GK SOFTWARE AG Plans IPO

GK SOFTWARE AG, a technologically leading European solutions provider of standard software for the retail sector, aims to list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange during the next few months. The company plans to use the expected IPO proceeds to extend its core market in Germany and to promote its international expansion in Europe, the USA and Asia. In order to achieve this, the company wants to intensify its investments in new technologies, enhance its product portfolio and recruit additional staff.

Over the past years, GK SOFTWARE AG has been able to establish itself on the retail software market in Germany as a technology and innovations leader. This was owed to its comprehensive and integrated solutions for retail stores and company headquarters. Customers of GK SOFTWARE AG are well-known German retail chains in Germany and abroad which include inter alia Galeria Kaufhof, Parfümerie Douglas, EDEKA Hannover-Minden, Netto Markendiscount or Tchibo. The company’s software solutions are being used in more than 12,000 retail stores with around 50,000 installations in more than 20 countries worldwide. The company’s revenues reached EUR 10.8 million in 2007. The company’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR 2.3 million, which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 21.5%. The dynamic growth in revenues and earnings over the past years has largely been due to the success of the 'GK/Retail' suite, which allows modern store management.

The current management board members, Rainer Gläß (CEO) and Stephan Kronmüller (CTO), founded GK SOFTWARE AG in 1990. Since this time the company has successfully grown and has established itself at four business locations in Europe with 166 employees. 'Our top technology enabled us to play a leading role as a software provider for retail stores in a very short time, particularly in Germany,' says CEO Rainer Gläß. 'This makes us ideally equipped to also succeed internationally. Retail companies around the globe are investing more in technology in order to make better use of customer potential, optimize processes and support international expansion. GK SOFTWARE AG provides solutions to match this trend.' Experts (PAC and EHI Retail Institute studies 2007) are predicting a strong rise in IT expenditures in the retail sector on the German and US markets until 2011. Rainer Gläß says: 'This opens up huge growth potential for us, which we want to systematically make use of based on our planned IPO!' The planned transaction is supported by ICF Kursmakler AG Wertpapierhandelsbank.