HP to Acquire European Online Photo Service PIXACO

HostReview.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2005; 08:35 AM

HP announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire bilderservice.de GmbH, which operates PIXACO - a leading online photo services and products site in Europe.

The acquisition of the privately-held company will enable HP to rapidly extend the reach of its online photo services throughout Europe, building on the purchase of Snapfish earlier this year.

"This acquisition gives HP the ability to quickly become Europe's largest online photo service, just as it is in the U.S. today," said Ben Nelson, vice president and general manager, Snapfish, Digital Photography and Entertainment, HP.

Today, Snapfish has 20 million registered users in the United States and United Kingdom and is adding up to 1 million new users every month. The acquisition also is expected to foster the growth of Internet-to-retail digital photography services in Europe.

Since PIXACO was established in 2003 by bilderservice.de, customers in 11 countries across Europe have come to recognize and trust the products and services made available through the PIXACO site.

"With this move, Europeans will now be exposed to a whole new level of digital photography services in addition to the best-value offering that they have come to expect from PIXACO," said Karsten Schneider, chief executive officer and founder, bilderservice.de GmbH.