Australia's Equivalent of the U.S. Postal Service Partners to Bring Hybrid
                               Mail to the U.S.

    CHICAGO, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ - Australia Post today announced that it has
acquired the global operations of PrintSoft, including PrintSoft Americas
Inc., effective July 1, 2005. PrintSoft is a global leader in providing
variable print software solutions for corporate, financial, utility, direct
marketing and service bureau environments. This will be the first time that
Australia Post has owned a business operating in the United States.
    In 2002, Australia Post and PrintSoft jointly developed Australia Post's
successful Post eLetter service, enabling clients to create letters, invoices,
statements and postcards on their desktops, then securely submit them
electronically to the Australia Post service bureau, where they are
automatically aggregated, sorted and produced with bar codes for optimal
production and postage saving.
    The first leg of the journey from the desktop for any of these mail pieces
is by electronic network. The final print, fold and insertion production is
performed in the Australia Post capital city bureau nearest the point of
delivery, thus saving transportation cost, time and energy. This combination
of part electronic network delivery and final-leg physical delivery is
referred to, in the postal trade, as Hybrid Mail.
    "Hybrid Mail is likely to be the historical bridge between an all-physical
mail and an eventually all-electronic mail world. Just as with Hybrid car
engines, which bridge the transition from gasoline engines to electric
engines, Hybrid Mail saves transportation time and fuel costs," said David
Frenkel, president and CEO of PrintSoft Americas.
    The PrintSoft software that powers Australia Post's Post eLetter was
initially developed to help a major financial institution consolidate costly
desktop mail production processes across its organization. Now more than 80
Australian companies use the service to produce and mail more than 12 million
documents annually. The result has been significant staff time and cost
savings for these users.
    "This new application offers not only the most efficient way to generate
desktop mail, but is also the most effective, due to sophisticated data-driven
personalization," said Mark Worsley, President of PrintSoft. "The success of
Post eLetter in Australia led to the desire to bring this technology to other
major world markets, commencing with the United States. The U.S. launch is
anticipated in early fall this year."
    Early users of Post eLetter include Australia's largest retailer, Coles
Myer, with 1,900 stores; one of Australia's largest banks, National Australia
Bank (NAB); and the Dun & Bradstreet collection agency. The PrintSoft product
suite has the potential to provide significant cost and operational benefits
to the mail industry globally.

    About PrintSoft
    PrintSoft will operate as an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of
Australia Post and will retain the existing PrintSoft management team. It will
be based in its current Melbourne, Australia, headquarters, with its American
headquarters offices in Chicago, Ill. PrintSoft's existing range of document-
composition products will continue to be supported and enhanced.
    The acquisition of PrintSoft will help to realize the potential of desktop
mail automation opportunities around the world. PrintSoft also has offices and
distributors in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Czech
Republic and Brazil. PrintSoft provides software solutions for personalized
document systems. It has greater than 5,500 systems installed in more than 50
countries.

    About Australia Post
    Australia Post is a US$3.08 billion corporation equal to A$4.16 billion in
Australian dollars, with a US$386 million profit (A$521 million). The
corporation, a Government Business Enterprise, is self-funding and makes the
best use of its assets and resources in order to earn profits, which may be
reinvested in the business or returned as dividends to the Commonwealth of
Australia. It serves 1.10 million customers every day in 4,477 postal outlets
and delivers mail to 9.68 million Australian addresses. Australia Post has its
own board of directors, management, employees and business strategy.

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