Category: International & World

Categories
Business International & World

MetLife Investment Management Europe receives license from Central Bank of Ireland to manage and market investment strategies across European Economic Area

WHIPPANY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — MetLife Investment Management (MIM), the institutional asset management business of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), today announced that MetLife Investment Management Europe Limited (“MIM Europe”) has been authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland (“CBI”) to manage and market AIFs and UCITS, two vehicles through which European investors can best access MIM’s investment capabilities. Additionally, the license allows MIM Europe to offer and manage MIM’s full range of investment strategies across the European Economic Area (“EEA”).

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, MIM Europe will serve as the hub for MIM’s business in the EEA. Today, MIM has a significant presence in Europe across a range of client segments and countries. The authorization will enable broader access to the EEA market.

 

“This affirms our commitment to expand our offerings in Europe and will allow us to take an increasingly local approach to serving the market,” said Matthew Mosca, global head of the Institutional Client Group at MIM. “We have already seen demonstrated demand for our core investment products in Europe, and the CBI license will allow MIM to further leverage both our U.S. and Europe-based product and management capabilities in ways directly suited to European institutional investors.”

 

“The authorization of MIM Europe is a clear demonstration of the central role we expect Europe to continue to play in MIM’s international expansion, and of our desire to deliver our full breadth of investment capability to European investors,” said Nigel Murdoch, managing director and head of EMEA for MIM’s Institutional Client Group. “We look forward to collaborating with investors across Europe on the delivery of strong, long-term, sustainable investment returns.”

 

About MetLife Investment Management

MetLife Investment Management, the institutional asset management business of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), is a global public fixed income, private capital and real estate investment manager providing tailored investment solutions to institutional investors worldwide. MetLife Investment Management provides public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, funds and other institutional clients with a range of bespoke investment and financing solutions that seek to meet a range of long-term investment objectives and risk-adjusted returns over time. MetLife Investment Management has over 150 years of investment experience and, as of December 31, 2021, had $669.0 billion in total assets under management.1

 

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help individual and institutional customers build a more confident future. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

 

Endnotes

1 Total AUM is comprised of all MetLife general account and separate account assets and unaffiliated/third party assets, at estimated fair value, managed by MIM.

Contacts

For Media:
Dave Franecki

+1-973-264-7465

dave.franecki@metlife.com

Doug Allen, DLPR

+1 646 722-6530

Doug@dlpr.com

Categories
Business International & World

AM Best suspends all commercial activities in Russia

OLDWICK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #insurance—AM Best has suspended all commercial activities to clients in Russia and has withdrawn all Credit Ratings on Russia-based (re)insurance companies, subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) and in advance of the EU’s April 15, 2022, deadline. In addition, AM Best has terminated the provision and redistribution of all information products and services to clients in Russia with immediate effect.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

 

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Communications
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644

james.peavy@ambest.com

Categories
Business International & World

Cenntro Electric acquires majority interest of Tropos Motors Europe to expand European Assembly Capability and Distribution Networks in EMEA and adds a strategic customer network in Europe

FREEHOLD, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Cenntro Electric Group Limited (NASDAQ: CENN), a leading EV technology company with advanced, market-validated electric commercial vehicles, today announced that it entered into an agreement with Mosolf SE & Co. KG (“Mosolf”), one of Europe’s largest automotive logistics and service providers, to acquire a 65% equity interest in Tropos Motors Europe GmbH (“TME”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mosolf, for €3.25 million and assume 100% of a shareholder loan from Mosolf to TME in the amount of €11.9 million. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in March 2022.

TME has been a strategic, private label channel partner and one of the largest customers of Cenntro since 2019. TME assembles and distributes light electric commercial vehicles, based on Cenntro’s Metro® model, in Europe under the brand “ABLE.” As of February 28, 2022, TME has a distribution network of 50 dealers in Germany and 13 importers in Europe across sixteen countries, including France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Denmark, and the Czech Republic, and also sells directly to major fleet providers. Following the closing of the acquisition, it is anticipated that TME will assemble and distribute the full line of Cenntro’s products for the European market, including the Metro®, the Logistar™ series and the Neibor® series for last mile on-demand delivery and related services.

 

“This acquisition will accelerate Cenntro’s expansion within EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and represents a significant step in the Company’s growth strategy to be a leading provider of electric commercial mobility,” said Peter Wang, Chairman and CEO of Cenntro. “Through this acquisition, we gain a significant geographical advantage and the addition of key management personnel within the European region, unlocking significant global growth opportunities for the Company.”

 

The acquisition expands Cenntro’s assembly capabilities and distribution network in EMEA and adds a strategic customer network in Europe.

 

“This is a milestone for both companies. With Cenntro we have the perfect partner to offer different electric commercial vehicles across Europe, Middle East and Africa. We now can meet customer needs even better with a wide range of light to medium-duty commercial vehicles,” said Dr Jörg Mosolf, Chairman and CEO of the MOSOLF Group.

 

About Cenntro Electric Group

Cenntro Electric Group (NASDAQ: CENN) is a leading EV technology company with advanced, market-validated electric commercial vehicles. Cenntro plans to lead the transformation in the automotive industry through scalable, decentralized production and fully digitalized autonomous driving solutions empowered by the Cenntro iChassis. Cenntro has produced and delivered over 3,600 commercial EVs in more than 26 countries. For more information about Cenntro, please visit www.cenntroauto.com.

