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MPL is valued at $945 Mn by Composite Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures in this Series D round
It intends to use this funding to accelerate its international expansion this year
MPL currently hosts about 70 games across multiple sports, and has over 60 Mn users.
Mumbai-based mobile esports platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) is just a few steps away from becoming India’s second gaming unicorn after Dream11. The company, on February 4, announced that it has raised $95 Mn in a Series D round at a valuation of $945 Mn.
The latest round was led by Composite Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures, with participation from Base Partners, RTP Global, SIG, Go-Ventures, Telstra Ventures, Founders Circle and Play Ventures.
MPL will use the latest funding to expand its esports portfolio and bolster its efforts to organise more esports tournaments nationally and internationally at scale. The funds will also be used to accelerate MPL’s international expansion this year.
Commenting on the same, MPL’s cofounder and CEO Sai Srinivas, said, “As we grow our presence and expand, this fresh round of funds will help us focus on our core value propositions — a robust platform with the best features for gamers and onboarding the best esports titles.”
The company has raised about $225.5 Mn till date, with $90 Mn coming in September before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. SIG Ventures, RTP global and MDI Ventures had led that Series C funding round, reportedly valuing the company somewhere between $375 Mn to $400 Mn pre-money. Last week, MPL had announced $500K fundraise as part of its Employee Investment Plan.
MPL was founded in 2018 by Srinivas and Shubham Malhotra, who had earlier worked together on Bengaluru-based media streaming technology startup Creo that was acquired by messaging service Hike in August 2017. It offers a mobile application for users to play mobile games with real money, enabling users to choose several tournaments within their budget.
The users can choose to play a range of games like online cricket, CandyCrush, TempleRun and many others. The user, who managed to stay in the game for a certain pre-decided duration defeating other players, wins. The platform currently hosts about 70 games across multiple sports, and has over 60 Mn users.
Beyond this, MPL also allows developers to monetise their games right from day 1 of publishing through its cash tournaments and contests. It claims that 10 game developer on its platform earned INR 10 Cr in a year between November 2019 to October 2020. The company now intends to launch a single-window online console for game developers and has launched a $5 Mn fund to Indian developers across the globe.


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Ontario’s state-run gaming and lottery operator, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), has appointed Pinder Basi as its new chief financial officer.
Basi (pictured), who begins his new role with OLG today (1 February), previously served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer at retailer Mastermind Toys.
Basi replaces outgoing CFO, Lisa Bell-Murray, who is retiring after 30 years with the Canadian province’s crown agency, which conducts and manages land-based gaming facilities, province-wide lottery games and internet gaming.
“Pinder is an experienced executive with a proven track record in finance and business with a focus on growth, profitability and collaboration,” Duncan Hannay, OLG’s president and chief executive, said. “His successes in large transformations will be an asset as we work together to position OLG for a post-pandemic recovery, digital growth, and new opportunities to maximize value for our customers and the people of Ontario.”
Basi’s arrival comes as OLG prepares for major changes to gaming in the province, with the regional government set to introduce new legislation seeking to end the operator’s current online gambling monopoly.
While at Mastermind, Basi was a key member of the executive team that grew the company from a Toronto-based retailer into a national chain in Canada with a growing e-commerce operation.
He previously served as a senior executive at Universal Studios Canada, a division of NBC Universal, and has also been a successful leader in other sectors including packaged goods. He is a designated Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA).
“I am pleased to be joining OLG and look forward to working with the team at such a crucial and exciting time for the organisation,” said Basi. “I believe my experience with growing companies, in both the retail and e-commerce sectors, and with entertainment content delivery, will assist OLG as it charts its new strategic course.”
Last November it was announced that Ontario’s government is to open up the province’s online gambling market to private operators.
At present, OLG is the only operator approved to offer online gambling in the province via its PlayOGA.ca website.
However, after setting out in its budget plans to end the monopoly in 2019, the government has now taken this a step further in its 2020 budget, confirming it will introduce legislation to establish a more open market.
In November, the Canadian Government introduced a bill to allow legal sports wagering on single events for the first time.
The bill repeals paragraph 207(4)(b) of Canada’s Criminal Code, which states that sports betting is only legal if players place a bet on at least three games or more.

