From a canal to the information superhighway
Founded in 1901 as a bookshop
on a canal in Amsterdam. Today
Swets is the largest global player
in the management of acquiring,
accessing and managing
information.
A century of stability and growth Founded by Adriaan Swets & Heinrich Zeitlinger in
1901.
Swets bought out Zeitlinger after just one year.
Swets remained 100% owned by the Swets family
until the mid-nineties.
A group of external investors took a majority stake
in Swets for over a decade.
In 2007, Swets was sold to Gilde, one of the
premium investment firms in the Netherlands.
In 2008/09 Swets opened offices in India, New
Zealand, Finland, Austria & Switzerland
Also in 2008 Swets acquired Boekhandel E.
Frencken BV
Value proposition of Agents
an Agent adds value to it’s customers and
publishers
Simplifying the many-to-many relationships
Offering choice to customers
Offering an attractive indirect sales channel
to publishers
Supplier
Price & title info
Order/renewal
Invoice
Payment
Supply subscription
Offer/renewal
Order/renewal
Invoice
Payment
Supply subscription
Supply subscription
Customer
The primary business processes of Agents
Our services for Information Professionals
Without an Agent
Customers face a complex
administration process with every
single publisher
Many relationships:
Generates unnecessary costs Wastes valuable time Offering an attractive indirect sales channel
to publishers
With an Agent
Our services for Information Professionals
Gain the freedom to focus on what’s
most important to you and your
organization
Reduced time and effort devoted to
administering subscriptions More control over your subscriptions
investment Improved management of e-journal licenses Enhanced journal processing capabilities
Service offerings for Publishers
Without an Agent
Publishers face a complex administration process with every single subscriber
Generates unnecessary costs
Wastes valuable time
Duplication of effort & content
With an Agent
Service offerings for Publishers
Extend your reach to buyers and users across the globe
Establish or grow your presence in leading and emerging markets
Control your financing costs
Ensure your customers get outstanding service and support
Remove the time and headaches in managing the distribution of subscriptions yourself
Extend your reach & expand your visibility
As an Intermediary it is an Agents’ primary role to facilitate transactions between multiple customers and multiple publishers
Success is determined by the ability of the Agent to bridge the gap between non-congruent Customer and publisher demands
As with all non-financial elements (ordering, catalogue management, shipment, processing etc) wants to facilitate demands on both sides
The role of Agents in the financial planning cycle
Customer Demands
Local players Funding timing dependent on local
rules One invoice per faculty Invoice in own local currency Payment and authorization processes
not always up to speed No currency risk
Country risk not manageable Customers want interest fee on excess
cash Sub-standard processes and systems VAT – issues when dealing with
foreign publishers
Publisher Demands
Global players Payment to be received in advance of
sub-year Invoice per title or institute Invoice in own local currency Strict guidelines on payment terms
No currency risk – albeit on a different currency
Country risk needs to be managed Publishers usually not able to give
interest fees Sub-standard processes and systems VAT – issues when dealing with
foreign customers
The role of an Agent in the financial planning cycle
Working Capital management
Invoicing procedures Management
Exchange rate management
Country risk management
What roles does an Agent perform to facilitate financially transactions
In the second and third quarter of any year Customers make prepayments towards the agent
Swets pays an interest fee on those prepayments
Around August most customers start ordering their subscriptions for the coming year
Typically Publishers wish to receive the payment alongside the order
Publishers are not always able to invoice in time
an Agent invoices the customers and collects the cash as soon as possible
Before the end of the year an Agent puts the order and the payment with the publisher
What roles does an Agent perform to facilitate financially transactions – Working capital Management Cycle - 1
What roles does an Agent perform to facilitate financially transactions – Working capital Management Cycle - 2
In certain countries prepayments on behalf of the customers need to be made
an Agent can make those prepayments against an interest fee
As most customers want invoices specified the way they can manage best most publishers are not able to do that
As an agent Swets is able to generate invoices towards Customers irrespective of Invoices send from publishers
Swets put in right VAT/Sales tax on both sides and acts as a clearing house
As the majority of transactions is in Q4 / Q1 VAT - maintenance takes place in Q2/Q3
What roles does an Agent perform to facilitate financially transactions – Invoicing Procedures Management
Given many transactions every year foreign currency flows are highly predictable over time
Typically Swets is able to match the majority of currency exposure internally
The remainder is hedged via external parties
As such an Agent is able to meet both Publishers’ and Customers’ needs to de protected against currency fluctuations within the year
What roles does an Agent perform to facilitate financially transactions – Exchange rate management
Country risk management typical theme since the credit-crunch
Usually Customers have low to zero debtor risk given government backing in almost every country
For publishers there are two main risks : Default of a country Corporate debtors
Country-defaults have not occurred for a long time but are very actual
an Agent acts as a partner to discuss and manage these risks between Customers and Publsihers
What roles does an Agent perform to facilitate financially transactions - Country risk Management
As an Intermediary it is Swets’ primary role to facilitate transactions between multiple customers and multiple publishers
Success is determined by the ability of Swets to bridge the gap between non-congruent Customer and publisher demands
As with all non-financial elements (ordering, catalogue management, shipment, processing etc) Swets wants to facilitate demands on both sides
The role of Swets in the financial planning cycle