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ICYMI: Warren Calls for More Robust Antitrust Enforcement to Protect Economy, Consumers, Workers, and Data
Anticompetitive Behavior by
Technology Companies Drives Supply Chain Crisis, Increases Prices for
Consumers, Exploits Workers, and Weakens Privacy Protections
Washington, D.C. — In case you missed it, during a hearing of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned witnesses about how consolidation in the technology industry has driven the supply chain crisis, while also giving corporations the ability to hike prices for American consumers, exploit workers, and weaken data privacy protections.
During the hearing, Senator Warren emphasized that instead of reinvesting profits into their businesses and employees, Intel and Amazon rewarded executives and investors while hollowing out their businesses, which left them at risk of supply chain shortages. Senator Warren called out Amazon’s monopoly power that dominates the market to squeeze more money out of consumers and small sellers. Senator Warren also highlighted how Amazon’s monopsony power enables its harsh labor and anti-unionization practices that have resulted in poor workplace protections and worse internal promotion opportunities, particularly for racial minorities and women.
Senator Warren urged Congress to pass stronger antitrust laws, ban mergers involving huge companies, and encourage robust enforcement to protect the economy, consumers, workers, and data.
Transcripts and videos from three rounds of Senator Warren’s questions and closing remarks below:
Transcript: Promoting Competition, Growth, and
Privacy Protection in the Technology Sector
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Round 1 of Questions below and video HERE:
Senator Elizabeth Warren: I want to talk about another aspect of the issues we’ve raised today, and that starts over 100 years ago, when Congress passed our first antitrust laws to protect both local businesses and to protect our democracy from powerful, dominant corporations that would undermine competition, crush workers, and gouge consumers. But starting in the 1970s, our government reversed course. Corporate CEOs and lobbyists pushed the idea that mega-mergers and corporate behemoths were actually good. Economists used complicated models to say, gee, if we just let big corporations get even bigger, they would be more efficient, they would lower prices for everyone, and they would compete better on the world stage. Unfortunately, too often, that is not what happened.
Take the semiconductor industry as an example. Hedge-fund managers took over our biggest chip manufacturer, Intel. Intel grew its market size, cemented its dominant position through anticompetitive and predatory practices. Then, having killed the competition, the managers were free to weaken Intel’s fundamentals with impunity. I’ll give you just one example. From 2001 to 2010, instead of spending more money on innovation, remember, we’re talking about the semiconductor industry, right, you’ve got to stay up. Instead of spending more money on innovation, on new ideas, on more efficient manufacturing here in the United States, Intel’s managers spent $48 billion dollars on stock buybacks. They boosted share prices and executive pay while they hollowed out a once-great company.
So, Mr. Lynn, let me start with you. You know a lot about the semiconductor industry. Did consolidation, particularly the growth of Intel, lead to greater efficiency?
Barry C. Lynn, Executive Director, Open Markets Institute: No, Senator. The opposite.
Senator Warren: Did it lead to lower prices?
Mr. Lynn: Absolutely not, Senator.
Senator Warren: Then did it at least make Intel a stronger competitor on the world stage?
Mr. Lynn: The opposite, Senator.
Senator Warren: So, in your assessment, what exactly did happen as a result of Intel’s growing dominance in its field?
Mr. Lynn: First, one of the things, you mentioned $48 billion dollars that Intel paid out between 2001 and 2010. The dominance allowed them to pay out much more between 2010 and 2020, actually $130 billion dollars over the last 10 years. So the looting and sacking of this corporation grew much faster and more aggressive over the last 10 years. But this results in higher prices for the chips, you know, it results in more power, concentration of power, over workers, and it's not just people on the assembly line, but it's also scientists, it's also the engineers, and this is, these are the people that we count on to develop a better future and we have concentrated power over them until we see less innovation as another effect. The other effects include, you know, this extreme concentration of capacity that we have seen in corporations like TSMC in Taiwan. And this extreme concentration where you have all of a certain kind of chip, you have all your eggs in one basket, it means that the system itself is fragile and subject to catastrophic failure. What you have is the system, it then gives other powerful core countries like China power over the people who depend on that capacity. For instance, by threatening to disrupt shipments in and out of Taiwan. It leads to these massive shortages, these structural shortages that we see, that are leading to the shutdown of assembly lines all around the world, not just in America, but we're talking about, you know, Ford, 50% decline in production of cars in Q2. We're seeing Toyota, 40% decline in production of cars in Q3. Well, this equals vastly higher prices for newer cars, vastly higher prices for used cars, vastly higher prices for rental cars, and a lot of dirtier cars on our streets because we can't replace them with newer cleaner cars.
Senator Warren: So consolidation clearly did not strengthen our semiconductor industry. But consolidation or lack of competitors in this field did create this supply-chain crisis that the pandemic has exposed. And now, as you rightly point out, without semiconductor chips, other manufacturers, like auto companies, can’t meet demand, they’re furloughing workers at the same time that orders are stacking up—all because they can’t get the chips that US manufacturers once supplied all around the globe.
And what has been management’s response to this? The same executives who exacerbated this crisis by failing to properly invest in their operations and infrastructure, now are asking Congress to bail them out so they can make the investments that they should have been making years ago. Excessive concentration is a real problem. It is also a problem in our domestic logistics and supply-chain operations and it applies obviously to Big Tech firms.
Ms. Brown, I’d like to go to you if I can. During the four and a half years you’ve worked at Amazon, Amazon has grown bigger and bigger. Its profits have skyrocketed. So let me ask, in your personal experience, have Amazon’s logistical operations improved, or have things just gotten worse, and particularly with the COVID crisis. Can you speak to that?
Courtenay Brown, Amazon Associate at Avenel, N.J. Fulfilment Center, Leader with United for Respect: Yeah, absolutely. It's definitely gotten worse as the years have gone on, especially with the pandemic. It's all about pushing out as much as possible for Amazon. It used to be about the quality that we're giving our customers. That was the number one thing. But now Amazon really doesn't care very much. They don't care about how, you know, their workers are trained, it’s all about speed and quantity. So when it comes to my facility, with delivering food, you know, we deliver broken eggs, crushed bread, we end up, you know, sending out a lot of spoiled, you know, food and everything. So a lot of us, we want to do good work, but it's, like, really frustrating because you know, we're at a limit, for, you know, doing such things. And for Amazon, this only means they're getting rich. They preach the customer obsession, but it's not good for customers at all, and it's not good for hard-working people at the fulfillment centers either. Workers cannot do their jobs well because Amazon wants to make more money and that's the bottom line for them. Just about as much product as they can get out and more money and if you attempt to try and do, you know, these things like give customers good quality, actually practice customer obsession, you end up actually getting written up and then eventually terminated. So the bottom line is, for them, it's all profit.
In a competitive marketplace, Amazon’s rivals would be able to compete on these factors—providing more reliable service, or lower prices, or better worker treatment. But because there’s no competition, consumers get higher prices and worse services, while Amazon gets even richer.
Markets can produce lower prices. Markets can produce more reliable products. Markets can produce robust supply chains, but only if there is competition. When giants are allowed to dominate an industry, everyone else pays.
Thanks very much. Senator Cassidy, I recognize you.
Round 2 of Questions below and video HERE:
Senator Warren: So, as Attorney General Racine pointed out, Amazon controls 50-70% of the $430 billion dollar market online for consumer goods. Prices for everything from lightbulbs to mattresses to motor oil are going up on Amazon, and the question is, why is that happening? A huge part of the reason is Amazon’s deliberate exploitation of its market dominance to squeeze more dollars out of consumers and third-party sellers alike, in other words, Amazon’s taking a big bite out of the middle. So one of our witnesses, Attorney General Racine, filed a lawsuit this year against Amazon for this very reason, and a particular focus of the lawsuit is the impact of something that Amazon calls its Fair Pricing Policy, and if I can, Attorney General Racine, I'd like to follow up on the example you gave to illustrate this policy. So let's say if I make earphones and sell them for $100 on my own website - I just want to make sure we're clear on all this - if I want to sell them on Amazon to access this huge marketplace online and extend my reach, I have to pay Amazon's fees and agree to their terms. And my understanding is that Amazon's fees can be as high as 40% of the cost of these goods. So thanks to these fees, let's just pick that example, I have to increase my prices to ensure that I can still turn a profit. So now instead of charging $100 for these earphones, I may now have to charge $140. But the worst part is, I now also have to charge $140 on my own website, and on every other platform where I'm trying to sell my headphones. These inflated prices crush American consumers. So, Attorney General Racine, I want to return to your opening remarks. I wanted to go back over the example you talked about, but you also mentioned how Amazon forces wholesalers to pay more as well. So I did the consumer part just there. Can you say a little more about how they're doing this with other wholesalers as well?
Karl Racine, Attorney General of the District of Columbia: Sure. And you've captured it exactly right, Senator, which of course is no surprise to me. With respect to wholesalers, Amazon, again, forces these first-party sellers, I'll call them, to reach an agreement with them in regards to what the price is going to be. And here's the deal: if Amazon lowers its retail prices to match or beat a lower price for that initial good on the online marketplace, the wholesaler is forced to pay Amazon the difference between the agreed upon profit that they made, that they entered with Amazon, and the money that Amazon realizes after it lowers the retail price. In short, Amazon has profit protection at the cost of the first-party seller. I do feel compelled to also mention, and don't take my word for it, look at the April 23, 2020 Wall Street Journal article written by Dana Matteoli, that talks about how Amazon has scooped up data from its own sellers, these first-party sellers, to launch competing products. So not only are they crushing these first-party sellers with these unlawful agreements, that's what we allege, but they're also using data around the popularity and selling of these products to launch competitive products against these first-party sellers. Amazon can't win enough without cheating, and that's why we're suing them.
Senator Warren: So, you know, this just knocks me out. In a typical collusion case, like price-fixing, competitors illegally agree to charge higher prices, and when they get caught, they can actually go to jail under federal law. But Amazon accomplishes the same thing in-house and its higher fees are inflating prices on its own platform as well as in stores and other websites through these anticompetitive contract provisions with third-party sellers. And the result is prices go up for millions of Americans and Americans can’t see it because there's no place else to do the price comparison to see what's happening here. You know, this price increase is entirely hidden from consumers, the price looks the same wherever they go. And it just shows up as inflation. And Amazon —
Attorney General Racine: Senator, can I give you numbers?
Senator Warren: Please.
Attorney General Racine: Because I think it's gonna make your point. So between 2014 and 2020, Amazon's revenue from third-party seller fees and charges grew from $11.75 billion dollars to over $80 billion dollars. This year, Amazon is estimated to reap over $121 billion dollars in fees from third-party sellers. They're doing this because it's extremely profitable. They don't care that consumers are paying far too much for goods, and they are not doing what they say they're doing, which is focusing 100% on consumers. They're focused 100% on utilizing their market power to extract every bit of profit that they can.
Senator Warren: So the question, obviously, you have to ask, is how do they get away with this? And what I would want you to focus on if you can, Attorney General Racine, is how Amazon's dominant market position contributes to this kind of pricing power that's then felt throughout our economy.
Attorney General Racine: Well, I think the example with the headphones that I gave and that you accentuated, frankly, and made better, is the best example. And that is that what Amazon does is it artificially builds its commissions and fees into a product, it ensures that that embedded profit that it has, frankly, continues throughout the electronic mini-mall, or major-mall, in such a way that no one, not even you, nor me, the creator of our own headphones, can sell our headphones for cheaper than what Amazon and we essentially were forced to agree to sell it at. And why do we engage in that agreement? Because they own 50-70% of the marketplace. Look at it as a tollbooth keeper. If the road only leads to the tollbooth, the tollbooth keeper can raise those prices, and you as the driver have no choice but to pay whatever they’re asking if you’re trying to get down that road. And we think that’s illegal, we appreciate the work of this great committee, we’re going to make law in the courts, and we look forward to helping with respect to legislation.
Senator Warren: Well, I very much appreciate that, because — I appreciate your point about 50-70% of the marketplace that they already own, and yet, Amazon keeps growing. And they don’t just grow by sales, they continue to acquire. So back in May, Amazon announced its proposed acquisition of MGM Studios – that would be an $8.45 billion dollar deal. Now, I wrote a letter to the FTC Commissioners asking them to review the deal thoroughly and to evaluate how the deal might affect workers and prices in other markets in the Amazon ecosystem. Mr. Lynn, even if the FTC wanted to oppose this huge merger, it would be a challenge to successfully block it, notwithstanding everything that we’ve already heard from the Attorney General and that others have testified about — can you explain why that is?
Mr. Lynn: Yes, thank you, Senator. Well first, it’s going to be very expensive in terms of the time for this limited staff that the FTC has. I mean, they’re going up against the richest corporation in the world, the most powerful corporation in the world, you know, a corporation that can throw wrench after wrench after wrench into the mechanism. It’s also very expensive in terms of the expertise they have to pay for, economic expertise. And they have to put millions and millions of dollars, often, into the kitty to pay for economists. And this is even with President Biden’s renunciation of the board consumer welfare philosophy, the legacy, because of the nature of the law, the legacy of the consumer welfare philosophy and this focus on efficiency continues to shape how the judiciary is going to look at this issue, and they have to be ready with this very expensive expertise. Third reason, it’s just very difficult to communicate with judges in the stylized language of consumer welfare, of efficiency. You know, it’s like, this is an issue of power, it’s an issue of democracy, it’s an issue of human liberty. And they’re being said, we have to talk about this in terms of efficiency. You know, judges are trained to use common sense, to enforce the law, to ensure rule of law, and when you’re using consumer welfare framing, you’re speaking in nonsense.
Senator Warren: Well, I really appreciate that. You know, you noted earlier that President Biden has selected two outstanding experts — Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter — to lead the antitrust efforts at the FTC and at DOJ. These are people who believe in competition, and they’re going to build strong cases, but Congress needs to do its part. We need to make sure that they have the resources and we need to make sure that they have the tools to be able to wage these battles. Otherwise, we’re just going to continue to see companies like Amazon squeeze consumers, no matter who’s President or no matter whatever crisis of the day we are dealing with, so I think it’s important that we step up on our side too. Thank you. Senator Cassidy, back to you.
Round 3 of Questions below and video HERE:
Senator Warren: Thank you for being such a great partner on this, I really appreciate it, Senator Cassidy. Like you, I’m delighted with the witnesses that you’ve invited today, to learn from them, and hope we’ll have many follow-up questions for the record here. So thank you for your partnership, this is just the opening round, and we’ll keep going on this. I’ve got one more round of questions I’d like to be able to ask right now.
What I’d like to do now is focus a little bit about market dominance and the impact on workers. For too long, our antitrust policies have focused on prices and consumers, which is important, and the Amazon example shows that we’ve had weak enforcement of those policies, and that’s let companies increase prices across the board. We’ve also talked about how consolidation creates other problems, particularly for American workers. You know, whenever these companies merge, the corporate executives like to talk about the new “efficiencies,” and what they usually mean by that is they’re going to lay off workers and cut wages.
So as companies grow more dominant, they have more and more power to lay off workers and to cut wages with no real consequences for themselves, because they know that as industries become more consolidated, workers have fewer alternatives. This means that employees who are subject to increasingly harsh, dehumanizing working conditions, a worker can’t just move to a better job if there’s no other available employer. This is called monopsony power, and our antitrust laws need to better address this.
So Ms. Brown, if I can, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions here. You work for Amazon Fresh, and lots of people order their groceries for delivery within a few hours, never think any more about it. But there is a grueling process that happens behind the scenes to accomplish this feat. Can you explain how conditions at your warehouse have changed during the pandemic?
Ms. Brown: Absolutely. So, I’m going to paint a picture for you about what the process looks like. So as soon as you go on the website and you click the ‘Place Your Order’ button, it causes a chain reaction of people running around the warehouse to gather everything. So it’s a small team of those who, you know, they’ll initially be looking at the numbers and everything, and pass it down to another squad of people who are then running around a warehouse the size, you know, that’s bigger than a football field, to then gather those items. Then it goes to an even smaller team, that’s usually at a max of, say, five people, to package those items out. And then it goes to an even smaller amount of people where they’re responsible for sorting everything depending on where it’s going, on a conveyer belt. Then it goes to my people, where we work on the dock, and we’re responsible for sorting thousands of those orders that get to us every day for eleven hours, making sure they get on the trucks and making sure it gets to the customers as intact as possible. So, now, the human toll in all of this is basically, we have very few to no breaks, we work until our bodies are basically, they’re past the emergency stop button. We delay bathroom breaks, we miss lunch, we can’t miss work, and during the pandemic, you have a lot of us that, you know, we’re burnt out, so a lot of us, me included, we would literally take thirty seconds to just kind of cry it out for a little bit and then get back to it. And then when you go home you don’t even have the energy to take care of your family, if you have kids or you have family members that are dependent on you, things such as cleaning the house or cooking for yourself basically become nonexistent on days that you have to work.
Senator Warren: So this sounds really grueling. I know that during these challenging times, many people across a lot of different industries have considered quitting their jobs and finding better employment. However, Amazon is continuing to grow like no other, especially while small retailers and small local businesses are closing. So let me ask, Ms. Brown, if conditions are this bad at the Amazon warehouse, what other employment options do you and your coworkers have to be able to support yourselves and your families?
Ms. Brown: Well, Black and brown people in my particular neighborhood, a lot of my coworkers, we don’t really have very many options open to us out here in New Jersey. Most other jobs out here are warehouse jobs or retail, and those don’t pay enough. Amazon pays just a big more than them so we’re stuck being taken advantage of in warehouses like this. This is what they bank on. They know we have no other choice, so they continue with the lack of regulation and everything to protect us.
Senator Warren: Right. So you’re right, it’s not an accident. You know, as the largest employer in your industry, equipped with massive power, Amazon can pressure other companies to follow suit with its poor labor standards—or they just put those companies out of business.
Now, it was announced last week that the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, that workers there are entitled to hold a new union election, and if that election is successful, this would be Amazon’s first union ever in the United States, but I want to ask about the other side of that — what it’s like to negotiate with Amazon if you don’t have a union on your side. Amazon claims, and for this one I actually want to quote Amazon on it, they claim that “direct connection between managers and associates” is “the most effective way to understand and respond to the wants and needs of Amazon employees.” Now, it’s certainly “effective” for Amazon’s bottom line, but Ms. Brown, can you tell us how “effective” this “direct connection” that Amazon talks about, negotiating with Amazon without a union, has been for you and for your fellow workers?
Ms. Brown: Okay, so my colleagues and I have been fighting for change at Amazon for years, and instead of listening to us and working with us to find a solution, they tend to double down and continue to exploit us. That’s continually why we speak out to improve working conditions, and for executives to take us seriously. You know, going against Amazon, especially when, say, you’re going to be written up or something, is kind of like trying to defend yourself in court. It’s not going — it’s usually not going to go too well.
Senator Warren: Well, I’m very concerned that the workers who are most at-risk during the pandemic are more likely to be women, are more likely to be people of color, and of course, it varies, depending on the job.
So, if I can, this is the last thing I want to ask you here, Ms. Brown, as a Black woman, what have you observed about Amazon’s treatment of racial minorities and women?
Ms. Brown: So now, Amazon, they will hire any and everyone, that’s true. But, depending on what race you are, that’s going to determine whether if you can get promoted and, sometimes, what you’re going to be doing. Most of the workers are Black and brown, and very few of us hold high positions in the company. And it shows in the promotion process. They will promote only enough Black and brown people so that way it looks okay, but mostly they hire white managers out of school who have never actually worked for Amazon, versus hiring the majority of their workforce as Black and brown, and promoting us upward when we know the process. They really don’t, when they do promote you, the pay is definitely different from those who get hired from outside, so if you’re a Black and brown worker, usually when you make manager, you know, internal promotions, you get a lower wage compared to someone who is going to be coming from outside that’s going to be getting a higher wage. And women, it’s even more scarce to really see us in any kind of leadership roles with any of the same responsibility and respect. They’d rather promote, usually, a white guy over someone that looks like me.
Senator Warren: Well, I appreciate your testimony, your coming in to talk to us about this. All of this suggests to me that if we really tackled the dominant power issue by fighting abusive employer practices, by limiting mergers that would harm workers, and by empowering workers to unionize, we could accomplish two important goals at the same time: we could strengthen the American labor force and the middle class, and we could advance racial and gender equity. Vigorous competition enforcement would be better for all Americans who work and better for all Americans who purchase goods.
So thank you very much for your testimony, Ms. Brown, I really do appreciate it.
Closing remarks below and video HERE:
Senator Warren: I think at this moment, the United States is at an inflection point. Wealth and income disparities are at levels that we have not seen in our lifetimes. The government’s lax enforcement of antitrust laws during the past few decades is a huge part of this problem. Regulators and judges have allowed merger after merger, and the result is too little competition in US markets. Dominant firms in technology are free pretty much to do as they please, including on data collection. They can raise prices, they can reduce wages, and they can threaten our privacy, all so that they can boost their profits to their shareholders and make their CEOs richer.
You know, I am encouraged that the Biden administration is committed to stronger enforcement actions across agencies and committed to promoting competition. But Congress has to step up and do its part, too.
It is time for Congress to finally update our antitrust laws. We should ban all mergers involving huge corporations. The biggest companies need to compete on the merits. They need to offer better products, better prices, better service – not just buy up their rivals and then gouge consumers.
And second, we must give our antitrust agencies better tools to break up the anticompetitive deals that are most harmful to our economy, like Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram. And finally, our competition policy must safeguard our workforce. Those deal “synergies” that reduce corporate costs often come out of the hides of American workers. Real people with families to support who deserve to work with dignity are paying a huge cost when mergers reduce competition.
More than a hundred years ago, our first competition laws were not designed to promote efficiency or increase consumer welfare. They were designed to protect the people from being at the mercy of economic kings who could exploit workers and customers at their whims. Those laws were also designed to protect our democracy from the corrupt influence of giant corporations. Congress needs to do its part to once again make our economy more competitive.
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While it was discovered that Google’s latest Nexus 4 smartphone does, in fact, have an LTE chip on the inside, the phone’s radios don’t cover the wide deployment of most LTE bands, resulting in unhappy users who yearn for faster downloads while on the go. However, a simple tweak has been discovered that allows Canadian users to take advantage of LTE on the Nexus 4.
Some hackers on the XDA Developers forum ended up finding a workaround that allows the Nexus 4 to use LTE in Canada using TELUS and Rogers networks. It turns out the Nexus 4 features unofficial support for LTE Band 4, which runs at 1700MHz and 2100MHz. However, it won’t work in the US, since most of the major carriers use alternate bands.
Then again, AT&T is licensed to operate on Band 4, and AT&T has said in the past that they plan to utilize Band 4 for its LTE networks, but there’s zero word on when and where that will happen. So far, users have had no luck trying to get LTE to work in AT&T’s network and other US carriers. It seems hackers and tweakers will have a hard time with this one.
However, T-Mobile plans to launch LTE on Band 4 within the year, and T-Mobile also happens to be the only carrier to partner with Google on the launch of the Nexus 4. What does this mean? Well, It’s still unlikely we’ll see official LTE support for the Nexus 4 on certain networks. Google doesn’t intend for the Nexus 4 to be an LTE device, and despite the simple tweak to enable LTE in Canada, the phone still doesn’t have all the necessary hardware for a reliable LTE experience.
[via Android Community]
Nexus 4 LTE enabled using simple hack is written by SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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This Pharma startup is the new UnicornPharmeasy’s $350 million funding round comes at a time when Reliance, Tata Group and Amazon are looking to tap the online pharmacy business by way of acquisitions.
This may be Apple’s plan for future iPhones’ batteriesAs per a newly-granted patent by USPTO, the improvement that Apple is focussing on right now is how to alert the iPhone users when the battery is low. The patent is named “Smart advice to charge notification”. It was filed in 2018.
Xiaomi announces Mi Fan Festival 2021: Offers, availability and moreXiaomi has announced Mi Fan Festival 2021 in India. As part of the sale, the Chinese consumer electronics giant has announced deals and discounts across products. The Mi Fan Festival 2021 starts on April 8 online and will go on for six days. However, across Mi Home stores, the Mi Fan Festival 2021 starts today for 40 days.
Apple may launch its biggest-ever iMac model in 2021Earlier this year, a report by Bloomberg had claimed that in 2021, Apple is planning its first redesign of the iMac. “The iMac redesign will be one of the biggest visual updates to any Apple product this year,” the report had stated. As part of this overhaul, it appears that the company may launch its largest screen size of the iMac.
Taiwan's Acer sees global chip shortage gradually easingAndrew Hou, Acer's president for Pan-Asia Pacific Operations, told reporters in Taipei that since the problem first became apparent in the fourth quarter of last year, the supply chain has "jumped into action" as suppliers worked to address the situation.


