as nyse pbi s & p 500 component industry business services founded 1920 headquarters stamford connecticut u.s. key people arthur pitney founder walter bowes founder marc b. lautenbach president and ceo michael monahan coo and cfo products franking machines geolocation software mail sorters crm software location intelligence customer information management ecommerce solutions revenue 3.6 billion usd 2015 number of employees 16 100 2014 1 slogan powering the transactions that drive commerce . website www.pitneybowes.com former pitney bowes headquarters in stamford pitney bowes inc. is an american provider of global ecommerce solutions shipping and mailing products location intelligence customer engagement and customer information management solutions . based in stamford connecticut the company has approximately 16 100 employees worldwide . 1 it is one of 87 existing firms that have been members of the s & p 500 since its creation in 1957 . other major u.s. centers of operation include danbury connecticut ; shelton connecticut ; troy new york ; and lanham maryland . contents 1 history 2 research and technology 3 significant acquisitions 4 credit ratings and revenue 5 references 6 further reading 7 external links history edit in 1902 arthur pitney patented his first double locking hand cranked postage stamping machine and with patent attorney eugene a. rummler founded the pitney postal machine company . in 1908 english emigrant and founder of the universal stamping machine company walter bowes began providing stamp canceling machines to the united states postal service . bowes moved his operations to stamford in 1917 . a rapid increase in mail volume in 1919 made the post office more receptive to metered mail and pitney subsequently traveled to meet bowes . on march 15 1920 the united states house of representatives passed a bill authorizing mechanical stamps on first class mail and on april 23 1920 the two companies merged to form the pitney bowes postage meter company with the goal of producing a machine that would combine pitney s double locking counter with bowes system for wrapping postage payment postmarking and cancellation . the united states post office approved their postage meter on august 25 1920 . between 1922 and 1923 the government collected 4 359 070 in postage from the first commercial installations of 400 meters . pitney bowes also began to sell their products internationally . in 1938 walter h. wheeler jr. was named president and chairman of the board and would lead the company over the next three decades . in the 1940s wheeler boycotted a hotel when it refused to register one black salesperson championing a spirit of diversity that still exists today writing pitney bowes worksites will reflect the communities in which we operate . 2 during the 1950s the national urban league recognized pitney bowes for its leadership in providing job opportunities to african americans . during world war ii pitney bowes received an army navy e award denoting excellence in production of crucially needed instruments of war . february 1 1943 . 3 the company went public on the new york stock exchange in 1950 . subsequently pitney bowes was named to the s & p 500 when this benchmark index was created in 1957 and joined the fortune 500 in 1962 . in 1968 pitney bowes acquired the monarch marking system company which would produce the first barcode equipment for retail trade use . to better provide financing options for their existing and prospective customers the pitney bowes credit corporation was formed in 1976 . pitney bowes would continue to grow this line of business launching the pitney bowes bank in 1996 . throughout the 1970s and 1980s the firm expanded offering copy machines and facsimile machines a suite of management services and entering new markets such as japan . during this period pitney bowes acquired dictaphone and kept the dictation machine manufacturer as a wholly owned but independent subsidiary until the unit was sold in 1995 . 4 in the 1990s pitney bowes continued to innovate in the field of digital technologies and software introducing the addressright address & barcode printer 1991 the first in line weighing and metering system 1992 the first secure digital postage meter 1995 the first ink jet postage meter 1996 and the digital document deliver d3 platform 1998 which provides message management via hard copy web email and fax . since 2000 pitney bowes invested 2.5 billion in 83 acquisitions primarily in software and services businesses including mapinfo group 1 software psi group and imagitas . the software portfolio has been largely grouped into an operating division called pitney bowes software . in august 2013 the firm announced that it sold its world headquarters building in stamford ct one elmcroft road 5 but it would remain in the same city and move to 3001 stamford square summer street . the relocation is expected to be complete by the summer of 2014 . 6 7 on october 1 2013 pitney bowes sold its management services division pbms to private equity firm apollo global management for 400 million in cash the proceeds of which would be principally to pay down debt . 8 pbms has since been renamed novitex enterprise solutions . 9 on january 14 2015 pitney bowes unveiled a new brand strategy and logo that supposedly better reflects the company s self proclaimed role as a technology company that powers billions of physical and digital transactions across the connected and borderless world of commerce . 