domain: news


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BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- More than 30 percent of Chinese people’s diets contain more aluminum than recommended, research has found.
Excessive ingestion of aluminum can lead to neurological and respiratory problems and affect bone development.
Some 40 percent of excess aluminum in Chinese diets is found in flour, according to research by nutritionist and food safety expert Chen Junshi for a food safety forum.
Baking powders, such as alum, added to flour are mainly to blame, say experts.
While they help make flour products look and taste better, they are overused by some Chinese food manufacturers.
However, as aluminum-free baking powders are more expensive, many manufacturers are reluctant to change.
While the World Health Organization recommends a weekly intake of no more than 2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, 32.5 percent Chinese people ingest levels above this, researchers found.
Some 44 percent of the excess amount comes from flour, followed by steamed bread (24 percent) and fried dough sticks (10 percent) — a traditional snack for breakfast.
People in northern China — who traditionally prefer flour-based products such as noodles — absorb four times as much aluminum as those in the south, the study found.
Northern Chinese have an average aluminum consumption of 2.9mg/kg of body weight — almost 1.5 times the recommended amount.
And 43 percent of children aged between four and six eat 2.6 times the maximum recommended amount, Guangzhou Daily reported.
Research was based on 6,600 samples of 11 kinds of food.
The China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment aims to reduce the average weekly intake of aluminum from 1.8mg/kg of body weight to less than 0.8mg/kg.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)


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Yellow mangos expected to be in short supply until March
by Tim Linden | January 27, 2010
What a difference a year makes.
Last season, mango-producing regions in southern Mexico produced an early bumper crop that resulted in large supplies of the yellow-skinned Ataulfo variety mangos in the marketplace in February, with many handlers having about twice the volume as they did a year earlier for the same time period.
"This year it is going to be just the opposite," said Bill Vogel, president of Tavilla Sales Co. of Los Angeles. "February and March are going to have 50 percent of their regular volume."
Mr. Vogel added, however, that the second and third blooms would produce very good volume by the end of March carrying into April and May. By then, the more northern regions of Mexico will be in production. But it is too early to tell how that volume will play out this year.
Mr. Vogel, who in late January was in Chiapas, Mexico, which produces most of the early yellow mangos, said that most packingsheds are not expected to open until late in February. The surrounding states of Oaxaca and Michoacan also have Atualfos, but not nearly in the same volume as Chiapas.
Christopher Ciruli, chief operating office of Ciruli Bros. LLC in Nogales, AZ, agreed with Mr. Vogel's assessment about February, but he thinks the shortage will end sometime in March. He said that rain in early January in southern Mexico has delayed the crop and caused the initial production to be later than usual with less volume.
"We are expecting promotable supplies in March and April," he said. "Last year, we had a lot of volume in February, but we are not going to have that this year."
But that might be a good thing, said Mr. Ciruli. "Last season we had great supplies in February, but the weather on the East Coast was terrible. I think we might have a better marketing situation this year."
Ciruli Bros. specializes in what it calls its proprietary Champagne mango, which is an Ataulfo mango.
Another early-season shipper is Freska Produce International LLC in Oxnard, CA, which is one of the larger year-round importers of mangos. Jesus (Chuy) Loza, co-owner of the firm, also agreed that the early volume of Ataulfos will be down, but he said that Freska would actually be up about 15 percent.
"There are lots of microclimates down there, so everyone is a little bit different," he said. "We expect to [open] our packingshed on February 22, which is about the same timing as last year, and we expect to increase our volume."
But in general, Mr. Loza said that there would be a shortage of Ataulfo production into March, and he expects the market on the yellow mangos to be very strong.
"I think the larger sizes -- 12s, 14s and 16s -- will open in the teens [dollars per carton], but I think the smaller sizes -- 20s, 22s and 24s -- will probably be in the $8 to $10 range."
Mr. Loza told The Produce News Jan. 26 that the U.S. marketplace was currently in a demand-exceeds-supply situation for the red-skinned mangos as well, which were mostly being sourced from Peru. Although Peru's total production is up and many containers were headed to U.S. ports, the current supply situation was a little tight. "The market is about $5 right now," said the Freska executive. "I think it will go up to $5.50 by the end of February and to $6 in March."
While some unfamiliar U.S. consumers might classify all mangos under one umbrella, Mr. Vogel of Tavilla Sales said that the red- and yellow-skinned varieties are two different items and have different markets that are unrelated to each other.
"They might as well be apples and pears," he quipped.
Mr. Vogel said that there was currently no yellow-skinned fruit in the marketplace, and the red mangos were selling very well on the West Coast, justifying the fairly good $5 market.
He said that it was a different story on the East Coast, which is the landing point for most of the offshore mangos. Supply and demand were in better balance, and a $4-$4.50 price per carton prevailed in late January.