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Arma III out September 12
Bohemia Interactive's upcoming military shooter launching at retail and digitally next month.
We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%.
Military shooter Arma III will release worldwide on September 12, developer Bohemia Interactive announced today. The game will be available in digital and physical stores on that date.
To mark the countdown to launch, the Arma III development team will host a Twitch TV livestream on Saturday, August 10 at 17.00 UTC from the company's headquarters in Prague where they will show off a "sneak peek" at the game's release package.
Bohemia Interactive has also launched a special website counting down to the game's launch, featuring an overview of content available in Arma III, as well as descriptions and screenshots.
As announced earlier this week, Arma III will release without its single-player campaign. This mode will be released after launch across three free expansion episodes. The first episode, Survive, will be made available about a month after Arma III launches. The following expansions, Adapt and Win, will release "in the months thereafter."
At launch, players will have access to the island terrains of Altis (270 km²) and Stratis (20 km²), 12 single-player missions, three faction showcases, nine multiplayer scenarios, 10 firing drill challenges, over 20 vehicles and 30 weapons, and modding support.
Black Panther Breaks Marvel's Iron Man Mould What Metal Gear Survive Looks Like 10 Hours In March 2018 Xbox One And 360 Free Games With Gold Announced Battlefield 1 - Apocalypse Trailer Dragon Ball FighterZ - Bardock Character Teaser Everything We Want in Black Panther's Sequel GS News Update: Burnout Paradise Remastered Microtransaction Listing Is A Mistake, Says EA GS News Update: Overwatch League Skins Will Soon Be Obtainable In A New Way GS News Update: New PUBG Map Is Coming By July Metal Gear Survive - Launch Trailer How Lost Changed TV Forever GS News Update: Call Of Duty WW2 Studio Founders Leave