 

About TROPOS MOTORS EUROPE

Tropos Motors Europe, a subsidiary of the MOSOLF Group, is a specialist for compact, electric commercial vehicles for a wide range of target groups and applications. These include, in particular, delivery and parcel services, industry and intralogistics, technical trades and facility management, food retail, hospitality and tourism, zoos, amusement parks and sports facilities as well as cities and municipalities. www.tropos-motors.de

 

About MOSOLF Group

The MOSOLF Group is one of the leading system service providers for the automobile industry in Europe. The family business, which was founded in 1955, has its headquarters in Kirchheim unter Teck, and provides a range of services. These include tailor-made logistics, technical and service solutions provided using a network of business sites across Europe and a multi-modal fleet. The spectrum of services provided by the MOSOLF Group covers the complete value-added chain for automobile logistics from the end of the production line to recycling. In addition to transporting vehicles (cars, light vans, high & heavy vehicles), workshop services, special vehicle construction, industrial paintwork, mobility services, releasing agent services, and vehicle recycling are all part of the portfolio of services. Within this context, MOSOLF provides all-round, customized solutions for the automobile industry, fleet operators, and dealers from one source and also handles the associated data flow using modern software solutions. To learn more, visit www.mosolf.com.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. Such statements may be, but need not be, identified by words such as “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “could,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “aim(s),” “can,” “would,” “expect(s),” “estimate(s),” “project(s),” “forecast(s)”, “positioned,” “approximately,” “potential,” “goal,” “strategy,” “outlook” and similar expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding decentralized production, fully digitalized autonomous driving solutions and expected synergies and positive developments that could result from this acquisition. All such forward-looking statements are based on management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in this communication. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are the following: our inability to consummate the proposed transaction, including due to the failure to satisfy any closing conditions in the purchase agreement; our ability to successfully integrate the acquired business and to maximize expected synergies; and our ability to realize the expected benefits of the proposed transaction. For additional risks and uncertainties that could impact Cenntro’s forward-looking statements, please see disclosures contained in Cenntro’s public filings with the SEC, including the “Risk Factors” in Cenntro’s Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 5, 2022 and which may be viewed at www.sec.gov.

Contacts

Investor Relations Contact:

Chris Tyson

MZ North America

CENN@mzgroup.us
949-491-8235

Company Contact:

PR@cenntroauto.com
IR@cenntroauto.com

Categories
Healthcare International & World

Italian patients receive Samsara Vision’s SING IMT™, a new technology for age-related macular degeneration

Miniature, Implantable Telescope Is Proven to Restore Vision and Improve Quality of Life

 

FAR HILLS, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #AMD—Samsara Vision, a company focused on bringing vision and freedom back to late-stage, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients through advanced visual prosthetic devices, today announced the first three successful clinical cases in Italy using its SING IMT™ (Smaller-Incision New-Generation Implantable Miniature Telescope) for people living with late-stage, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The SING IMT™ was successfully implanted in patients in early February by Professor Stanislao Rizzo, director of the Ophthalmology Unit of the Agostino Gemelli IRCCS University Polyclinic Foundation and Ordinary of Ophthalmology Clinic at the Catholic University campus in Rome.

Nearly invisible inside the eye, the SING IMT™ is a Galilean telescope implant designed to improve visual acuity and quality of life for patients with late-stage AMD. Comprised of ultra-precise micro-optics, the SING IMT is implanted during typical, out-patient cataract surgery. After recovering from surgery, the patients work closely with a low vision specialist and occupational therapists to learn how to use their new vision, often practicing with exercises designed with their specific vision goals in mind. Images seen in “straight-ahead” vision are magnified 2.7x and projected onto healthy, undamaged areas of the macula in the back of the eye, reducing the impact of the AMD “blind spot” in central vision and allowing patients to see images that may have been unrecognizable before.

 

“It is incredibly exciting to introduce the SING IMT™ as a treatment option to patients in Italy whose vision has been severely compromised by late-stage AMD. Macular degeneration not only robs people of their vision, but of their independence as they have to rely on others to read to them or describe what is right in front of them. It can be isolating,” explained Professor Rizzo. “It’s a privilege to offer my patients high quality care and access to the most advanced treatment options. I’m hopeful that these first three patients are just the first of many who will experience improved vision and then reconnect to the people and activities that they enjoy.”

 

Advanced Technology Restores Vision for Older Adults

The leading cause of blindness in older adults, late-stage AMD is a disease which can result in a loss of central or “straight-ahead” vision, creating a blind spot that is uncorrectable by glasses, drugs, injections or cataract surgery. Other currently available treatments for late-stage AMD, such as intraocular injections, may slow or delay the progression of the disease but do not have a direct effect in regaining vision that SING IMT™ offers to eligible candidates. This blind spot makes it difficult or impossible for patients to recognize faces, read, and perform the tasks of everyday living such as watching TV, preparing meals, and performing self-care. A study published in British Journal of Ophthalmology determined that approximately 67 million people in the European Union are affected by AMD and this number is expected to grow by 15 percent until 2050.

 

“We’re gratified that Professor Stanislao Rizzo reports encouraging results from the first three Italian clinical cases using the SING IMT™ and appreciate his enthusiasm for bringing the latest ophthalmic innovations to patients in Italy,” said Dr. Maura Arsiero, Director, Global Market Development, Samsara Vision. “We are also currently working with other key opinion leaders across Europe to bring our novel and life-changing technology to their patients and meet the demands of these older adults who are eager to see more and see better, thereby enhancing their quality of life.”

 

Because AMD is a progressive disease, over time, patients have adapted with the loss of vision in the central field of vision. Before receiving the SING IMT™, patients must understand the possible and realistic outcomes post-op and commit to working with their ophthalmological team to use visual techniques and exercises to maximize the effectiveness of SING IMT™. Patients must also meet age, vision, cornea health, and other requirements noted in the Patient Information Booklet to determine if they are a candidate for the SING IMT™.