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Updated from 10:47 a.m. A deal between a pair of instant messaging also-rans should make it easier for Microsoft ( MSFT) chief Steve Ballmer to get a hold of his Yahoo! ( YHOO) counterpart Terry Semel. The world's largest software company and the most visited Internet site announced an agreement Wednesday to let users of their free communications services talk to one another. That means that Ballmer and Semel will be able to communicate over their respective company's networks by either instant message or computer-to-computer phone calls. They even will be able to include emoticons, graphic depictions of smiley faces or frowns, in their instant messages. "The industry's first interoperability agreement between two distinct leading global consumer IM providers will give MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users the ability to interact with each other, forming what is expected to be the largest consumer IM community in the world, estimated to be more than 275 million strong," the companies said in a press release. What united Microsoft and Yahoo! is a desire to spread the use of instant messaging technology, which now allows people to communicate only with friends and colleagues who have downloaded the same software that they use. They were also worried about heightened competition from Google ( GOOG), according to technology analysts. Until now, Microsoft and Yahoo used instant-messaging as a way to lure people to their services and have resisted calls to allow other companies access to their networks. "I am surprised that it took this long," said Charles Glovin, an analyst with Forrester Research, in an interview. "This is something that I and other people who look at the IM market expected a long time ago." The alliance, which had been rumored, places pressure on Time Warner's ( TWX) America Online unit. Its Instant Messenger program leads the market with 42 million users. AOL, which first offered instant messaging in 1996, uses the service as a way to encourage people to see its other offerings, including its AOL.Com portal. But the company has generally been seen as resistant to making
various instant messaging programs work together. AOL, which will still have more users in the U.S. once the instant messaging systems of Microsoft and Yahoo! are combined, declined to comment. The company was the first to make instant messaging available widely. "AOL taught the world about instant messaging," said David Card, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "These guys were late to the party." Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is pressuring the world's largest media company to buy back $20 billion in stock and to spin off its cable unit, has criticized Time Warner's management for failing to stem a decline in subscribers at AOL. Still, the impact of the Microsoft-Yahoo! alliance may be muted, since Microsoft has been talking to AOL about combining their Internet operations in a joint venture. Enabling MSN and Yahoo users to communicate with one another won't be easy, which is why the companies aren't rushing to roll out the service, according to executives from Microsoft and Yahoo! who spoke to the media Wednesday in a conference call. The companies want to make sure that they combine their services without any technical glitches. "We actually have to be careful and cautious on how we roll this out," said Blake Iving, corporate vice president at MSN, during the conference call. "It's a lot of work to get this thing actually working." Instant messaging is continuing to grow in popularity and is expected to reach 1.2 billion accounts in 2009, up 38% from 867 million this year, according to the market research firm Radicati Group. It estimates that about 12.5 billion IMs are sent daily. IM's impact even spurred Google to start offering its own instant messaging service, called Google Talk, in August. The Internet companies try to use their instant messaging systems as a way to attract users to their sites where they do make money such as search. "Instant messaging is not a significant revenue source for any of these companies," said Forrester Research's Glovin. "Those are the part of their businesses that are under threat from Gooogle." Internet-based telephone service also is going to become increasingly important, accounting for 74% of all corporate telephone lines, according to Radicati. Yahoo! offers Internet-based phone and high-speed service through a venture with SBC ( SBC). Microsoft acquired a small startup in August whose technology lets users make calls over the Internet.
Yahoo!, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., had 123 million unique visitors in September, according to a research report by Merrill Lynch, quoting data from comScore MediaMetrix. Time Warner's properties, which include AOL, had 119 million, followed by Microsoft with 115 million and Google with 88 million, Merrill Lynch said. "Yahoo!, MSN and Google are maintaining their share of page views," the Merrill Lynch report says. "However, eBay ( EBAY) and Time Warner's properties, which are substantially AOL sites, continue to post page view declines."