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London-based FinTech company Kriya has secured a new 50-million-pound (about $64 million) debt facility to scale its B2B payments volumes.
The new funding will allow the company to power 1 billion pounds of B2B payments over the next two years via its PayNow and PayLater embedded credit and payments offerings for B2B retailers and marketplaces in the United Kingdom, Kriya said in a Wednesday (Jan. 31) press release.
“We’re seeing big changes in how forward-looking merchants think about their B2B sales journeys from marketing to and onboarding new types of buyers through new channels, to smoothing the checkout process by offering different payment options and PayLater features that help their buyer’s cashflow,” Kriya CEO Anil Stocker said in the release.
With the new funding, Kriya will enable B2B retailers and marketplaces to offer their customers options like Pay in 30 or 60 days, as well as split payments over several months, in both online checkouts and offline orders, according to the release.
In addition, the facility will allow Kriya to support exporters who do business in 45 markets in different currencies, including pounds, U.S. dollars and euros, the release said.
Kriya has been active in the business payment and credit market for 12 years, supporting mid-market and enterprise merchants with products like B2B invoice finance, business loans and credit lines, per the release.
The company’s new debt facility is provided by its longstanding debt partner, Viola Credit.
“[Kriya’s] new evolution of offering embedded B2B payments to merchants allows them to reach even more small businesses by removing friction in the purchasing process,” Viola Credit General Partner Ido Vigdor said in the release. “We’re happy to continue and deepen our relationship with Kriya with this additional financing capacity as they scale their B2B embedded financing product.”
Larger traditional wholesalers who have been selling in stores or via call centers are now moving their operations into the digital age, Stocker told PYMNTS in an interview posted in May.
“That offline-to-online journey will continue to be a big trend moving forward,” Stocker said.
In another recent move, Kriya said in September that it has partnered with platform-specific payment infrastructure provider Mangopay.
Together, the companies offer B2B marketplaces and platforms access to a seamless checkout experience that supports their preferred payment methods and offers flexible terms and upfront payment with zero risk.
For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter.


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Newegg Slapped With Lawsuit For Allegedly Conspiring In Massive Ponzi Scheme Fraud
Most computer enthusiasts are at least familiar with the name Newegg as one of the places to go for all the computer hardware you might need when building up a new PC. Newegg Inc., the parent company operating Newegg.com, has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges the company was involved in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded South Korean banks out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to the suit, Newegg consipred with a South Korean hardware manufacturer called Moneual in the Ponzi scheme. Moneual is the alleged mastermind of the entire scheme that ultimately aimed to allow it to use phony orders placed via Newegg and another computer wholesaler, ASI Corp., to gain new financing from banks.
The banks involved in the suit include Industrial Bank of Korea, Nonghyup Bank, Keb Hana Bank and Kookmin Bank. The banks are all represented by U.S. based legal firm Gibson Dunn. The suit claims that both Newegg and ASI received kickbacks for their participation in the scheme.
The false transactions was leveraged by Moneual to secure $3 billion in loans from ten major South Korean banks. It eventually went default on many of the loans, owing in the area of half a billion dollars. Hong-seok Park, the CEO of Moneual, was sentenced in 2015 to 23 years in prison for financial fraud; that sentence was later reduced to 15 years by a high court. The executive was also hit with fines and forfeitures.
The banks are now going after Newegg and ASI for their participation in the scheme. According to the banks the hundreds of millions of dollars lent to Moneual was because Newegg and ASI showed they made sizable orders from Moneual for computers ordered at 300 times market value.
“No such business would have bought the products at such an inflated price, unless it intended to create the illusion of extensive, profitable, high-value commerce between it and its supplier for the purpose of defrauding lenders into supporting the transactions,” the complaint said.
The plaintiffs in the case want a jury trial and are seeking monetary damages.