10 research and technology edit pitney bowes intellectual property portfolio includes more than 3 500 patents worldwide 11 in areas such as ticketing cellular phone payment shipping laser printing encryption and mail production and processing . the intellectual property owners ipo association has consistently ranked pitney bowes in the top 200 companies receiving u.s. patents . six of these patents are held by retired executive chairman michael j. critelli . significant acquisitions edit since 2000 pitney bowes has invested 2.5 billion in 83 acquisitions primarily in software and services businesses . 2010 portrait software plc henley on thames england ; provides customer centric solutions that combine advanced customer analytics with inbound and outbound campaign management . clarification needed 2007 mapinfo troy ny ; provides location intelligence solutions . 2007 digital cement 12 toronto canada ; provides customer relationship management strategy and services . 2006 print inc. bellevue wa ; provides print management solutions . 2006 advertising audit service aas and pmh mi ; offers web based tools for customized promotional mail and marketing collateral and designs and manages customer and channel performance solutions . 2006 ibis consulting inc. ri ; provides electronic discovery services and solutions to law firms and corporate clients . 2006 emtex ltd. england ; provides software and services that simplify document production and centrally manage multi vendor and multi site printer operations . 2005 imagitas 13 waltham ma ; provides marketing services that use the mail to help companies connect with hard to reach consumers including new movers through my move . 14 2005 compulit inc. mi ; provides litigation support services to law firms and corporate clients . 2004 international mail express imex ny ; consolidates letters and flat sized mail headed to international addresses . 2004 group 1 software inc. lanham md ; provides software that enhances mailing efficiency data quality and customer communications . 2004 kilburn office automation limited acquired the mailing business division for a direct entry into the lucrative indian market . pitney bowes was advised by nitin banerjee and nitesh bhasin . 2003 ddd company md ; provides fulfillment services secure mail process messenger services logistics support and record and information management . 2002 psi group inc. omaha ne ; provides pre sort mail services . 2001 danka services international dsi london england ; provides imaging equipment and related services parts and supplies in approximately 30 countries . 2001 secap sa france ; provides a range of mail processing and paper handling equipment for low to mid volume mailers . 2001 bell & howell s international mmt london england ; markets and services high end mail processing sorting and service related products . credit ratings and revenue edit in february 2012 the credit rating for pitney bowes international holdings was lowered by fitch ratings from bbb to bbb . the ratings agency said its main concern was the downward trajectory of pitney bowes revenue and added that they have a negative outlook . 15 in march 2014 moody s assigned a long term rating of baa2 to the company s proposed 350 million senior unsecured notes due 2024 and reiterated their stable outlook on pbi . moody s cited an improvement in the company s operating margin to around 19 % from about 15 % historically following the sale of its labor intensive management services business and an operational restructuring which could yield annual cost savings of up to 170 million by 2016 . 16 in february 2016 pitney bowes announced that its full year 2015 revenue was 3.6 b a decline of 3 % over the previous year . 17 references edit a b pbi profile pitney bowes inc. common stock stock yahoo finance . finance.yahoo.com . retrieved 2014 08 16 . black enterprise july 2006 the story of pitney bowes william cahn 1961 pitney bowes selling dictaphone . chicagotribune.com . stamford advocate august 14 2013 stamford advocate march 5 2014 2014 winter triangle pitney bowes choses 3001 stamford square . ashforth.com . 2014 03 05 . retrieved 2014 08 16 . pitney bowes newsroom pitney bowes completes sale of its management services business to apollo funds for 400 million . news.pb.com . retrieved 2014 08 16 . http www.novitex.com pdfs news releases pressrelease 1022013 pbms % 20becomes % 20novitex % 20enterpirsesolutions.pdf http news.pb.com article display.cfm article id 5605 . missing or empty title help ibm pitney bowes others give free green patents . reuters . retrieved on 2013 07 17 . digitalcement.com imagitas.com mymove.com fitch lowers pitney bowes credit ratings to bbb . yahoo news . 2012 02 13 . moody s rates pitney bowes new senior unsecured notes baa2 ; outlook stable . moodys.com . 2014 03 04 . retrieved 2014 08 16 . pitney bowes newsroom pitney bowes announces full year and fourth quarter 2015 financial results . news.pb.com . retrieved 2016 02 10 . further reading edit cahn william 1961 . the story of pitney bowes . new york harper & brothers . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to pitney bowes . pitney bowes home page retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title pitney bowes & oldid 723627069 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies established in 1902multinational companies headquartered in the united statescompanies based in stamford 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