VistaPrint Limited, the supplier of printing and marketing services to small businesses, has announced plans to change its place of incorporation from Bermuda to the Netherlands and to set up a new senior management office in Paris.
In announcing the moves, president and CEO Robert Keane pointed to the stable economic, political and regulatory environment in Europe and its greater proximity to Asia-Pacific, where the company sees opportunities for growth.
“These decisions are consistent with VistaPrint’s long-standing commitment to internationalism in our market objectives, operations, corporate culture and corporate structure,” Keane says. “It also supports our continued transition to a decentralized management structure based on geographic business units, which enables us to expand into new markets while maintaining our focus and commitment to well-established markets. We believe this decision will facilitate our ability to deliver continued growth in North America, Europe and, increasingly, the Asia-Pacific region.”
Keane also noted that VistaPrint was founded in Paris and based there from 1995 to 2000. VistaPrint plans to establish a new office in Paris in July. Keane will be based there, along with some other management functions, including corporate strategy.
VistaPrint, No. 57 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, established its first manufacturing facility in the Netherlands and still has 250 employees in that country. Besides manufacturing services, VistaPrint’s Dutch facility houses Internet server operations and employees in managerial, engineering, procurement and customer service roles.
VistaPrint has employees in seven countries, with 22% of its workforce based in Europe, 25% in Canada, 28% in the U.S. and 25% in the Caribbean.
The proposal to change the company’s place of incorporation has been approved by the board of directors and will be put to a vote at a special shareholder meeting in July. The company expects to make the transition early in 2010. At that time, the company’s name will change from VistaPrint Limited to VistaPrint NV. VistaPrint’s shares will continue to trade on the NASDAQ, a U.S. stock exchange.
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