News | Arvato Group | Madrid, 09/26/2013

‘An Impressive Success Story’: Arvato Celebrates 40 Years In Spain

On the occasion of Arvato Iberia's 40th anniversary, Arvato CEO Achim Berg gave an overview of developments in the past four decades – in Spanish: "It is a real honor for me to be here today. I want to thank you for forty years of cooperation and trust. Arvato looks back on a successful history in Spain, which we will continue in the future." He then thanked the employees in English for their work in developing and expanding the services business on the Iberian Peninsula.

Arvato Iberia CEO Alexander Weihe went on to reveal the secret behind this success to the guests of honor from business and society: "We are a reliable partner for our customers in both the public and private sectors because we offer them three things: stability, quality and integrated solutions."

‘A flagship of German business in Spain’

The evening’s host, German Ambassador Reinhard Silberberg, expressed his delight at "welcoming one of the most important flagships of German business in Spain to the Embassy in Madrid." He, too, also spoke of Arvato’s impressive development, congratulated it on its 40th anniversary and thanked Arvato for its good cooperation with the German Embassy.

Arvato’s success story in Spain began in 1973 when – still called Bertelsmann Direct at that time – it acquired Arvato Publienvío, a pioneering company in the field of direct marketing. In the following years and decades, the group added services in the fields of logistics, information systems, business intelligence and digital printing to its portfolio. At the beginning of the new millennium, all these activities were then grouped under the Arvato Services brand. Another milestone was the acquisition of Qualytel Teleservices in 2008 and the associated sustained development of customer services activities. In the years immediately following this, offshore platforms for providing support to Spanish customers were also created in Peru (Lima) and Colombia (Bogota and Bucaramanga).

Revenue volume up by 50 percent from 2008 to 2012

In recent years, Arvato Iberia was able to considerably grow both its revenues and its workforce. From 2008 to 2012, revenues increased by about half to €173 million, and the number of employees grew by 2,500 to currently 8,300 people.

Arvato offers its services in Spain to large businesses as well as public institutions. The company currently works with major companies in Spain’s telecommunications, utilities, banking and insurance, retail and public sectors. Its list of clients includes household names like ING, Vodafone, Orange, AON, Adeslas, Zurich, Ono, Renault, Repsol, Gas Natural-Fenosa, La Caixa, Adolfo Domínguez, and many more. In the public sector, Arvato’s responsibilities include emergency and crisis services in the health sector in Catalonia and Andalusia, the 016 emergency sexual violence telephone helpline, and the Barcelona city administration’s public information office.