KUBRA Acquires Utility Customer Communication Solution Provider iFactor

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 4, 2016) - Today, KUBRA announced the acquisition of iFactor, a customer communication solution provider offering automated alerts, preference management, mobile applications, industry-leading outage communications and customer-facing mapping technology to the utility industry. The acquisition strengthens and expands KUBRA's customer interaction management solution set, positioning the company as the only complete and integrated suite of meter-to-cash and outage communication management solutions.

"The acquisition of iFactor complements KUBRA's overall service offering and represents an important strategic opportunity for us to provide an end-to-end suite of customer experience management solutions," said Rick Watkin, CEO of KUBRA. "As a clear leader in digital customer communications for the utility industry, iFactor solutions will help KUBRA take a significant step forward in our goal of creating a seamless, cross-platform experience for our clients and the customers they serve."

The combination of the two organizations will increase the overall value KUBRA will be able to deliver to the combined client base and grow its market share of leading North American gas and electric utilities. Prior to the acquisition KUBRA, had as clients 36 of the top 100 gas and electric [based on customer meters] utilities in America. Post acquisition, this number grows to 54, including 60% of the top 25 utilities, creating tremendous opportunities to expand relationships with mutual and net new clients and to continue to grow our market share in the enterprise North American gas and electric utility market space with a truly unique offering. With the iFactor suite of products, KUBRA will be able to expand our cloud-based solution 'stack' to include outage communication management, preference management, and an advanced mobile application offering. iFactor also has a number of client relationships in Canada and additional opportunities in Europe and Asia-Pacific that have tremendous potential.

"When KUBRA was acquired in 2014, our hope was to create a platform for future growth in the important sector of payment and communications solutions for the utility industry," said David Carey, President Hearst Magazines. "We're pleased to welcome the iFactor team to the Hearst family, as we expand our presence in this area."

"In KUBRA, we've found an incredible partner with a suite of solutions that will enhance and expand iFactor's current customer communication offerings," said Shazir Khan, President and CEO, iFactor. "This is an exciting time in the evolution of iFactor solutions, as the acquisition will ultimately provide clients with access to a greater breadth of technologies."

KUBRA believes utilities will be moving away from the current state of multiple 'point solution' relationships and on to large enterprise strategic partnerships where multiple solutions and services are managed by one integrated partnership with one core real-time interface to their CIS/OMS. With the iFactor acquisition, we have now positioned KUBRA to manage literally every customer interaction within the meter-to-cash and outage communications management ecosystem from delivering e-bills and powering online payments to processing paper bills and checks to mobile apps, energy usage, and proactive communications and alerts. The iFactor solution complements literally every solution module within our digital e-commerce platform.

About KUBRA

KUBRA provides customer interaction management solutions to some of the largest utility, insurance, financial services, government, healthcare, and communication companies across North America. Our portfolio of integrated multi-channel outsource solutions include document print and mailing, e-billing and self-service, document management, and payment solutions. With over 500 clients and 1 billion customer interactions annually, KUBRA enables innovative performance-driven value to its clients every day. KUBRA is an operating subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation.

www.kubra.com

About iFactor

iFactor develops software products and delivers complete communication solutions for the utility sector, delivering information to more than 150 million people in North America through deployments at more than 45 utilities. iFactor products and solutions enable utilities to leverage connected technologies such as the web, mobile web, and smartphones to interact with their customers. Visit www.ifactorinc.com for more information.