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The Journal of American Medicine reported in a 2012 survey that 78.6 million adults in the United States are obese, about a third of the population.
With fast food and obesity on the rise, many diets have become popular over the years like tapeworm, Atkins and paleo.
For Katie Lambeth, these diets aren’t even on her radar. She’s a vegan. She’s been one for three years and was a vegetarian for three years before that.
If you ask Lambeth, being a vegan isn’t about dieting or trying to lose weight. It’s a lifestyle choice, a way to be healthy while also standing up for her beliefs.
Lambeth, 24, became a vegetarian during her freshman year at the University of Richmond. With her brother, Michael Lambeth, she watched the film “Food Inc.”, a documentary about the meat industry in the United States and the growing popularity of fast food chains.
“We did a bunch of research on the meat industry and we decided we really didn’t agree with what they were doing,” Lambeth said. “At that point, we decided that we are going to be done eating meat. As our New Year’s resolution, we stopped eating meat.”
That was in 2010. Lambeth joined an environmental activism group called Green You Are at college. The group wasn’t radical in Lambeth’s opinion, but rather watched documentaries and sponsored events informing people on the meat industry.
The switch from vegetarian to vegan wasn’t an easy decision Lambeth said, but a switch made more out of necessity for her own health.
During her junior year, Lambeth decided to go on a six-month study abroad trip to Kenya. She stayed in the cities of Nairobi and Kismu, but decided to take a trip to Mombasa where she got E.Coli.
“I was in the hospital for three days,” Lambeth said. “I got a whole bunch of drugs in my system that basically killed all of the bacteria in my body that could digest things.”
As a result of the medication and no access to dairy products, Lambeth said the enzymes in her body didn’t grow back, so eating dairy constantly made her ill. Lambeth began to cut out dairy products like milk, cheese and eggs.
Janet Macon, a professor at Winona State and a registered dietician for 12 years, agreed with Lambeth and said a switch to veganism isn’t about a diet, but rather a lifestyle change.
Macon said most people, she has noticed, that have become vegan have made a change from an omnivorous diet because they want to move away from saturated fats and other fatty foods. Aside from the dietary needs, vegans also look to make an ecological impact.
Jennifer Holden, a registered dietician at HyVee in Winona for the past two years, said she can assist people looking to become a vegetarian or vegan.
“If they were looking to make a change to a vegetarian or vegan that’s a huge step,” Holden said. “That’s why it’s good to have a registered dietitian to help them so they don’t miss out on any key nutrients.”
Holden said the biggest nutrients people could miss, if they switched to a vegan diet, would be amino acids and B12 nutrients.
Holden said she recommends quinoa or edamame to help with those nutrients.
Lambeth said she is aware of nutrients that could potentially be lost, but it only takes a B12 supplement to replace the nutrients. Those that don’t want to take a pill, can eat nutritional yeast instead.
Holden said she thinks people in the Winona community are aware of what they’re putting into their body, with most people coming to her by choice, rather than a recommendation by their doctors.
Lambeth said she usually spends around $100 dollars on groceries every week or week-and-a-half. She said it all depends on where she goes, whether it’s Trader Joe’s or the Herbivorous Butcher Shop in Minneapolis where she lives.
On the other hand, Holden said she sees the diet as costly and a company like HyVee can’t keep vegan designated items on the shelves before they become expired.
“It tends to be more expensive items up front,” Holden said. “When it comes to the quinoa and the edamame those are filling foods. It’s a balancing beam between you’re paying more but you don’t have to eat as much.”
Veganism isn’t seen as a fad diet according to Lambeth, but rather something that is relatively new in the United States.
“Most of the U.S. is meat, potatoes, and scrambled eggs for breakfast,” Lambeth said. “That’s just what everyone is used to.”
Macon said doesn’t believe veganism is a cultural fad but said for college-aged students are willing to try something different like becoming a vegan or vegetarian.
“We do see rates of vegetarianism climb in late adolescence to their peak of about 15 percent of all college students aged 18-22,” Macon said. “Rates decline further into adulthood to about 10 percent, which is the national average.”
Macon also said it’s not “feasible” in a smaller market like Winona to constantly supply vegan based foods.
“The larger your market, the more you’ll have to support those types of markets,” Macon said. “Keep in mind, vegans living in a relatively small market can still meet their dietary needs with very basic products.”
Macon said she recommends fresh fruits, nuts, vegetables and whole grains, something that big chains like WalMart and Target will always carry.
Whether it’s a fad, hippy movement, or anything in between, Lambeth said she is happy and healthy and the flexibility of the lifestyle is important. Lambeth said she’s heard of 17 different kinds of vegetarian diets and has heard of extreme vegan diets like people who dumpster dive for their food.
Lambeth doesn’t have a problem with hunters either. She said the only thing she doesn’t want to see is “its head up on a wall for fun.”
“I think that hunting is totally fine, if you are, I don’t support hunting for sport,” Lambeth said. “I support it if it’s used for meat.”
Yet, Holden is skeptical of the validity and safety of the vegan diet.
“As a registered dietitian, I don’t recommend it,” Holden said. “Vegetarian can be done safely, but you really need to be aware of what you’re eating. You have to complement those areas that you miss.”
For Macon, it’s not always as simple as following the food pyramid.
“Keep in mind, people who are adopting this lifestyle are doing it for reasons beyond their own biological health,” Macon said. “It may be more about sending a message to the food industry or the environment. It’s not just about sticking to the food pyramid, it’s about supporting sustainable cultural change.”
If someone asked Lambeth how to become a vegan she would have one word for them: slowly.
“Go slowly and do your research,” Lambeth said. “Doing the personal research really helps finding out what your body needs.”


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Everybody has heard rumors a couple of weeks ago regarding the fact that Apple planned to announce new 2013 MacBook Air lineup at WWDC 2013. It appears that the rumors were true because, just as it has been predicted, on Monday at the World Wide Developers Conference, Apple has updated its MacBook Air lineup, unveiling the new models.
As it was presented at the conference, the fresh MacBook Air models are based on Intel’s Haswell processors, and this is the reason why they are awaited to offer users not only an amazing battery life, but also 40% improved graphics over the old models.
What is extremely impressive is that, in accordance with the statements made by Apple’s representatives the 11 inch MacBook Air will now last from 5 hours to 9 hours before charging while the 13 inch one will go from 7 hours to 12 hours of battery life.
As the new MacBook Air is designed for power savings, it comes with smarter low-power settings, the user being able to the MacBook Air on standby for up to thirty days and yet still wake it up in seconds.
Regarding with the appearance of the new MacBook Airs, there are no changes made to the design. However, this is far from being a surprise because there have been no discussion with reference to adjusting the look of the models.
When it comes to the compatibility, everything seems to be as it was predicted before the conference. Therefore, the new MacBook Airs, which is said to have a faster flash memory, will be compatible with 802.11ac wireless networking.
However, the user is going to need an 802.11ac base station. This is the reason why, according to the company’s statements, Apple will launch entirely new designs of AirPort Extreme that does 802.11ac. In addition, there’s a new Time Capsule available.
As to price, it has been announced that the 11-inch MacBook Air starts at $999 with 128 gigabytes of flash storage while the 13-inch model with 128 gigabytes begins at $1,099. The new MacBook Air models start shipping from today.