 

The telescopic implant is not a cure for late-stage AMD. It will not return your vision to the level a patient had before AMD, nor will it completely make up for vision loss. The most common risks of the SING IMT™ surgery include inflammatory deposits or precipitates on the device and increased intraocular pressure. Significant adverse events include corneal edema, vision-impairing corneal edema, corneal transplant, and decrease in visual acuity. There is a risk that having the telescope implantation surgery could worsen your vision rather than improve it. Individual results may vary.

 

The SING IMT™ is approved for late-stage AMD patients who are 55 years of age or older in CE Referenced Countries and is not currently FDA approved in the United States. To learn more about SING IMT™, visit http://singimt.samsaravision.com

 

About Samsara Vision

Samsara Vision is a privately held specialty medical device company headquartered in the United States and engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary implantable ophthalmic devices and technologies that are intended to significantly improve vision and quality of life for individuals with untreatable retinal disorders. We believe that rejuvenating eyesight revives the spirit, allowing people to reconnect to the things in life that they love to see and do. Our approach includes working collaboratively with health care providers, researchers, payers, and advocates to ensure that people living with deteriorating vision have access to our novel technologies and support paths thereby better ensuring a future where they can see anew. Learn more at https://www.samsaravision.com

 

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements pursuant to U.S. Federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include those about the belief that the company’s name change better reflects Samsara’s patient centricity and focus and the belief that rejuvenating eyesight revives the spirit, allowing people to reconnect to the things in life that they love to see and do. These forward-looking statements and their implications are based on the current expectations of the management of Samsara only, and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: claims by other companies and persons regarding ownership over intellectual property; changes in technology and market requirements; Samsara may encounter delays or obstacles in launching and/or successfully completing its clinical trials; Samsara’s products may not be approved by regulatory agencies, Samsara’s technology may not be validated as it progresses further and its methods may not be accepted by the scientific community; Samsara may be unable to retain or attract key employees whose knowledge is essential to the development of its products; unforeseen scientific difficulties may develop with Samsara’s process; Samsara’s products may wind up being more expensive than it anticipates; results in the laboratory may not translate to equally good results in real clinical settings; results of preclinical studies may not correlate with the results of human clinical trials; Samsara’s patents may not be sufficient; Samsara’s products may harm recipients; changes in legislation may adversely impact Samsara; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; loss of market share and pressure on pricing resulting from competition, which could cause the actual results or performance of Samsara to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, Samsara undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contacts

Media Contact:
Amina Piiciotti, Media Ambience

a.piciotti@media-ambience.com
Tel + 39 02 85458311

Categories
Business International & World Science

Teva reaches agreement with Texas to settle the State’s opioid-related claims

TEL AVIV, Israel & PARSIPPANY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Teva Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. affiliate of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) and its affiliates, has reached an agreement with the Attorney General (AG) of Texas that settles the state’s and its subdivisions opioid-related claims. Under the terms of the settlement, Teva will pay Texas $150 million over a 15-year time period and will provide the recently launched, lifesaving medicine generic Narcan® (naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray), valued at $75 million (wholesale acquisition cost) over 10 years.

“Expanding access to lifesaving medicines is at the core of Teva’s mission. The Texas Attorney General is taking steps to address the opioid epidemic in the State by negotiating a settlement that includes critical medicines as part of their solution,” said Kåre Schultz, Teva’s President and CEO. “While the settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing by Teva or its affiliates, it remains in the best interest of Teva to put these cases behind us and continue to focus on the patients we serve every day.”

 

Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids.1 As of December 2021, Teva has made available the first generic version of this critical medicine and has included this product in the Company’s ongoing pursuit of a national or narrower settlement with individual states such as the deal announced today.

 

The Company will continue to defend itself in court in states where we have not reached terms of a settlement agreement. Teva believes that today’s settlement with the state of Texas is a critical step forward in getting life-saving treatments to people suffering from opioid addiction.

 

About Teva

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) has been developing and producing medicines to improve people’s lives for more than a century. We are a global leader in generic and specialty medicines with a portfolio consisting of over 3,500 products in nearly every therapeutic area. Around 200 million people around the world take a Teva medicine every day, and are served by one of the largest and most complex supply chains in the pharmaceutical industry. Along with our established presence in generics, we have significant innovative research and operations supporting our growing portfolio of specialty and biopharmaceutical products. Learn more at www.tevapharm.com.

 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are based on management’s current beliefs and expectations and are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that could cause our future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from that expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to:

 

