SECTION 1 -

Between the time the customers pay for the vouchers (most of which are prepaid) and the
time the affiliated merchants are reimbursed, the funds are invested and generate financial revenue.
The Group’s total revenues from vouchers include service and redemption commissions, financial
revenue and, to a lesser extent, breakage revenues from lost and expired vouchers.
Although the Group is organized geographically from a management standpoint (see note 3
to the pro forma financial statements included in this prospectus), each type of product and service
provided by the Group is described separately for ease of understanding.
New Services provides prepaid services that enhance people's well‐being and motivation and
improve the performance of organizations in two principal areas:
• Employee and public benefits products and services (88% of issue volume and 79% of pro
forma operating revenue 10 in 2009). The Group offers a wide range of products worldwide
to business customers and local authorities in developed and emerging countries. The vast
majority of the benefits products were created in connection with public policies designed to
improve nutrition, social cohesion and economic activity.
o Employee Benefit Programs. The main programs include:
Meal and food vouchers (78% of issue volume and 63% of pro forma
operating revenue in 2009). New Services offers both meal and food
vouchers, under the primary brand names Ticket Restaurant ® (meals) and
Ticket Alimentación ® (food). The Ticket Restaurant ® , launched almost fifty
years ago, is the Group’s leading product. This meal voucher enables
employees to have lunch in a restaurant or similar food service
establishment of their choice. Employers pay for all or a part of the cost of
these meals, and the amounts that the employers pay are generally tax
deductible. For the employee, this benefit generally is not subject to
income tax. All or part of the face value of the meal vouchers is also
exempt from social security contributions for both the employer and the
employee. The Ticket Alimentación ® food voucher increases the purchasing
power of beneficiaries and enables employees and their families to enjoy a
healthy diet. Employees can use the vouchers to buy food in neighborhood
stores and/or supermarkets. The food voucher, launched in Mexico in
1983 under the brand name Vale Despensas ® , was later marketed in Latin
America (as Ticket Alimentación ® , Ticket Alimentação ® or Ticket Canasta ® )
and, more recently, in Central Europe. New Services provides the Ticket
Restaurant ® and Ticket Alimentación ® in 30 countries.
Non‐food benefits. Driven by the success of its Ticket Restaurant ® and Ticket
Alimentación ® meal and food vouchers, the Group has developed a range of
products enabling employers to contribute to the cost of other basic services
required by their employees. These products, designed to enhance the
everyday life of employees, include vouchers that allow employers to pay all
or part of the cost of childcare services (Childcare Voucher ® in the United
Kingdom and Ticket Guarderia ® in Spain), household employees (Ticket CESU ®
in France) and transport (Ticket Transport ® in Brazil and Commuter Check ® in
the US). More recently, in 2009, the Group launched the EcoCheque ® in
Belgium. This voucher enables employees to make purchases in affiliated
stores offering exclusively ecological products. In certain countries, the
Group offers gift vouchers that employers provide to employees, with full or
partial social security and income tax exemptions, on occasions such as
weddings, the birth of children or Christmas.
o Public Benefit Programs. Local authorities and public institutions also call on New
Services to help with the management and distribution of social aid. The Group
10 See section 2.2.2.1 of this prospectus for a definition of operating revenue.
9