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Add American winemakers to the list of businesses opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement in favour of a bilateral deal with Mexico.
American vintners — whose sales north of the border soared 281 per cent under NAFTA and its predecessor, the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement, — now count Canada as the largest single market for wine outside the U.S.
If NAFTA no longer exists we could see a half a billion dollars thrown out the windowMichael Kaiser, vice president of WineAmerica
“If NAFTA no longer exists we could see a half a billion dollars thrown out the window,” said Michael Kaiser, vice president of WineAmerica, an industry group based in Washington, D.C. “So obviously we want to make sure the Canadian market remains open to U.S. wine.”
Charles Jefferson, vice president of federal and international public policy for the Wine Institute, an association of California vintners, was more blunt: “We would not support a withdrawal from NAFTA,” he wrote in an email. “We believe it is vital that any modernized NAFTA include Canada and Mexico.”
U.S. wine exports to Canada topped US $443.9 million in 2017, up from US$18.6 million when Canada first dropped tariffs on imports under the CUSFTA in 1989. By contrast, U.S. wine exports to Mexico were worth US$22.5 million in 2017.
Nevertheless, Canadian market restrictions have remained an irritant to the U.S. industry. American winemakers’ access to Canadian grocery store shelves was identified alongside dairy and grain grading as a major outstanding agricultural issue in the NAFTA talks when the U.S.’s chief agricultural negotiator Gregg Doud testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee last week.
The wine issue also appears on both the press release announcing U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s NAFTA negotiating objectives and the U.S. government’s annual report on trade barriers, published in March.
This is just rank protectionism at the provincial level in CanadaRobert Lighthizer
Among the issues cited in the report are market controls exerted by provincial liquor boards, including cost-of-service mark-ups, restrictions on listings, and label requirements. The USTR is especially irked by rules in B.C. that preclude grocery stores from selling foreign wine, effectively giving Canadian vintners an exclusive retail channel. Though the U.S. has a case before the WTO on the matter (launched just before Trump took office in 2016) Lighthizer subsequently said the NAFTA talks would provide a swifter resolution.
“This is just rank protectionism at the provincial level in Canada,” Lighthizer told the U.S. House Ways and Mean Committee in March, adding it was an issue “that you won’t know if you’re making progress on until the end.”
While B.C. is the focus of the current negotiating objectives, the U.S. industry is also focused on widening its access to store shelves in Ontario and Quebec, said Kaiser.
“There are other things but that’s the main issue for us,” he said. “We’d like to see those limits curbed or ideally eliminated.”
The U.S. push for more market access has revived old frustrations for some Canadian vintners who say barriers in the U.S. have prevented them from enjoying the same growth as their American counterparts.
Since the repeal of prohibition, alcohol distribution south of the border has occurred through a three-tier system in which producers must sell to wholesale distributors, who then sell to retailers. Only retailers can sell to consumers. The system is costly for small vineyards and especially Canadian producers like Paul Speck who must pay an import fee of up to 35 per cent to get his product into the market.
The California wine industry has done phenomenally well in Canada since NAFTACanadian wine producer Paul Speck
“There’s lots of unfair trading practices that happen in the United States that they don’t like to talk about,” said Speck, the president of Niagara’s Henry of Pelham winery, who was in Ohio selling wine this week. “I’m in Cleveland selling and I have a 35 per cent disadvantage compared to my competitors. In these trade deals everybody likes to nitpick but at the end of the day the California wine industry has done phenomenally well in Canada since NAFTA.”
While U.S. vintners doubled their share of the Canadian market to 13.3 per cent after trade was first liberalized in 1989, Canadian winemakers’ presence in the United States has remained negligible.
And while the U.S. distribution system may be difficult and costly for smaller countries to navigate, Kaiser doesn’t expect it to change any time soon.
“I don’t see that as a viable negotiating objective,” he said. “Short of reopening the Constitution I think it’s here to stay.”
The Canadian Vintners Association declined to comment on the ongoing NAFTA talks beyond stating that it is “hopeful that the modernization of NAFTA will assist the growth of Canadian wine exports to the United States and Mexico.”


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Warner Market Basket not expanding anytime soon
As Warner officials continue exploring the addition of a roundabout next to Exit 9, once-mentioned expansion plans for the Market Basket nearby appear static, at least for the moment.
Questions about the grocery store’s layout surfaced at a recent selectmen’s meeting, according to Town Administrator Jim Bingham, because the board will have to meet with businesses who may be affected by the traffic circle when plans for it enter the final design phase (the town passed a warrant article earlier this year to fund a final design).
Market Basket approached the board in 2011 about adding a 200-seat restaurant and 26,700 square feet of retail space at its Warner outlet but has not presented any further plans since. Bingham said earlier this week that neither he nor the board knew the state of those plans.
Jeffrey Kevan, a supervisor at the planning firm TFMoran who is knowledgeable about the plans, said Market Basket is still considering expanding but will only move to do so once it finds tenants to fill the added space. He said the company has yet to find tenants but is actively searching.


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Michelin offers radial farm tire as replacement
Michelin North America has added two new sizes of its AE50 YieldBib radial tire and made the tire available to the replacement market.
For the first time, farmers now can order all four sizes of the new tire as a replacement for their current tires or as an option on new machines. Honored in January by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers for its technological advancement, the Micheline YieldBib radial tire now comes in these sizes for 4WD and MFWA high-horsepower tractors:
* VF380/85 R34
* VF420/85 R34
* VF480/80 R46
* VF480/80 R50
In addition to being a Very-High-Flexion (VF) classification, the tire is protected by the new Michelin Stubble Shield technology.
Says James Crouch, farm segment marketing manager for Michelin: “This is the first VF-class standard-size radial. Farmers can now get all the advantages of a Very-High Flexion tire plus the stubble-fighting protection of Michelin Stubble Shield without having to change rims."
According to Michelin, opening the replacement market to the Michelin YieldBib is important because it gives farmers an opportunity to upgrade their tires to improve the performance of their current machines.
Click here for more information.


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The need to respond to the existing supply chain and logistics challenges such as rapidly changing customer demands, shifting business dynamics and poor transportation visibility have reached alarming levels post-pandemic. That said, the disruptions caused by COVID-19 have triggered an immediate need for businesses to digitize logistics and delivery operations to ensure business scalability and sustainability.
According to a report, online retail sales grew 32.4% year-on-year in 2020, rising 39% in the first quarter of 2021. As a result, offline retail stores are adopting digital means to cater to shoppers at home and stay relevant. According to Harvard Business Review, 73% of customers like to shop across multiple channels. With the customer as king, personalization has become the need of the hour to stand out and ensure business success.
The 21st century business perspective calls for a new and improved retail supply chain driven by digitization. This infusion of technology has enabled the retail industry to meet today’s challenges. As the world pivots to an intelligent, touchless edge of commerce interface for networking in the new normal, a resilient and agile omnichannel approach is essential to maintaining productivity and profitability in these transformed times.
Here’s how retail supply chains are building this flexibility to survive and thrive in the post-pandemic world:
– As data becomes the new oil, much of the business world and its operations revolve around harnessing the infinite potential of data. Big data and data science are set to change the game of contemporary retail. Most players gather and analyze large pools of consumer data to identify different dynamics and changing consumer preferences. Through the power of data, businesses can gain substantial insight into the mind of the customer, their various likes and dislikes as well as current trends in the business environment. This can work wonders for any retail business by giving it a beneficial edge. Now is the right time for businesses to capitalize on this new area of technology and invest accordingly to improve their data-related capabilities to build resilience and agility in the new normal.
– It is absolutely imperative to invest in an intelligent logistics management platform to strengthen current operations. This means businesses need to digitize their entire supply chain to neutralize the unprecedented speed bumps and demand escalations that are common in these altered post-COVID circumstances. They must adopt the latest high-tech platforms that extend scalability and customization options to customers to increase business resilience and stay relevant.
– Now is the time for retail houses to provide end-to-end transparency to have a better chance of success compared to those that operate in obscure ways. Indian retailers are deploying various state-of-the-art tools such as real-time tracking, digital documentation, alerts, and feedback options that increase an organization’s accountability to its customers. This leaves no room for doubt as customers can now keep a clear record of every service they wish to receive.
– Retail businesses looking to secure themselves in the new normal should get regular snapshots of their partner ecosystem to better understand the market and competition. This includes 3PL performance assessment, SLA management, last mile cost reduction, and more. It’s also critical for businesses to focus on hyper-localization for faster, on-demand deliveries. Hyper-localization allows retailers to respond effectively to customer demand by focusing on the block level to find out what customers are looking for the most. It’s just taking localization to the next level by throwing in an extra layer of customization.
As the survival game against the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Indian retail businesses have strategically transformed their previous ways of operating. Pan-industry digital adoption empowers businesses to build resilience and flexibility that helps them scale with agility in the new normal. That said, only companies that invest enough in improving their technology stacks and developing omnichannel capabilities will be able to weather the post-pandemic turbulence. After all, in the age of digital consumption, the consumer continues to be king.


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Speedway C-stores Add Apple Pay to Payment Options
ENON, Ohio — Customers at locally based Speedway LLC's network of convenience stores can now use Apple Pay at checkout.
The payment option is available at all of Speedway's roughly 3,000 c-stores across the Midwest, East Coast and Southeast, according to Apple.
The retail arm of Findlay-based Marathon Petroleum Corp. joins other convenience retailers in offering the payment option, including Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc. and Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's General Stores.
In addition, Apple Pay is rolling out now in Target stores and will be available in all 1,850 locations across the United States in the coming weeks. Apple Pay is also hitting more than 7,000 Taco Bell and 2,200 Jack in the Box locations in the next few months
Customers can also use Apple Pay today at more than 245 Hy-Vee stores in the Midwest.
With the addition of these national retailers, 74 of the top 100 merchants in the U.S. and 65 percent of all retail locations across the country will support Apple Pay, according to the company.
"Whether customers are buying everyday household items, groceries, snacks for a road trip or grabbing a quick meal, Apple Pay is the easiest way to pay in stores, while also being secure and faster than using a credit or debit card at the register," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Internet services. "We're thrilled even more customers will be able to pay at their favorite stores and restaurants using the Apple devices that are always with them."