  • our ability to finalize the settlement with Texas, such that at least 96% of the population of subdivisions will formally release Teva as part of the settlement;
  • our ability to successfully compete in the marketplace, including: that we are substantially dependent on our generic products; consolidation of our customer base and commercial alliances among our customers; delays in launches of new generic products; the increase in the number of competitors targeting generic opportunities and seeking U.S. market exclusivity for generic versions of significant products; our ability to develop and commercialize biopharmaceutical products; competition for our specialty products, including AUSTEDO®, AJOVY® and COPAXONE®; our ability to achieve expected results from investments in our product pipeline; our ability to develop and commercialize additional pharmaceutical products; and the effectiveness of our patents and other measures to protect our intellectual property rights;
  • our substantial indebtedness, which may limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness, engage in additional transactions or make new investments, may result in a further downgrade of our credit ratings; and our inability to raise debt or borrow funds in amounts or on terms that are favorable to us;
  • our business and operations in general, including: uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our business, financial condition, operations, cash flows, and liquidity and on the economy in general; our ability to successfully execute and maintain the activities and efforts related to the measures we have taken or may take in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated costs therewith; effectiveness of our optimization efforts; our ability to attract, hire and retain highly skilled personnel; manufacturing or quality control problems; interruptions in our supply chain; disruptions of information technology systems; breaches of our data security; variations in intellectual property laws; challenges associated with conducting business globally, including political or economic instability, major hostilities or terrorism; costs and delays resulting from the extensive pharmaceutical regulation to which we are subject or delays in governmental processing time due to travel and work restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • the effects of reforms in healthcare regulation and reductions in pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement and coverage; significant sales to a limited number of customers; our ability to successfully bid for suitable acquisition targets or licensing opportunities, or to consummate and integrate acquisitions; and our prospects and opportunities for growth if we sell assets;
  • compliance, regulatory and litigation matters, including: failure to comply with complex legal and regulatory environments; increased legal and regulatory action in connection with public concern over the abuse of opioid medications and our ability to reach a final resolution of the remaining opioid-related litigation; scrutiny from competition and pricing authorities around the world, including our ability to successfully defend against the U.S. Department of Justice criminal charges of Sherman Act violations; potential liability for patent infringement; product liability claims; failure to comply with complex Medicare and Medicaid reporting and payment obligations; compliance with anti-corruption sanctions and trade control laws; and environmental risks;
  • other financial and economic risks, including: our exposure to currency fluctuations and restrictions as well as credit risks; potential impairments of our intangible assets; potential significant increases in tax liabilities (including as a result of potential tax reform in the United States); and the effect on our overall effective tax rate of the termination or expiration of governmental programs or tax benefits, or of a change in our business;

and other factors discussed in this press release, and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, including in the sections captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward Looking Statements.” Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

1 https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/naloxone/index.html

Contacts

IR Contacts
United States

Ran Meir (267) 468-4475
Israel

Yael Ashman 972 (3) 914-8262

PR Contacts
United States
Kelley Dougherty (973) 658-0237

Yonatan Beker (973) 264 7378

Categories
Business International & World

Beiersdorf strengthens its position on North American market with new U.S. headquarters and new Innovation Center

  • The German-based skincare company debuts inspiring new office in Stamford, Conn. and R&D Facility in New Jersey
  • Through its commitment to the North American business, Beiersdorf creates further opportunities to drive local growth
  • New Innovation Center to accelerate local innovation and become the first center of excellence for therapeutic OTC as well as sun care products

 

HAMBURG, Germany & STAMFORD, Conn. & FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Beiersdorf, the Hamburg, Germany-based skincare company with an impressive portfolio of globally renowned brands, such as Aquaphor, Eucerin, NIVEA, La Prairie and Coppertone, has officially moved its North American headquarters from Wilton, Conn. to Stamford, Conn. Additionally, as part of its global R&D strategy, the company opened its doors on an all new Innovation Center in Florham Park, NJ.


Both new facilities represent a strong commitment to the region and will help drive growth for Beiersdorf with a strengthened position in the North American market. Already a globally recognized leader in sun protection, Beiersdorf – by establishing a new regional hub for innovation in New Jersey – will gain further local insights to help identify unmet consumer needs and further fuel innovation.

 

“The opening of our new headquarters in Stamford and our new Innovation Center marks an exciting new beginning for Beiersdorf North America,” said Mauricio Valdes, General Manager Beiersdorf North America. “These new hubs—positioned in fast-growing, business and science centers close to New York City—demonstrate our deep commitment and investment in North America, and will expand our capabilities, open up exciting possibilities, and be at the heart of our continued growth in this pivotal region.”

 

New Headquarters Offers Dynamic Work Environment

In total, 180 employees will work out of the new Stamford office at 301 Tresser Boulevard. The new space sits within a one-million square feet scenic campus, that comprises 2.5 acres of green space in the center of the city of Stamford. It is one of the largest office complexes in Connecticut, and is highly convenient—just off Interstate 95, a short walk from the Stamford train station and within driving distance of the three major airports.

 

Designed to optimize the experience of flexible and evolving dynamic work styles, the campus features thoughtful and modern amenities such as an indoor/outdoor dining at the Terrace Café, state-of-the-art fitness center, a meditation space, or dry-cleaning services. With its bright and airy aesthetic, the LEED-certified, open-concept office has over 250 workpoints, collaboration areas, plus natural air venting, and a panoramic view of the Long Island Sound.

 

Global Center of Excellence for OTC and Sun Care Products

The Stamford office is within driving distance of Beiersdorf’s newly built, state-of-the-art Innovation Center, in Florham Park, N.J. Only 35 miles west of New York City, this area of New Jersey is considered a “science hot bed,” as it is also home to other large research and development centers, and has excellent access to talent and universities, suppliers, and testing institutes. This Innovation Center is one of only two Beiersdorf regional Innovation Centers in the world; the other in Shanghai. The Innovation Center in N.J. is the first global center of excellence for over-the-counter and sun care products outside of Hamburg.

 

Beiersdorf’s Research & Development division sets industry-wide global standards on formulating, analyzing, and evaluating the effectiveness of skin care products, thanks to more than 900 scientists globally in the Consumer Business segment, including 45 in the new U.S. facility.

 

“Regional Innovation Centers are a vital part of our global R&D strategy. With this new center we significantly enhance our R&D capabilities, allowing us to accelerate innovation as well as to facilitate close collaboration with our local partners. It therefore enables us to fuse and fully leverage internal and external skin expertise in order to identify unmet consumer needs, and to develop innovative, therapeutic skin care products,” said Dr. Gitta Neufang, Corporate Senior Vice President Global R&D. Apart from the two regional Innovation Centers in China and, now, in the U.S., Beiersdorf has regional development labs in Brazil, India, Japan, and Mexico.

