of Lawrenceville, N.J.-based GS1 US, which helps more than 200,000 businesses in 25 industries maximize the cost-effectiveness, speed, visibility, security and sustainability of their business processes, as well as facilitating trading partner collaboration. “1SYNC and SA2 Worldsync are the clear leaders in business-to-business (B2B) product data management, but our customers, who are in multiple industries, increasingly need to share more and different product information with consumers (B2C) through new applications and new platforms, such as e-tailers. Our combined companies will provide them with a global, single-touch, one-to-many product data management platform, helping companies use their product information to create a competitive advantage.”
“The joint venture will be collaborating to develop a new global technology platform that maintains our leadership in B2B and delivers a smart B2C capability not available from any other company,” observed Jörg Pretzel, CEO of Cologne-based GS1 Germany. “It will support brand owners’ needs for providing trustworthy product data to consumers, where currently a large percentage of product data accessed by smartphone apps or the Internet is incorrect or missing.”
More details will be revealed after the combination is completed.