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Bahrain Logistics Zone in 'Top 10' freezone list
Manama, November 13, 2011
The Bahrain Logistics Zone (BLZ), the Kingdom’s dedicated customs-free value-added logistic boutique, has been ranked among the leading top ten Middle East free zones, according to a report by the Financial Times, fDi magazine.
Dedicated to supporting excellence in all disciplines of the maritime and logistics industry, the BLZ was rated the 10th best in the cost effectiveness category in the fDi Middle East Free Zones of the Future report for 2011- 2012.
The BLZ is a customs-free logistics boutique with an around-the-clock customs facility, offering its tenants added value to exports, imports and re-exports.
Strategically located, the BLZ’s offering of competitive rates, world-class services, efficient turnaround times and its close proximity to the state-of-the-art Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP), has been successful in bringing leading companies to set up in the business-friendly environment in the Kingdom.
In addition, the Kingdom’s world-class infrastructure links the country to the regional and global markets, thus making it conducive for international and regional logistics companies to set up business at economical costs and take advantage of the unparalleled network of inter-modal capabilities, thus achieving easy access to the markets of the Northern Gulf and the Indian sub-continent.
Commenting on BLZ’s ranking, Hassan Ali Al Majed, GOP director general said: 'At GOP, our aim is to firmly establish BLZ as a location of choice for high-quality, flexible and value-added logistics solutions to our investors.'
'We are therefore pleased that the Bahrain Logistics Zone has been rated amongst the ten most cost effective free zones across the Middle East. This recognition underscores BLZ’s high business potential, and is a clear recognition of its adherence to international best practices in both logistics services and facilities,' he added.
The entries were scored and evaluated by an expert panel of independent judges from more than 20 shortlisted free zones in the Middle East.
The judges used a wide range of criteria, with a strong emphasis on the key incentives offered by special economic zones. In the cost-effectiveness category the rankings were based on a number of factors, such as cost for warehouse space and commercial facilities.
According to the fDi Global Free Zones of the Future report 2010-2011 results, BLZ was ranked 9th in the world and 5th in the Middle East in the Best Overall Global Free Zones of the Future, 3rd in the world and 2nd in the Middle East in the Best Facilities category and 10th in the world and 7th in the Middle East for Best Foreign Investment Promotion Strategy.
Recently, the Bahrain Logistics Zone was awarded the ‘Free Zone Authority’ Award at one of the industry’s most prestigious maritime industry awards event, the Seatrade Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Awards 2011.-TradeArabia News Service
More Industry, Logistics & Shipping Stories
- Flare, Jordan form parent company ‘Aereon’
- Drydocks delivers second MCV for US
- ASIS launches amphibious leisure boat
- Taskforce sought to develop Saudi downstream sector
- DP World launches $200m India project
- RAK 'exploring' ceramics unit stake sale
- Mideast carriers top global air freight growth
- DMCA launches maritime solution apps
- Saudi plans oil-to-chemicals plant at Yanbu
- Sabic gets four bids for JV with Mitsubishi Rayon
- Pentair, IDC launch industrial services JV
- Major maritime conference to be held in Dubai
- GPIC wins key IFA certification
- Gulf rules must aid e-commerce: Aramex
- Gulftainer expands 2013 ops by 50pc
- DMCA to take part in Dubai boat show
- Al Namal to launch eco-friendly chillers
- Abu Dhabi city ports to receive facelift
- Kuwait Styrene posts $180m net profit
- Drydocks set for key energy event
- Aramex launches new address check system
- Toshiba in green push at Bahrain expo
- Equate net profit surges 14pc to $1.2bn
- Shaikh Daij named new Alba chairman
- Al Abbas wins logistics rights to Sudan
- Milaha profits jump 14pc to top $260m
- BIC, Al Zayani renew partnership
- Dubai Metro to open 2 stations Saturday
- Top petchem firms back UAE plastics events
- DGCX, China’s DCE launch plastics futures


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The Salmonella Outbreak linked to Rose Acre Farms Shell Eggs has expanded to include 35 people in nine states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Eleven people have been hospitalized.
A recall has been issued for more than 200 million eggs, which were sold under a variety brand names including Coburn Farms, Country Daybreak, Food Lion, Glenview, Great Value, Nelms, Publix, Sunshine Farms, and Sunups. Health officials are urging consumers to check product information before buying or preparing eggs.
Most of the recalled egg cartons are marked with the plant number P-1065 followed by a Julian date between 011 and 102. The Publix and Sunups egg cartons are marked with the plant number P-1359D have a Julian date of 048A or 049A and Best By dates of APR 02 and APR 03.
During an inspection of Rose Acre’s facility in Hyde County, NC. from March 26 through Aprill 11 this year, investigators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found rodent problems and other “objectionable conditions and practices.”
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection, which include nausea, fever and abdominal cramps, usually develop within 12 to 72 hours of exposure and last between four to seven days. Children, seniors and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk.
Recently, a legal team led by Eric Hageman and Brendan Flaherty, of the noted food safety law firm Pritzker Hageman, secured a $6.5 million landmark settlement for a 5-year-old boy who suffered brain damage from a Salmonella infection he contracted from tainted chicken. If you have a Salmonella infection associated with this outbreak and would like a free consultation with a Salmonella lawyer, use this online form. The food poisoning lawyers at Pritzker Hageman have represented clients in nearly every major outbreak over the last 20 years.


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Afghanistan ‘11 came out early last year, and after being pretty well received across the board by fans of wargames, the game is now back with a few new additions.
An action platformer with a strong emphasis on combat that takes a lot of inspiration from the Souls series, but does it have what it takes to stand out on its own?
After around seven years of development, a successful Kickstarter campaign, and even a name change, MoonQuest has finally arrived on Steam.
“Thou shalt be the winner and not the chicken dinner.” The long-awaited sequel to the 2013 indie-hit is finally here.
To Hell with Hell is yet another roguelite that has recently arrived in Steam’s Early Access program, but does it offer anything new that other games in the genre do not?
After 4 long years, Wayward Souls has finally made its way to PC, but is it worth the wait?
Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare is quite possibly one of the boldest endeavors to ever appear on Steam Early Access. Why? You might ask… Well, because it is attempting to take the Mount & Blade formula and adapt it to a modern-day […]
Become a pirate, a bounty hunter, a smuggler, a trader, or everything at the same time in Objects in Space, a space-sim where combat makes it feel like you’re flying a space submarine.
Revulsion is the result of a mash-up between old-school FPS level and shooting, with the progression system of a loot-based game, as well as some elements of Dark Souls. Now, the question is, how does this stand up on its […]
Juicy Realm is a little fun twin-stick shooter that is extremely pleasing to the eyes but lacks any real substance.


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Here comes the bride! Actress Kirsten Dunst got engaged at the beginning of this year, and she’s now fully invested in planning her upcoming wedding to Jesse Plemons.
The bride-to-be, 35, stopped by Live With Kelly and Ryan on Wednesday, September 12, and revealed how she’s making progress on her checklist. “So funny. I never thought I’d be that person who’d have a Pinterest board,” Dunst told the co-hosts. “I’m doing all the Pinning things.”
However, there’s minimal stress involved for the couple, who first met on the set of FX’s Fargo. “It’s really fun because we created it together. It’s a really nice thing to do together,” she continued. “It’s going to be so personal and fun. We’re having a really good time.”
Plemons proposed to the actress in January with a vintage oval-cut diamond set on yellow gold. Dunst previously revealed that she was sick and in sweatpants when the Friday Night Lights actor popped the question. She shared some additional details about the ring on Wednesday. “He picked it out. I pointed him in a store direction,” she said. “It’s a vintage ring.”
Another fashion element that Dunst has ready to go? She has a dress designer. “Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who have the line Rodarte, they are doing my line,” she said. The luxury label designers directed Dunst in their debut film, Woodshock.


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Engage is a strategic investor that invests in companies selected for the Engage Go-To-Market Program. Engage deploys both capital and enterprise expertise to help startups breakthrough corporate barriers and operate at full speed.
Engage is changing corporate innovation and venture capital by introducing a collaborative venture investment model for corporations. Our partners are Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation, Georgia Tech, Goldman Sachs, The Home Depot, Honeywell Connected Enterprise, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Inspire Brands, Invesco, Invest Georgia, Tech Square Ventures, UPS, and Wellstar Health System.
The Engage fund is managed by Tech Square Ventures.
Making Travel Healthier: A Game-Changing Disinfectant Technology and a Global Airline
In 2018, Delta connected with Vyv, a startup that produces safe antimicrobial LED lights that continuously kill bacteria on surfaces. Vyv’s lights are only about 20 percent more expensive than a traditional light and continuously disinfect surfaces anywhere from an office to a locker room or even a commercial aircraft.
While Delta’s innovation team was interested, they knew that a pilot with a global airline would require cross-divisional support and executive sponsorship, not to mention ensuring that the startup was ready to engage at enterprise-scale with Delta. So, they introduced Vyv to Engage.
“We told Vyv’s CEO Colleen Costello that one of the best ways to get that executive buy-in to push this forward was Engage,” said Vikram Rajagopalan, Innovation Strategy Lead at Delta. “That paved the execution path.”
Throughout Engage’s go-to-market program, the team worked with Vyv to help navigate the challenges of an enterprise engagement. After months of technical, operational, and regulatory work, Vyv’s lights were successfully aircraft-certified and installed in a Boeing 757 airplane. The Delta team is continuing to put together a scope for a larger fleet rollout strategy of the disinfectant technology.
Finally, Delta expanded upon their commercial relationship by directly investing in Vyv’s Series A financing. The airline wanted to ensure direct alignment of their mission as they build upon their partnership.
Creating A New Generation of Retail: National Retail Brands Gain Shopper Visibility With AI
The ability of brick-and-mortar retail to adapt to a changing consumer landscape is reliant on technology, specifically the kind of tools that can allow physical locations to compete with the prevalence of online shopping and e-commerce. Deep North’s artificial intelligence-powered platform, which applies computer vision and data analytics to the video pulled from a store or venue’s existing camera system, empowers this next-generation of physical retailers.
Unlike other solutions that track non-visual cues like cell phone data, store beacons, Wifi usage, etc., Deep North analyzes visual cues like checkout wait times, shopping cart abandonment, customer sentiment, and shopping patterns. This is critical data to a retailer trying to predict and optimize shopper experience — and they do it all while protecting Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and complying with the GDPR and CCPA.
Prior to investment from Engage, Deep North was already working with several national retailers and large venues, transportation hubs, and arenas. Within the first few months of joining the Engage platform, Deep North met with all relevant Engage corporate partners and kicked off a pilot with national retailer The Home Depot.
The Deep North team took advantage of the Engage platform to build relationships with corporate partners beyond commercial contracts. In spring 2020, both The Home Depot and Delta Air Lines joined Engage and other venture firms in the company’s $25 million Series A funding round.
“With the support of respected global brands, we are confident that our platform is truly enabling the experiential retail that customers are demanding,” said CEO Rohan Sanil following the Series A.


