June 16, 2005

Berlin-based manufacturer of paper, office supplies and stationery reduces operating costs by outsourcing its IT environment

Lufthansa Systems will provide core data center services for Mercoline GmbH, the IT service provider of Herlitz PBS AG. The decision in favor of Lufthansa Systems was made after a comprehensive bidding process involving more than ten leading IT service providers. According to the new, five-year contract, Lufthansa Systems will start operating the systems from December of this year.

"We were impressed by the great commitment demonstrated by Lufthansa Systems in our previous cooperation and by the flexibility of their overall concept," says Jörg Berends, managing director of Mercoline. "Their cost-efficient, innovative operating model is very close to our ideal of flexible, plug-and-play IT services. By migrating Herlitz's servers and applications to the Lufthansa Systems data center we can ensure that our customers will benefit from the highest levels of availability and security," explains Berends.

Note to editors:

Looking back on a long and rich tradition, the Herlitz Group is one of the best known German companies and one of the leading manufacturers of paper, office supplies and stationery in Europe. The Group recorded sales of EUR 335 million in 2004. For more than 100 years, the Herlitz brand has been a synonym for high-quality office, school, gift and decorative products. In addition to its proven product expertise, Herlitz also offers a wide variety of services, which are provided by its wholly-owned subsidiary eCom Logistik GmbH & Co. KG. The range of services offered by eCom Logistik covers planning, product portfolio and design optimization, logistics and merchandising. A second wholly-owned subsidiary, Mercoline GmbH, provides IT consulting services for Herlitz and ensures the operation and continued development of the Group's IT systems. Established in 2000, Mercoline's operations in the market have made a major contribution to deepening and broadening the Group's overall IT expertise.

Lufthansa Systems is one of the leading IT service providers for the airline and aviation industries worldwide. As systems integrator, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group covers the entire range of IT services, including consulting, development, implementation and operation. Lufthansa Systems provides its IT infrastructure and operations services to a variety of industries. Headquartered in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt/Main, Germany, the company has branches in Germany and 15 countries and employs about 4,500 people worldwide. In business year 2004, Lufthansa Systems
recorded sales of EUR 628 million.