 

The new LEED-certified center in New Jersey spans about 32,000 square feet of office and laboratory space with room for expansion, and includes collaboration spaces, a consumer sensory panel focus room, and state-of-the-art GMP laboratory suites for the development of OTC products.

 

“The Beiersdorf Innovation Center will be our powerhouse in North America,” said Beiersdorf CEO Vincent Warnery. “The U.S. represents the world’s largest skin and sun care markets. A strong R&D presence in North America and an enhanced position in skin and sun care is vital to expanding our business in the region and fully pays into our C.A.R.E.+ strategy.”

 

About Beiersdorf AG

Beiersdorf has stood for innovative, high-quality skincare and body care as well as pioneering skin research for close to 140 years. Leading international brands such as NIVEA, the world’s no. 1 skincare brand,* EUCERIN (dermocosmetics), LA PRAIRIE (selective cosmetics), and HANSAPLAST (adhesive bandages and wound care) are valued by millions of people around the world day after day. Other renowned brands such as LABELLO, AQUAPHOR, FLORENA, 8X4, HIDROFUGAL, GAMMON, COPPERTONE, MAESTRO, CHAUL, STOP THE WATER WHILE USING ME!, and CHANTECAILLE round off the extensive portfolio. Through the wholly owned affiliate tesa SE, Beiersdorf is also a global leader in the manufacture of technical adhesive tapes and provides self-adhesive system solutions to industry, businesses, and consumers.

 

The Hamburg-based company generated sales of 7,025 million euros as well as an operating result (EBIT) of 828 million euros in fiscal year 2020. Beiersdorf has more than 20,000 employees worldwide, who are connected by shared core values, a strong corporate culture, and the Beiersdorf purpose “Care Beyond Skin.” With its C.A.R.E.+ strategy, the company is pursuing a multiyear investment program focusing on competitive, sustainable growth. The program is consistent with the ambitious sustainability agenda, with which Beiersdorf generates clear added value for consumers, society, and the environment.

 

* Source: Euromonitor International Limited; NIVEA as umbrella brand in the categories Face Care, Body Care, and Hand Care; in retail value terms, 2020.

Additional information can be found at www.beiersdorf.com.

Twitter
YouTube
LinkedIn
Xing

Contacts

Corporate Communications

Anke Schmidt

Phone: +49 40 4909-2001

E-mail: cc@beiersdorf.com

Categories
International & World Technology

Provenir appoints Emre Ünlüsoy to spearhead expansion in Turkey, Middle East and the Balkans

Industry veteran will lead regional team to meet growing demand

 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #AI—Provenir, a global leader in AI-powered risk decisioning software, today announced Emre Ünlüsoy has been appointed Regional Manager, following a year of record growth and continued global expansion. Ünlüsoy will oversee sales operations, business development and go-to-market strategies for Turkey, Middle East and the Balkans as Provenir responds to growing demand in the region.

Ünlüsoy brings extensive industry experience to his new role, having spent the last 15 years gaining expertise in analytics, decision management, credit decisioning and thwarting financial crime. Prior to joining Provenir, Emre served as a Country Manager at FICO, responsible for operations in Turkey, Middle East and the Balkans. He also held leadership positions at SAS, Experian, BAE Systems and Teradata.

 

“Emre is an outstanding leader with deep knowledge and experience in credit risk decisioning in the region and has a proven track record of successfully building teams,” said Frode Berg, Provenir’s Managing Director of EMEA. “We are seeing unprecedented demand from fintechs and challenger banks for real-time credit decisioning. They recognize that Provenir’s AI-powered decisioning platform brings together the three essential components of data, AI and decisioning and is the industry’s first, true risk decisioning ecosystem. Emre is uniquely qualified to engage with these innovators to create new market offerings.”

 

“Provenir has revolutionized how risk decisions are made to meet the ‘real-time’ expectations of today’s consumer,” said Emre. “I am delighted to be joining such a visionary team and helping organizations increase both the speed and accuracy of decision making.”

 

Provenir’s AI-powered risk decisioning software is the industry’s first, true risk-decisioning ecosystem for financial services organizations. It provides a comprehensive real-time view of unified decisioning-performance, third-party and historical data, as well as automated analytics. Through one unified digital experience, users can create the platform-as-a-service (Paas) cloud solution that best fits their business needs.

 

About Provenir

Provenir helps fintechs, financial institutions, and payment providers make smarter decisions faster by simplifying the risk decisioning process. Its no-code, cloud-native SaaS products form a risk decision engine for real-time approvals and make it easy to rapidly create sophisticated decisioning workflows. With a global data marketplace for seamless integration, powerful AI and machine learning models, and real-time insights, Provenir has supercharged decisioning speed. Provenir works with disruptive financial services organizations in more than 40 countries and processes more than 2 billion transactions annually.

Contacts

Erin Lutz

Lutz Public Relations and Marketing (for Provenir)

949-293-1055 | erin@lutzpr.com

Categories
Entertainment News International & World

French box office pulled $731 million in 2021, led by Hollywood and French movie franchises

 

After a chaotic year marked by a five-month shutdown and COVID-related restrictions, the French box office bounced back during the last quarter of 2021, bolstered by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and a flurry of big-budgeted U.S. and French releases.

 

After reopening on May 18, French theaters pulled 96 million admissions — not a bad result considering that it’s just 23.2% drop from 2019, when France’s box office broke a 50-year record. Compared with 2020, when cinemas were closed for several months, tickets were up by 47.2%, according to Comscore France. Based on an estimated average of €6.75 per ticket, the French B.O. reached €648 million ($731 million).