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LondonTechNews - Technology and Business News Focused on the UK
FutureTech will certainly discover the duty of innovation in organization improvement. The innovation globe has actually changed so much in the in 2015, and also this is making it hard for organizations to endure. Innovation can help business run much more effectively, interact with employees, as well as much better comprehend consumers. The conference will concentrate on crucial subjects, including electronic change, AI, 5G in the UK, and ladies tech business owners. Additionally, London Tech News Co. Uk will certainly cover exactly how tech can help achieve Net No.
While lots of startups are based in Silicon Valley, the tech market has begun to spread out eastward. In 2010, there were 85 tech firms in London's Old Road area, which raised to 200 by 2011. This number was modified in 2012 by Wired publication, which has kept a topic on the development of the tech industry in London. The news is excellent news for entrepreneurs that want to relocate to the city, however it must additionally be noted that it can be hard to start a business if you do not have any type of get in touches with in the market.
As the tech market remains to relocate eastward, London is coming to be more linked to Silicon Valley. Actually, the variety of tech business in London has actually exceeded Silicon Valley's total by 50%. In addition to being a hotbed for innovation business, the city has lots of gifted people. The UK is also a hub for startups as well as entrepreneurs. Its location is additionally vital, as the funding has a great deal of ability in the location.
The Tech City in London is the brand-new Silicon Valley, and David Cameron has actually revealed plans to establish the technology collection in eastern London. He has designated Eric van der Kleij to lead the initiative. By 2010, the location was home to 85 startup business. By 2011, there were 200. This figure has given that been upgraded by Wired magazine, which keeps a conversation topic about the city's tech sector. The future of the UK economic climate looks brilliant and has plenty of exciting technology.
A number of British business owners have actually started tech companies in London. A current write-up in the Wall surface Road Journal goes over the development of eastern London's tech collection. The short article is entitled "Tech City: A New Silicon Valley in London." The site is possessed by the director of the University of Innovation, and the owners are based in the area. The emphasis is on technology companies in the city. The university has a variety of campuses in the UK. The campus lies in the heart of the city, which is an advantage for the business area.
The tech community in London is booming. The area is bring in foreign financiers. Creators and also business owners are using the city to construct their organizations. The London Tech News Co. Uk has come to be a hub for tech companies. The LondonTech area is residence to over 200 firms. The city is growing rapidly and also the people that function there are making their lives much better at the same time. They are producing jobs and prospering in their area.
The growth of the tech market in London has actually been unmatched. The country has actually brought in a number of tech companies, which lie in the centre of the city. This is a substantial advance for the city's economy. With such a wealth of ability, the city's populace is positioned for financial development. The UK stays behind numerous other countries in the world. The modern technology hub is just one of one of the most advanced in the world, and also it is one of the most established worldwide.
The LondonTechNews co uk Co. UK's growth has actually been driven by the London tech area. Its Chief Executive Officer, Greg Jackson, has been attributed with helping the city's economy come to be a global leader. His post in the Wall Road Journal, titled "New London and the Future of Tech", is a have to check out. While it may be a little bit excessive, it is an excellent example of how tech can aid the city flourish.
The emergence of tech in London is a good sign for the nation's economic situation. Its flourishing tech scene is not simply an indication of a successful economic situation. Its success suggests a city's ability to draw in ability. As a matter of fact, the capital has actually ended up being a key player in the modern technology sector. The capital of a city is its primary rival. A strong tech neighborhood can bring about financial advancement.


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Nampa Woman Arrested For Burglary Following Traffic Stop
Meridian, Idaho ( KMVT-TV / KTWT-TV ) - After watching a woman recklessly drive her Volkswagen out of a store parking lot at Locust Grove and Fairview in Meridian, a Idaho State Police officer initiated a traffic stop. Turns out the woman had allegedly removed merchandise from a store without paying for it. Ciecelia M. Shepard, 26 of Nampa was taken into custody about 2:08pm Thursday. Police say she was driving at a high rate of speed and almost hit another vehicle during the traffic stop the trooper saw several items of clothing on the seat of the car with merchandise and security tags still attached.
The trooper inquired with the store whose parking the woman was leaving regarding the items found in the vehicle. Store employees confirmed the merchandise had been stolen and identified Shepard to the trooper. According to store employees, while frequenting several departments in the store, Shepard was seen putting various items into a bag, also taken from the store, and walking toward the exit. When confronted by store employees, Shepard ran out of the store, entered her vehicle, and sped out of the parking lot.
Shepard was arrested for felony burglary and was booked into the Ada County Jail.


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The ever shrinking woman! Melissa McCarthy is showing off her impressive weight loss and she's looking good in the process.
Since she began shedding the pounds, the actress hasn't really been too open in terms of verbalizing the journey. She's been letting her body do the talking, having now lost 50 pounds, and showing it off on Instagram.
Now, she's out to prove that fashion choices don't need to be limited just because of weight. This week, Melissa debuted her first fashion collection, a line aimed at female inclusion, something that really didn't exist when she was a heavier-set woman growing up.
"People don't stop at a size 12," she said while speaking to More magazine. "I feel like there's a big thing missing where you can't dress to your mood above a certain number."
She said she doesn't understand "these crazy rules" for women who aren't super thin.
"Only wear solids? Don't wear bright colors? That's not real. Somebody made up these rules, and I disagree," she said, adding that malls are culprits, too, as they "segregate plus-size" women. "It's an odd thing that you can't go shopping with your friends because your store is upstairs hidden by the tire section."
"When I was 22, I met with some janky manager, and she told me, 'You're never going to work at this weight.' I think I was a size 6 at the time," she recalled. "There is just this weird thing about how we perceive women in this country. I would love to be a part of breaking that down."
Melissa's all-inclusive fashion line will debut at major department stores this month and will feature 80 different pieces, ranging from a size 4 to 28.
The "Spy" star said women need not seek perfection. She doesn't anymore.
"Pre-kids, I'd cook for 50 people. I'd have schedules, time charts. Being in my forties, I can finally relax," she said. "I've learned that you can order pizza and have your friends over, and it's just as fun because nobody cares. Nobody wants to be around you if you've been up since 3 a.m. brining a chicken. I've let go of that quest for perfection."
You're looking pretty perfect to us, Melissa.
- Jan. 16, 2018 Check out Chris Hemsworth's best (and worst) films
- 2 hours ago tk


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Quizrr x ETI collaboration
December 09, 2020
We are partnering with the Ethical Trading Initiative to support workers in 20 garment factories in Bangladesh to operate in Covid-19 safe way.
The project will combine traditional, classroom-based training with innovative, tablet-based modules developed by training partner Quizrr, and aims to reach 30,000 workers and 1,000 supervisors and managers in selected factories in Dhaka, Bangladesh. ETI and Quizrr have been collaborating since 2015 on an ongoing intervention to pilot a Social Dialogue programme to garment factories in Bangladesh. The programme uses blended learning – a combination of ETI’s traditional classroom teaching with Quizrr’s tablet-based, digital media approach – to deliver awareness raising training to factory managers, supervisors and Participation Committee worker representatives.
Learn more about the collaboration here.
Webinar: How to address child labour and promoting decent work in global supply chains
Join on 30 March at 13:30 – 15:00 CET this major event looking at how to address child labour and promoting decent work in global supply chains: the role of innovation and digital tools.
Webinar: Gender and Access to information among RMG workers in Bangladesh
Quizrr co-founder Sofie Nordström will be speaking at Ethical Trading Initiatives free webinar on - Gender and Access to information among RMG workers in Bangladesh - this Thursday!
Quizrr Covid-19 module available
Quizrr has developed a rapid response COVID-19 module using materials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).


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ABOVE: iPhone fans around the world line-up to buy Apple’s newest smartphone
Of the 980 million or so smartphones that will be shipped to consumers around the world this year, about 26 million will be from BlackBerry, according to estimates. That’s a steep drop from the days—not so long ago—when the Waterloo, Ont.-based company was responsible for as much as half of all device sales in the category.
In contrast, Apple, once BlackBerry’s chief competitor, will ship 153 million iPhones this year.
Samsung, another competitor that once rivaled but has since far surpassed the Canadian company by most metrics, is expected to send 315 million Galaxy lineup units to wireless providers around the world, according to analysts.
This week in particular, BlackBerry’s decline was made clear: a hurried and surprise launch of yet another new device, which appears to have attempted unsuccessfully to paper over the far bigger news that the firm is planning the largest round of downsizing in its history. A massive writedown on the business also looms as unsold inventory piles up, according to reports.
Meanwhile, customers around the world including here in Canada once again lined up in front of Apple stores Friday to buy a new iPhone.
Here’s a look at how the two companies stack up:
(Source: Company and analyst reports)


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January 8, 2020
Alcohol Beverage Services to Host Montgomery County’s Biggest Whiskey Event on Jan. 17
Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) is hosting its Whiskey Rocks celebration, the largest event of its kind in Montgomery County, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Clarksburg Village Liquor and Wine Store, located at 12051 Chestnut Branch Way, Suite 1. The daylong event attracts hundreds of whiskey lovers who want to purchase limited release and highly sought after whiskey products, including Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year, O.F.C. 1994 by Buffalo Trace, Weller Full Proof, Weller 12 Year, Orphan Barrel Rhetoric Library Pack and more.
At the Clarksburg Whiskey Rocks event, there will be a combination of timed product releases, tastings, engravings, barrel picks, bottle signings and an exclusive whiskey lunch with Maker's Mark Master Distiller Denny Potter.
Preregistration is available on the ABS website for a free seminar that will include a comparative tasting of two Montgomery County select barrels: Elijah Craig 8 Year and Elijah Craig 10 Year. In addition, there will be a blind tasting and a vote for next year’s barrel selection.
More information about this event, including the schedule for raffle drawings, tastings, and special releases, is available on the ABS website.


