Sainsbury's and Aimia set up joint venture to provide integrated marketing solutions

MONTREAL, Sept. 20, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ – Aimia (TSX: AIM) and
Sainsbury’s  today announced they have formed Insights 2 Communication
LLP (I2C), a joint venture, which will offer suppliers comprehensive
multi-channel marketing solutions in and around Sainsbury’s stores and
online.

I2C will provide Sainsbury’s suppliers with a ‘one-stop shop’ solution to
advertise across all of the retailer’s communication channels – both
targeted and non-targeted.  Through a series of licensing and supply
agreements with Aimia and Sainsbury’s, the joint venture will combine
people, intellectual property and tools, and Sainsbury’s fast-growing
in-house non-targeted communications business.  The licensing and
supply agreements will be for an initial term of 6 years. 

Similarly, the insight and targeted communications services that Aimia
currently provides to Sainsbury’s suppliers, including access to Self
Serve and targeted communications, will also now be provided by the
joint venture.

Aimia retains sole ownership of its existing proprietary data analytical
tools, including Self Serve.  The international operations of Aimia’s
Intelligent Shopper Solutions (ISS) will not be affected by the
creation of the joint venture.

The joint venture board will have equal representation from Sainsbury’s
and Aimia, whilst the day to day senior management team has been
created by bringing together the best talent from both Aimia and
Sainsbury’s.

David Buckingham from Aimia has been appointed Chief Executive Officer
of  I2C and will report to a board comprising: Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s Group
Commercial Director; Luke Jensen, Sainsbury’s Group Development
Director; David Johnston, President and CEO, EMEA, Aimia; and Peter
Gleason
, Managing Director, Intelligent Shopper Solutions, Aimia.  Luke
Jensen
has been appointed chairman of I2C.

Commenting on the joint venture, David Buckingham said: “From the home
to the checkout and beyond, I2C will offer suppliers a tailored advertising solution in and around
stores and online.  We will help Sainsbury’s suppliers to plan, manage
and deliver fully integrated campaigns more effectively to the millions
of customers who visit Sainsbury’s stores or shop online each week.”

Luke Jensen, Sainsbury’s Group Development Director, said: “The joint
venture is a win-win for both customers and suppliers.  This means more
timely, relevant and accessible offers for customers based on their
likes and dislikes, while brands benefit from an end-to-end insight
based marketing solution and greater return on investment.”

David Johnston, President and CEO EMEA, Aimia said:  “The launch of I2C is testament to the growing interest in shopper marketing, targeting
customers in and around stores.  Coupled with our data-driven approach,
we believe I2C will deliver better experiences for shoppers and greater ROI for
suppliers who will benefit from the integrated solution I2C offers.”

Aside from a small initial working capital requirement, the joint
venture will be self sufficient from a cash perspective and is expected
to fully distribute its retained earnings to its shareholders on a
regular basis.

The joint venture will give Aimia access to additional revenues,
however, due to the timing of the transaction and the terms of the
arrangement, there will be no material impact to Aimia’s consolidated
financial statements in 2012.   For 2013 reporting, Aimia will evaluate
the accounting of this arrangement in compliance with the new standard,
IFRS 11, Joint Arrangements.  Aimia will account for this entity either
as a joint operation which would mean accounting for its proportionate
share of the revenues, expenses, assets and obligations of the entity
or it will account for the entity as a joint venture under the equity
accounting method.

About Aimia

Aimia Inc. (“Aimia”) is a global leader in loyalty
management. Aimia’s unique capabilities include proven expertise in
delivering proprietary loyalty services, launching and managing
coalition loyalty programs, creating value through loyalty analytics
and driving innovation in the emerging digital and mobile
spaces. Aimia owns and operates Aeroplan, Canada’s premier coalition
loyalty program and Nectar, the United Kingdom’s largest coalition
loyalty program. In addition, Aimia has majority equity positions in
Air Miles Middle East and Nectar Italia as well as a minority position
in Club Premier, Mexico’s leading coalition loyalty program and
Cardlytics, a US-based private company operating in merchant-funded
transaction-driven marketing for electronic banking.

Aimia is a Canadian public company listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: AIM) and has over 3,400 employees in more than 20
countries around the world. For more information about Aimia, please
visit www.aimia.com.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/aimiainc.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are identified by the use of terms and
phrases such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”,
“intend”, “may”, “plan”, “predict”, “project”, “will”, “would”, and
similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Such
statements may involve but are not limited to comments with respect to
strategies, expectations, planned operations, future actions,
anticipated financial performance and business prospects.
Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are based on assumptions
and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. Any forecasts or
forward-looking predictions or statements cannot be relied upon due to,
amongst other things, changing external events and general
uncertainties of the business and its corporate structure. Results
indicated in forward-looking statements may differ materially from
actual results for a number of reasons, including without limitation,
the factors identified in this news release and throughout Aimia’s
public disclosure record on file with the Canadian securities
regulatory authorities. Material factors and assumptions that were
applied in drawing a conclusion or making a projection or forecast are
also set out throughout this document. We believe that the expectations
represented by our forward-looking statements are reasonable, yet there
can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
The purpose of the forward-looking statements is to provide the reader
with a description of management’s expectations regarding the matters
described in this news release and may not be appropriate for other
purposes. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent
Aimia’s expectations as of September 20, 2012, and are subject to
change after such date. However, Aimia disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required under applicable securities regulations.

SOURCE: AIMIA

 

Contact:

Media:
JoAnne Hayes
416-352-3706
joanne.hayes@aimia.com 

Analysts :
Trish Moran
416-352-3728
trish.moran@aimia.com

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