 

Hollywood tentpoles dominated the top 10 highest-grossing films of 2021, starting with Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which sold over 5 million tickets. Universal’s “No Time to Die” and Warner Bros.’s “Dune” followed. The other U.S. titles in the top 10 are Disney’s “Encanto,” Universal’s “F9,” Warner Bros.’ “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” and Disney’s “Eternals.”

 

Although there were no local blockbusters in the top 10, 2021 was a fairly good year for French films, which posted a 40.8% market share thanks to franchises including SND’s “Kaamelott – Premier Volet” (2.7 million admissions, pictured), a stars-packed comedy adventure directed by Alexandre Astier; Pathé’s fourth opus of “Les Tûche” (1.9 million admissions) directed by Olivier Baroux; and Studiocanal’s “Bac Nord,” Cedric Jimenez’s cop action thriller (2.2 million admissions) which world premiered at Cannes.

 

Hollywood movies made a comeback in 2021 after a near absence in 2020, but their market share was just 46.5%, way down on the 56% they had in 2019. Marti said many movies under-performed due to the health pass measures which kicked off in July, requiring patrons above 18 to show a proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test to access theaters.

 

There were 11 French movies in the top 30, compared with six in 2019, when Disney alone took a 23.4% market share with six movies including “The Lion King.” Aside from comedies and franchises, the French movies which managed to lure moviegoers were “event” movies based on famous characters or literary works. Those included Valerie Lemercier’s Celine Dion-inspired musical drama “Aline” and Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions,” an adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s classic novel starring Benjamin Voisin and Xavier Dolan, as well as Pathé’s “Eiffel,” a biopic of Gustave Eiffel with Romain Duris and Emma Mackay.

 

Comscore France’s Eric Marti pointed out the 30 highest grossing films cumulated 53% of all ticket sales in 2021, compared with 44.6% in 2019. “The box office results towards the end of the year are quite encouraging but we’re seeing that people are going to the movie theater to see the biggest films that have been thoroughly promoted, [leaving] less room for the more indie films,” said Marti.

 

Box office prospects are looking good for 2022 with highly anticipated movies such as Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” (March 2), Sam Raimi’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (May 4), Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” (May 25), Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Nov. 9) and James Cameron’s “Avatar 2.” A flurry of ambitious French movies are also in the pipeline for this year, including Patrice Leconte’s detective movie “Maigret,” and “Simone – Le Voyage du siècle,” a biopic of French politician and Holocaust survivor Simone Weil from “La Vie en Rose” filmmaker Olivier Dahan.

 

Unlike in Denmark, the French government has allowed movie theaters to remain open without capacity limitation for the time being. Instead, France’s prime minister Jean Castex announced on Dec. 27 that concessions at cinemas will be banned for at least three weeks starting today (Jan. 3), among new measures to combat the Omicron variant and the overall number of COVID cases which reached a European record last week with 219126 new cases within 24 hours on Saturday.

 

— Variety

Categories
Business International & World Technology

Nigeria’s largest Telco, MTN, launches RCS Business Messaging with Google and Dotgo

MTN to leverage Google and Dotgo platforms, and Dotgo’s managed services to serve over 82 million subscribers

 

LAGOS, Nigeria & BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Nigeria’s largest mobile network operator (MNO), MTN, is all set to launch RCS Business Messaging (RBM) Services in partnership with Google and Dotgo®, a Gupshup company and a leading cloud communications provider of RBM Solutions.


RBM uses the rich and interactive features of Rich Communication Services (RCS)—the next generation SMS that allows sharing of audio, video, images, location, and a lot more—to enable branded business messaging. RCS messages are securely delivered to native messaging apps such as Google Messages and Samsung Messages on Android phones. Available on 3G and 4G networks, RCS is the default messaging standard for 5G networks. As of today, RCS is available globally with over 700M monthly active users.

 

Dotgo’s MaaP (Messaging-as-a-Platform) is integrated with the Google Jibe RCS platform for business messaging, the world’s most advanced RCS platform that provides a high degree of scalability. As a partner, MTN would leverage the services provided by Dotgo such as the RCS APIs, chatbot directory, billing, payments, reconciliation, and more, to drive monetization from RCS.

 

“As Nigeria’s largest carrier, MTN is all set to onboard brands that can reach out to a vast majority of Nigerian customers and delight them with a user experience like never before, to boost lead generation and conversion rates. This is a great opportunity for brands to connect with the end consumers of Nigeria for sales and support,” says Lynda Saint-Nwafor, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria.

 

Srinivas Rao, Chief Digital Officer of MTN Nigeria added, “We are proud of our technical collaboration with Google and Dotgo. The superior technology design, robust service operations, optimum business processes, and 24×7 support are key to delivering the Next Generation Business Messaging experiences to our Brands & Business Partners at the most affordable rates. With this generational shift we aim to further aid & accelerate Digital Transformation amongst the institutions, commerce & industry in Nigeria.”

 

“We are delighted to work with MTN to help bring RBM to their customers. With the highest number of subscribers in the region, RBM services on MTN will be a game changer. Dotgo has excelled once again as one of our top partners for monetising RBM with mobile operators,” says Juliet Ehimuan, Country Director, Google Nigeria.

 

“The launch of RBM by MTN, the largest operator in Nigeria, will accelerate adoption of RBM by brands in Nigeria. With the launch done, we will be working with MTN and Google to help CPaaS providers and brands in Nigeria to upgrade and incorporate RBM into their business applications,” says Dr. Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO, Dotgo.

