Norway's largest IT company changes its name to EVRY

17 maart 2012 (Oslo, 17 March, 2012) EVRY is the new name for Norway's largest IT company EDB ErgoGroup, which is also the second largest IT services company in the Nordic region. With 10,000 employees, EVRY delivers daily IT services from 21 Norwegian and 50 Nordic towns and cities for some 14,000 public sector and private sector customers. With a new name and a new brand, the company is now set to establish EVRY's position as the leading Nordic IT company by the end of 2015. "We are launching EVRY against the background of 50 years' history in the IT industry, while at the same time meeting the challenges of tomorrow with a fresh, energetic, forward-looking and completely new image. Together with our 10,000 employees in 15 Nordic towns and cities, I now want to be out in the market working towards our objective. By being the best at knowing our customers, we will be the Nordic market leader by the end of 2015, and we will once and for all put Norwegian and Nordic IT on the world map", says Terje Mjøs, CEO of EVRY. EVRY is the product of the largest-ever Nordic IT merger EVRY is built on the foundation of the merger in 2010 of Norway's two largest IT companies, EDB and ErgoGroup. This was the largest merger ever seen in the Nordic IT industry, and was the fourth largest corporate merger in Norway regardless of industry. The launch of EVRY is the largest brand launch carried out in Norway in 2012. The change of name is also the first time that a major merger in Norway has resulted in a completely new name. In other mergers, the new name has either been based on a combination of the old names or the merged company has continued with one of the existing names. Unlike other major IT suppliers active in Norway and the other Nordic countries, EVRY is based on strong Norwegian ownership with long traditions in Norway and the other Nordic countries. EVRY is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, with Norway Post and Telenor as its largest shareholders. "By changing to a completely new and unfamiliar name, we are nullifying people's awareness of a business with almost NOK 13 billion of annual turnover. This makes it crucial that we quickly build a strong market awareness of our new name, EVRY. However, we could not ask for a better starting point. The new name suits us perfectly! We have made good use of the last 12 months to prepare for today, and I am confident that we are starting our future with all the enthusiasm and drive that we could possibly hope for", says Terje Mjøs. 1 million Norwegians use services from EVRY every day Over the last 10 years, the Norwegian ICT sector has grown to become the country's third-largest industry. Figures published by ICT Norway show that the IT industry employs over 50,000 people and generates annual revenue in excess of NOK 160 billion. As Norway's largest IT Company, EVRY provides very extensive deliveries to Norwegian and Nordic companies, financial institutions, national public sector entities, municipalities and health authorities. EVRY is the force behind a whole range of innovations that have transformed and simplified the way people access services across society. This includes: Banking and payment services * Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) * Mini banks * Internet banking * Mobile banking * Electronic signatures for Internet banking * Systems for managing electronic invoicing between Norwegian businesses Services that benefit society as a whole * Election management solutions that are used for both local and parliamentary elections, together with new solutions for electronic voting that were trialled in the 2011 elections * Paperless meetings of local authorities * Electronic prescriptions * Electronic traceability for food products * Electronic purchasing of train tickets * Solutions that digitalise and simplify public sector services (the Digital Public Sector) that are used by over 400 municipalities in areas such as case management, recording and archiving information, payroll and HR * Distribution of data from some 20 public and private information registers such as the National Population Register,  the Real Estate Register, the Register of Business Enterprises and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Register Around 1 million Norwegians use services delivered by EVRY each day, and over the course of each week virtually the entire Norwegian population has used IT services delivered by EVRY, according to estimates prepared by the company. EVRY is responsible for about one-third of all IT services delivered in Norway, and has many customers in both the public and private sectors including names such as DnB, Telenor, Norway Post, Sparebank 1 Gruppen, Statoil, Hydro, REC, Storebrand, Gjensidige, the City of Oslo, Trondheim municipality and the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. EVRY is today's culmination of 50 years of Norwegian IT history EVRY's business activities are based on a 50-year history of IT in Norway, and the integration of more than 70 private and public sector Norwegian private sector and public sector IT companies and data centres over this period. This includes such historic names as AS EDB, Statens Datasentral (SDS), IDA, Landbruksdata, Kommunedata, Norsk Informasjonsteknologi (NIT), Fellesdata, Novit, TeamCo, Allianse, Itum, Ementor Drift and Avenir. The company also includes a number of data centres and IT divisions that it has taken over from major businesses such as Norway Post, Telenor, DnB and Hydro. EDB started its life in 1962 as a data centre for the three insurance companies Sigyn, Norsk Alliance and Norden. ErgoGroup's origin is found in the launch by the Norwegian government of Statens Datasentral (SDS) in 1972. "EDB was a very modern name when it was first launched in 1962, being the Norwegian acronym for electronic data processing. It is not so modern today, and the acronym is Norwegian rather international. Equally, ErgoGroup does not represent the kind of forward-looking image that we want. The name EDB ErgoGroup was no more than a practical amalgamation that we used after the merger. Today we are consigning these names to history, and we are putting behind us everything that has to do with the past history of both EDB and ErgoGroup. New times demand new ways of thinking, and we need a new name and a new brand that can grow with us over the next 50 years. EVRY is this name. As EVRY we will become the leading Nordic IT company", says Terje Mjøs. Why EVRY? We have chosen this name to underpin the company's strategy for Nordic growth and international expansion in selected areas. We wanted a name that would work well both in Norway and internationally. At the same time, the name EVRY does give the sense that our business has its roots in Norway, Sweden and the Nordic region, in terms of both its ownership and its activities. We believe that EVRY represents something entirely new and forward-looking in the IT world. The development of the new brand is also confirmation that EVRY is now a single company, where everyone has the same targets and ambitions regardless of which company they worked for in the past. We were keen to develop a name that has only a few characters, that will work in different combinations and that can stand on its own and convey our message without the need for any additional logos - and of course we wanted a name that will represent the company in the best possible way. The name also represents what we stand for, and we are committed to ensuring that the company creates value for our customers and society as a whole through: - Each and every employee, every single day - Every customer for which EVRY creates value - Every critical system for which EVRY plays a role - Every colleague who takes responsibility and inspires others - Every person who is affected by EVRY through the benefits for society in which we play a role - Every opportunity that EVRY recognises and takes up 10,000 employees involved in forming the company's values Today's launch follows over 12 months of hard work to build and anchor a corporate culture and values for all of EVRY's 10,000 employees. Every employee has been involved in a comprehensive program to implement the company's new values, mission and vision as the basis for its future corporate culture. This process has involved around 700 meetings with employees to develop the corporate culture and values. EVRY's new foundation for its values has been built upon the results of the thoughts, views and ideas of the company's employees. "No Norwegian company has ever carried out a more thorough and comprehensive process than this. When we merged EDB and ErgoGroup I was determined that we would carry out the integration from A to Z. The launch of EVRY is a crucial element in the success of this plan", says Terje Mjøs, who goes on to add: "We want to be the best at knowing our customers. We want to develop our market position. We are committed to focus on continuous improvement, and we intend to take a critical approach to how we invest both our time and our financial resources. Over the course of the next three years, EVRY will become the leading Nordic IT company". Contact persons Terje Mjøs, CEO, EVRY, Tel: + 47 06500 Geir Remman, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, EVRY. Tel: + 47 970 55 017 Torgeir Kristiansen, Information Director Corporate Communications, EVRY. Tel: +47 901 27 909 About EVRY EVRY is one of the leading IT companies in the Nordic countries, with a strong local and regional presence in 50 Nordic towns and cities. Through its knowledge, solutions and technology, EVRY contributes to the development of the information society of the future, and so creates value for the benefit of its customers and for society as a whole. EVRY combines in-depth industry knowledge and technological expertise with a local delivery model and international strength. EVRY has some 10,000 employees, and the company is committed to demonstrating that Nordic customers are best served by a supplier that understands Nordic business from the inside. EVRY reports annual turnover approaching NOK 13 billion. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and operates from headquarters in Oslo, with major activities in both the Norwegian and Swedish markets. EVRY is the result of the merger in 2010 of Norway's two leading IT companies, EDB Business Partner and ErgoGroup. The company changed its name to EVRY on 17 March 2012. This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: EVRY via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1594932]