February 10, 2003 -- (WhatTheyThink.com) -- Gary Kusin, President and CEO of Kinko's, says the company has no plans for an IPO but does plan to expose its high end solutions for corporate customers more agressively in 2003. Kinko's is a $2 billion provider of document solutions and business services with over 1,100 locations and 20,000 employees. The comments were made in an exclusive interview with WhatTheyThink.com. Kinko's just ended a long and public battle between majority owner Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a private investment firm, and the original partners including founder Paul Orfalea. The dispute was mostly over liquidity for Kinko's founding partners which they expected soon after Clayton, Dubilier & Rice invested over $200 million in the company in 1996. A public offering was reportedly the goal, but no such offering took place. In January, however, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice initiated a $460 million recapitalization of Kinko's, which provided cash for the partners and ended the distraction for the current leadership. When asked about lingering rumors of an IPO, Kusin said they are just rumors. "I've heard those rumors, too! Anytime a large, well-known brand name remains private, rumors abound. I can only say that we have no plans to go public at this time." The company is more focused on delivering many new services to Corporate America and already does business with 370 of the Fortune 500. "Many of today's business people grew up with Kinko's, and their perceptions may have been set back when they were in college. An important part of our business is still focused on that consumer need. At the same time, today's Kinko's is much more competitive in the B2B space. Obviously, we're working very hard to update that perception through our marketing and sales efforts." Kinko's is definitely not the company you knew in the 80's and 90's. Since his arrival in 2001, Kusin has embarked on several strategic initiatives. He led the move of the company's headquarters from Ventura to Dallas which allowed executives to re-examine their field support structure "from the ground up". He has a mostly new and “diverse” senior staff, and local managers and sales reps are empowered to do whatever it takes to get work into the store. Kusin says 2002 was among their most profitable years in recent history and he plans to have over 1,200 locations by the end of 2003. Web based services and on-site facilities management offerings will propel the company further into Corporate America, says Kusin. Kinkonet Web Order, Print to Kinko's and Kinko's DocStore continue to gain acceptance among customers. Kusin says Kinko's DocStore, an online document catalog and ordering service, has "exceeded plan in 2002 and now serves more than 250 major corporations." This summer, "File, Print... Kinko's" will launch. This service is being co-developed with Microsoft to make printing to any Kinko's "as easy as printing to your desktop or network printer using the power of Web services." Says Kusin, "Kinko's will continue to be more competitive and nimble than we have been for years. We will be known for not only our retail locations but for our Kinko's Commercial Solutions, with an increasing number of on-site facilities and outsourcing solutions." ------- Editor's Note: WhatTheyThink.com's Premium Access Members can see a two-part interview with Gary Kusin by visiting www.whattheythink.com. Topics Include: - The move from California to Texas - Strategic use of 24-hour locations - 2002: among Kinko's most profitable years - Diversity of senior management - IPO rumors - On-site or near-site facilities - Competitive in the B2B space - Document Scanning Services - Example of "multiple location" advantage - Reducing environmental impact