 

About MTN Nigeria

MTN Nigeria is Africa’s largest provider of communications services, connecting over 68 million people in communities across the country with each other and the world. Guided by a vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world, MTN Nigeria’s leadership position in coverage, capacity and innovation has remained constant, since its launch in 2001. MTN Nigeria is part of the MTN Group – a leading emerging market operator, connecting more than 200 million subscribers in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. To learn more about MTN Nigeria and its various initiatives, visit www.mtnonline.com. Follow us: www.linkedin.com/company/mtn-Nigeria.

 

About Dotgo

Dotgo®, a Gupshup company, is a global leader in RCS. Dotgo is the provider of the Bot Store®, world’s first and largest directory of RCS bots, Dotgo MaaP, RichOTP®, RichSMS™, and the RBM Hub. Dotgo is a Google partner and a member of the Mobile Ecosystem Forum. Visit www.dotgo.com. Gupshup enables better customer engagement through conversational messaging, powering over 6 billion messages per month. With Gupshup, businesses have made conversations an integral part of their customer engagement success. Visit www.gupshup.io

Contacts

Funso Aina from MTN on:

+234 (0) 803 200 4168

mediaenquiries.NG@mtn.com

Olisa Pal from Dotgo on:

+1 908-464-5566 x2348

press@dotgo.com

Categories
Business International & World

O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 demonstrates stronger ecosystem and maturing solutions

  • O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 more than doubles with 144 corporate participants in the 7 global venues
  • Scope includes multi-vendor interoperability, Radio Intelligent Controllers, O-Cloud, infrastructure security and end-to-end functionality
  • PlugFest Virtual Showcase will allow interested public to explore the 2021 PlugFest in detail

 

BONN, Germany — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #ORAN–The O-RAN ALLIANCE has successfully conducted its O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 to demonstrate the functionality and multi-vendor interoperability of O-RAN based network equipment.


The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a world-wide community of more than 300 operators, vendors and research and academic institutions working in a transparent way to develop a sustainable open RAN ecosystem. 30 mobile network operators committed to O-RAN are serving over 4.5 Billion subscribers around the world.

 

O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 – O-RAN’s third world-wide testing and integration event – demonstrated the strength of the O-RAN ecosystem and its global drive towards open and intelligent Radio Access Networks (RAN). The O-RAN PlugFest expanded from 4 to 7 global venues, with 94 participating companies. Many of the companies contributed to multiple venues, bringing PlugFest to a total of 144 active corporate participants compared to 70 at the 2020 PlugFest.

 

“The expanded and diverse participation of companies from across the technology ecosystem at the O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 is testimony to growing momentum behind Open RAN and its relevance for our industry,” said Alex Jinsung Choi, Chief Operating Officer of the O-RAN ALLIANCE and SVP of Strategy and Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom. “The joint, open and coordinated O-RAN Global PlugFest framework is crucial for all O-RAN members to collaborate within the community and accelerate the ecosystem development of commercially available Open RAN solutions.”

 

Testing multi-vendor interoperability, Radio Intelligent Controllers, O-Cloud, infrastructure security and end-to-end functionality

 

Overall, O-RAN Global PlugFests bring a great opportunity for the industry to deal with integration challenges in an efficient way and to make major progress in development of commercial O-RAN products. This year’s PlugFest was not an exception, as demonstrated by the successes:

  • This year’s PlugFest proved advanced maturity of the Open Fronthaul (OFH) implementations. Interoperability has been achieved between many vendors in different network setups, base station classes, OFH profiles and RU/CU-DU product combinations.
  • There were several demonstrations of advanced use cases utilizing the O-RAN Near-Real-Time Radio Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC) and Non-Real-Time RIC (Non-RT RIC), like automated network outage detection and recovery, and latency assurance for end-to-end network slicing. A lot of effort also went into testing individual RIC interfaces, application protocols, and related xApps and rApps.
  • Several venues successfully tested O-Cloud products and multi-vendor virtualized RAN integrations.
  • Specific tests dealt with the O-RAN infrastructure security.
  • Thanks to the O-RAN community enthusiasm and great collaboration, several O-RAN end-to-end functionality tests passed against production core network elements, while many others utilized simulators.
  • All venues proved the readiness of advanced test equipment and simulation of different parts of the network.
  • PlugFest hosts managed combinations of on-site and remote testing, reflecting the Covid-19 pandemic situation in different parts of the world.

 

In Asia, the O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 took place at four venues

 

The PlugFest in Japan was hosted by NTT DOCOMO, KDDI, Rakuten Mobile, SoftBank and YRP in Tokyo area and Yokosuka. Activities focused on multi-vendor interoperability testing of Open Fronthaul interface in 5G NSA/SA setup achieving 1Gbps DL throughput, as well as multi-vendor vRAN integrations.

 

Another stream focused on 3GPP RF Conformance testing and demonstration of autonomous RAN outage detection and self-healing utilizing O-RAN Non-Real-Time and Near-Real-Time Radio Intelligent Controllers (Non-RT and Near-RT RIC). Near-RT RIC concept and the detailed mechanisms were also showcased to support latency assurance for end-to-end network slicing. Potential parameters to be supported in the O-RAN specifications were identified as study results.

 

As a complementing activity, selected participants started a study on RAN emission characteristics.

 

In addition to the hosts, participants included Fujitsu, HCL, JMA Wireless, Keysight Technologies, NEC, Nokia, NVIDIA, Samsung, VIAVI Solutions and Wind River.

 

The O-RAN PlugFest in Republic of Korea was hosted by LG Uplus for the first time in Korea at its 5G Innovation Lab in LG Science Park, Seoul. The primary focus was on evaluation of Open Fronthaul for multi-vendor interoperability of a 5G SA system (FR1, TDD).