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What you need to know
- We've been told Apple might announce iPhone 9 on April 14.
- A shipping date of April 24 is been suggested.
- OnePlus is set to announce the OnePlus 8 & OnePlus 8 Pro on April 14.
We've been hearing all kinds of things about Apple's upcoming iPhone 9 of late and that hasn't been helped with the arrival of a case designed for the thing, either. The latest comes via Jon Prosser – a man who has been at the center of all things Apple and iPhone 9 in recent days. According to him, Apple intends to launch the new phone between April 13 and April 19.
That puts the unveiling squarely in the same timeframe as another big phone announcement coming out of OnePlus. We know that the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro will be announced on April 14, so is it possible Apple will drop iPhone 9 on the same day just to steal some thunder?
Maybe, and maybe not. Prosser told us that there are a couple of potential timeframes in play.
Dates on the table are:
Announce - Wed, April 15 Ship - Wed, April 22
(To take attention from OnePlus)
Announce - Tues, April 14 Ship - Fri, April 24
Frankly, any of those seem possible at this point. We expected an iPhone 9 announcement last month, so what difference do a few days here or there make? None, none at all.
One thing we're pretty sure about is what iPhone 9 will look like. A replacement for iPhone 8, this thing is expected to look almost identical with the same Touch ID Home button and 4.7-inch LCD screen. Underneath that screen is where things will get interesting, though. If the rumors are accurate this "budget" iPhone will ship with Apple's A13 chip – the same one that powers iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.
If iPhone 9 hits a claimed $399 price point, that's a lot of silicon for not a lot of money.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Apple's 'High Desert' will star Patricia Arquette, directed by Ben Stiller
The new comedy series follows the story of Peggy, a former addict who decides to become a private investigator after her mother dies.
CEO of UK smartphone carrier EE tells employees a 5G iPhone is 'days away'
Marc Allera, CEO of EE, says that a 5G iPhone is "just days away" in a new video shared with the carrier's employees.
Czech girl tips off authorities to malicious apps on iOS and Android
Malicious apps on both iOS and Android reportedly clocked 2.4 million downloads and over $500,000 in revenue. The apps bombarded users with intrusive ads and even hid their icons to prevent users from uninstalling them.
Allergies have you sneezing in your own home? Get a smart air purifier!
Air purifiers are great for keeping the air in your home clean, and smart options take things to the next level with convenient, connected, controls. Here's our guide to the best smart Wi-Fi air purifiers that you can buy today.


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Library transforms into chocolate factory at teen program Feb. 13
(STILLWATER, OKLA. / Jan. 29, 2014) – The Stillwater Public Library is hosting its annual Teen Chocolate Festival on Thursday, Feb. 13, from 6-8:30 p.m. Students in 6-12 grades will be playing games and contests, exploring chocolate related books, watching a film and sampling lots and lots of chocolate.“This year the event’s theme is the book, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’” said Emily States, young adult librarian. “The teen advisory committee was excited about watching the classic Willy Wonka film and creating a fun and nutty chocolate factory atmosphere.”
According to States, participants are being encouraged to dress up as their favorite Willy Wonka character.
“We want to have an even better atmosphere with the costumes, but they are not mandatory,” said States. “However, teens who dress up might just be eligible for a special prize!”
Besides the movie, participants will play chocolate related games like chocolate trivia and bingo. They will then get access to library’s river of chocolate in the form of a chocolate fountain, which is back by popular demand. Marshmallows, graham crackers, pretzels, brownies, Oreos, strawberries, and more will be available for dipping.
Throughout the night, young adults will have a chance to win one of five “golden tickets.” The golden ticket winners will get to tour the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory as a group on Saturday, Feb. 22, where they will sample even more chocolate and learn the secrets of making fudge.
Registration for the event is strongly encouraged. To sign-up, call 405-372-3633 x8106 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
The Stillwater Public Library is located at 1107 S. Duck Street. Library hours are Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Library information is available online at http://library.stillwater.org.


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E-Malt.com News article: UK: Heineken in advanced talks to buy British pub company Punch Taverns
Heineken is in advanced talks to buy Punch Taverns, Punch said on December 14, but the Dutch brewer faces competition from a higher rival bid from a fund backed by one of the British pub company's founders, Reuters reported.
Shares in Punch, Britain's second-biggest pub operator, jumped as much as 39 percent on Wednesday, December 14 after it said it had received a "proposal" from Patron Capital Advisers, working with Heineken, about a possible cash offer of 174 pence per share, and "an approach" from Emerald Investment Partners about a possible cash offer at 185 pence per share.
Punch said it was in "advanced discussions" with Patron and Heineken and in "discussions" with Emerald. Officials for Patron and Heineken declined to comment.
Emerald confirmed that it had made a proposal about a possible 185 pence per share offer and said it currently held 2.2 percent of Punch's shares.
Emerald's founder, Alan McIntosh, is the former Punch finance director who helped to build up the company through a series of acquisitions alongside entrepreneur Hugh Osmond.
Heineken's offer values Punch's equity at about 386 million pounds ($488.95 million) while Emerald's offer would equate to a 410 million pound valuation, according to Reuters calculations.
Punch said that both proposals were conditional on the recommendation of its board, among other things, but that Emerald's also depended on it arranging committed financing and doing due diligence.
The bidders have until Jan. 11 to make a firm offer or walk away, according to UK takeover rules, Punch said.
Established in 1997 with a portfolio of pubs from the Bass Lease Co, Punch expanded through the purchase of Inn Business Group and real estate from Allied Domecq. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2002 and now has about 3,300 pubs.
A takeover by Heineken, which already has about 1,100 pubs, would put the Dutch brewer nearly neck and neck with market leader Enterprise Inns, which has nearly 4,500 UK pubs.
The UK pub industry has struggled for years with declining customers, due parlty to a UK smoking ban and increased competition from restaurants and supermarkets. There were 50,800 pubs in Britain last year, the British Beer and Pub Association says, down from 67,800 in 1982.
Punch and its large rivals, which also include Greene King and Mitchells & Butlers, have also been working to broaden their food and drink offering to appeal to Britons' evolving tastes.
But Punch recently scaled back its portfolio with disposals that delivered net proceeds of 234 million pounds in the year to Aug. 20 and performance has improved.
Pub operators are also adjusting to new regulations that give pub tenants more rights and greater protection when dealing with large companies that own so-called tied pubs.
Tenants of tied pubs, which account for most of Punch's portfolio, are obliged to buy beer and other drinks from their landlords. This means that Britain has a long history of brewers operating pubs but the large multinational brewers are generally not in the pub business.
Heineken is unusual in that it has an existing portfolio of about 1,100 pubs, most bought from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2011. A Punch acquisition would roughly quadruple the number of Heineken pubs selling the Dutch group's beers, including Amstel, Sol and Lagunitas alongside Strongbow cider and its green-bottled Heineken lager.
In a presentation last month, Heineken's president of Europe lauded its pub business for providing direct contact with consumers, allowing the company to test and build new products quickly while giving it an understanding of how customers and pubs work.
"You actually get a direct, a very direct and a very different contact with your consumer," Stefan Orlowsky said, adding that the pub business is very attractive from a margin perspective.
Jefferies said that Heineken's approach could be viewed as a defensive move aimed at protecting margins in Britain, which accounts for about 6 percent of group profit.
Other consumer goods companies have taken similar steps into the retail sphere, with Nestle running Nespresso coffee boutiques, Estee Lauder operating MAC cosmetic stores and Diageo testing Johnnie Walker Houses. Patron Capital, with 3.4 billion euros ($3.62 billion) of capital across several funds and investments, focuses largely on real estate.
Punch shares were up 38 percent at 178 pence by the close, while Heineken shares closed flat.
Punch is being advised by Goldman Sachs.
News of the bid approaches was first reported by Sky News.
14 December, 2016


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Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing who reports to CEO Tim Cook, told The Verge that the company will sell search ads on the App Store and rework its revenue sharing agreement with developers to emphasize subscription sales, among other steps.
Shares of Apple gained 75 cents, or about .8%, to $99.71 an hour before the market close.
"We are surprised it has taken Apple this long to introduce app ads, but better late than never." Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter wrote in a report.
Consumers would see a lone ad at the top of their search results. Ads will pertain to the subject of the search, but Schiller said Apple will not generate customer profiles based on searches.
The ads would allow developers to reach out to consumers, he said, without cluttering the store with charts, editorials or other means of promoting apps.
Schachter projects that the App Store ads will generate $1.65 billion to $4.95 billion for Apple, or about 5% to 15% of the app store's projected $33 billion in projected 2017 gross revenue.
For many companies, that would move the top line. For Apple, which had $233 billion in 2015 sales, it's a benefit but not a game changer.
The greater value may be lie in the indication that Apple is pursuing new opportunities in software and services more aggressively. "Finally, while this announcement will not allay any concerns about the core hardware business, it does show that Apple is attempting to improve its services, monetization and overall utility," Schachter wrote.
Kulbinder Garcha of Credit Suisse expects Apple's gross profits from services will more than double from $14 billion last year to $34 billion in 2020.
"Given Apple's App Store generates (about twice) as much revenue as (Alphabet (GOOGL) - Get Free Report unit) Google's Play Store and 65% of app downloads are driven by search, we believe this could represent a significant opportunity for both Apple and its app developers," he wrote.
As part of the App Store changes, Apple will increase the money that app developers receive from subscriptions. Currently, Apple takes 30% of revenues. After the first year of a subscription, Apple will reduce its cut to 15%.
"We believe that the shift to a subscription-based model should result in a stronger sustainable recurring revenue stream from the App Store," Garcha added.


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Singapore: Indian Finance minister Arun Jaitley travelled to Singapore for a two-day visit. He said in media India is Emerging as an Attractive country for Doing the Business & Easy-To-Do Start the Business In India.
Jaitley invites the businessman from Singapore for the star the business in India & FD. Jaitley said at the Finance Technology Festival: “India is the fastest growing country in the country, crossing 30 positions in a single year, making it 100th. In financial services, ‘Aadhaar’ has been linked and all functions are ‘digital’. Thus, electronic money transactions have increased.
The expansion of financial services and rising electronic transactions are easy to highlight India as a starting the business. The process of removing the financial value, the GST and Amal reform programs, has suffered short-term challenges.
The medium and long term, there is no doubt that these measures will be of great benefit to Indian economic growth. India is an easy-to-become country-wide country. He said.