 

In addition to the hosts, participants included Altiostar, DZS, Intel, Keysight Technologies and NEC.

 

Activities at Taiwan-based O-RAN PlugFest in Auray OTIC and Security Lab & Chunghwa Telecom were performed by two hosts:

 

Auray at their OTIC and Security lab in Taoyuan, Taiwan hosted multi-vendor interoperability testing for indoor scenario focusing on Open Fronthaul as well as scenarios according to O-RAN end-to-end test specification v2.0.

 

Chunghwa Telecom in Yangmei hosted validation of multi-vendor E2E solutions for O-RU, O-CU/O-DU with real core network, as well as demonstration of Service Management and Orchestration using O-RAN Non-RT RIC.

 

In addition to the hosts, participants included Aethertek, Alpha Networks, Arcadyan, Calnex, Compal, Delta Electronics, Foxconn, iConnext, Institute for Information Industry, Intel, Inventec, IP Infusion, ITRI, JPC Connectivity, Keysight Technologies, Lions Technology, Liteon, Metanoia Communications, MICAS, MiTAC Computing, NKG, O’Prueba, Pegatron, QCT, Rohde & Schwarz, Sageran, Sercomm, VIAVI Solutions, Wiwynn and WNC.

 

The O-RAN PlugFest in India was hosted by Bharti Airtel at NOC Manesar in Gurgaon, Delhi.

 

The primary focus was on traffic steering using the O-RAN Near-RT RIC, physical infrastructure security, O-RU M-plane and S-plane tests, Open Fronthaul gateway tests and E2E testing of O-RAN solution.

 

In addition to the host, participants included AMI, ASOCS, Capgemini Engineering, Cisco, Intel, IP Infusion, Keysight Technologies, Mavenir, Sercomm, STL, TCS, VIAVI Solutions, VMware and VVDN.

 

The O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 in Europe took place at two venues

 

The O-RAN PlugFest hosted by Skoltech was hosted by Skoltech at its OpenRAN 5G Lab in Moscow.

 

The activities focused on 3GPP compliance validation for O-RU and on end-to-end integration of O-RAN 5G gNB with commercial 5G core.

 

In addition to the hosts, participants included Foxconn, Keysight Technologies and Xilinx.

 

BT, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, TIM and Vodafone have teamed up together with the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to host the Joint European O-RAN & TIP PlugFest at 4 European OTICs in Berlin, Madrid, Paris and Torino.

 

The focus was on O-RU conformance testing, E2E multi-vendor integration with performance and functional testing, load and scale testing of O-CU, security testing, validation and demonstration of RIC, xApps and rApps, demonstration of multi-vendor O-RAN based architecture and xHaul transport.

 

In addition to the hosts, participants included Accelleran, ADVA, Advantech, AirHop Communications, Anritsu, Capgemini Engineering, Ciena, Cisco, Comba Network, Dell Technologies, DZS, EANTC, EXFO, Facebook, Foxconn, Fujitsu, Intel, IP Infusion, IS-Wireless, JMA Wireless, Juniper Networks, Keysight Technologies, Mavenir, MICAS, MTI, NEC, ONF, Precision OT, Radisys, Rohde & Schwarz, VIAVI Solutions, VMware, Wind River, Wiwynn and Xilinx.

 

In North America, the O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 brought together companies and academic institutions

 

The Joint O-RAN, TIP, Linux Foundation PlugFest & Proofs of Concept hosted by AT&T and Verizon, was conducted across 3 labs in the USA: the NSF POWDER lab at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, the NSF COSMOS lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and the TIP Community Lab on the Facebook (META) campus in Menlo Park, California.

 

PlugFest activities focused on Open Fronthaul conformance testing and multi-vendor interoperability. Proofs of Concept demonstrated O-Cloud infrastructure behaviour in latency sensitive applications, RIC demonstration of successful E2AP procedures and measurement collection via E2 Service Model, RAN Slice SLA, AI-enabled management of multiple-operator/multi-vendor RAN with O-RU pooling & multi-vendor slices.

 

In addition to the hosts, participants included Analog Devices, Anritsu, Calnex, Capgemini Engineering, Casa Systems, CIG, Commscope, Corning, Foxconn, Fujitsu, highstreet technologies, Intel, IP Infusion, JMA Wireless, Juniper Networks, Keysight Technologies, Mavenir, MTI, National Instruments, NEC, Radisys, Rohde & Schwarz, VIAVI Solutions, VVDN and Wind River.

 

For more information about the PlugFest, see this blogpost.

 

The O-RAN ALLIANCE is preparing a PlugFest Virtual Showcase to allow interested public to explore the O-RAN Global PlugFest 2021 in detail – soon to be available at www.o-ran.org.

 

About O-RAN ALLIANCE

 

The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a world-wide community of more than 300 mobile operators, vendors, and research & academic institutions operating in the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry. As the RAN is an essential part of any mobile network, the O-RAN ALLIANCE’s mission is to re-shape the industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks. The new O-RAN standards will enable a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem with faster innovation to improve user experience. O-RAN based mobile networks will at the same time improve the efficiency of RAN deployments as well as operations by the mobile operators. To achieve this, the O-RAN ALLIANCE publishes new RAN specifications, releases open software for the RAN, and supports its members in integration and testing of their implementations.

 

For more information please visit www.o-ran.org.

Contacts

O-RAN ALLIANCE PR Contact

Zbynek Dalecky

pr@o-ran.org
O-RAN ALLIANCE e.V.

Buschkauler Weg 27

53347 Alfter/Germany