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Rev up your year with prize frenzy
OPPORTUNITIES to buy a new car without putting a dent in the bank balance do not come along very often.
But readers of the Sunshine Coast Daily have the chance to snap up a new Yaris from Sunshine Toyota without having to part with their hard-earned cash.
The car is among $60,000 worth of prizes up for grabs in a mega auction where all the bidding will be in Daily Dollars given away in the newspaper.
For five weeks from today, readers will be able to collect Daily Dollars in the paper every day.
The prizes will be sold to the highest bidders at a live auction on March 28.
Other prizes include an overseas holiday worth about $10,000, an electronics package, and a year's worth of meat and groceries.
Sunshine Toyota principal Ian McDowell said the recently released ZR Yaris was a sporty, ink black, three- door model with an edgy look and a swag of safety features.
Mr McDowell said his firm, now in its 11th year, was pleased to be involved with the auction and to be able to offer one lucky reader a bargain on a new car.
"We're very proud of our achievements with the community and very proud of our association with the Daily," he said.
Get the Daily every day until March 17 to collect your Daily Dollars for the auction.
Your Guide to the Sunshine Coast Daily Auction Dollars with all the prize details and rules for how to play starts on page 45 and the first auction dollars can be found on page 46 and 11 today.
Keep your eyes peeled for the $5000 bonus auction dollars appearing this Monday in the Sunshine Coast Daily.


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Registration and spectator tickets are now available for America’s definitive showcase of customized cars, which will be on full display for an action-packed weekend as part of the 2017 Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals, Presented by Holley/MSD, July 21-23 at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky. This will be the first year the highly anticipated annual automotive event will be held in Bowling Green. Special advance pricing for registration and tickets will be available for a limited time only.
“Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals continues to be one of the leading, must-attend events for automotive enthusiasts nationwide,” says TEN’s Vice President of Automotive Events Steve Freeman. “We are excited to bring this engaging event to Bowling Green and look forward to taking it to a new, expanded level.”
Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals is the country’s premier gathering of street machines and muscle cars that showcases more than 2,500 performance cars and attracts upward of 25,000 enthusiasts from across the country over the course of three days. The 2017 Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals will include, among other highlights, faster open autocross, drift showcase, chances to test torque and horsepower against the best in the Dyno Challenge, as well as the Undiscovered Builders’ Invitational and Pro Builders’ Shootout. Midnight drags, drag racing challenges, burnout competition, and the professionally judged and awarded Show-‘N’-Shine Competition offer many opportunities for participants to get involved in the excitement. The Performance Marketplace and Kids Zone, as well as giveaways and activities on the main stage, provide something for everyone. Enthusiasts will also have the chance to meet CAR CRAFT editors and photographers on site.
“There is no event quite like the Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals and it’s an event that my team always looks forward to,” said Craig Shantz, Manager, Chevrolet Performance Shows/Events and Specialty Vehicle Builds. “We want Chevrolet Performance to be an experienced brand; this move to Bowling Green allows for true brand integration with all the Chevy presence in town. It’s a great venue for the future of CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals. We look forward to continuing our longtime partnership with the event and being a part of yet another fantastic automotive celebration.”
Something for everyone at Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals
Enthusiasts and families alike can experience Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals on Friday, July 21, Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. For the chance to appreciate (and show off) the spirit of American cars, participants may register their vehicles to be a part of Chevrolet Performance CAR CRAFT Summer Nationals. Registration includes entry for one vehicle, driver and copilot, and one goodie bag. Pre-registration (available until July 20, 2017 at 11:59PM CST) is only $60 ($75 after July 20, 2017). Participants will also be able to register on-site during the event. For more information and to register, visit carcraft.com/events.
Spectator tickets are on sale now and available at carcraft.com/events, with special pricing through Saturday, July 20. Pricing is as follows (if attending on Saturday includes Midnight Drags):
“The Car Craft Summer Nationals is a historic event with a life of its own and we’re excited to see it come to our home town,” said Bill Tichenor, Director of Marketing, Holley/MSD. “Car Craft followers use products from our company as much as any car guys on the planet, so it makes perfect sense to sponsor this renowned event. We can’t wait for July.”


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Articles by Richard Woodard
16 October 2013
Increasing comparable store sales in the US, improving international returns and reducing expenses are the key strategic objectives for retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, investors have been told.
2 September 2011
You can take your pick of French apothegms: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," or, more succinctly: "Déjà vu." Either way, industry analysts casting their critical eye over Carrefour's latest strategic revamp could be forgiven for thinking they've been here before, writes Richard Woodard.
12 August 2011
At least one in ten of all UK retailers has been impacted by riots and looting during the past few days of civil unrest, according to analysis by the Local Data Company.
14 January 2011
8 October 2010


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Independent mobile phone content and services company, MobileActive (ASX:MBA) has seen a 9.1 per cent drop in revenue for the year to 30 June 2010, resulting from a “cautionary” approach to market expenditure.
The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained fairly steady dropping to $1.4 million for the year to 30 June 2010, a decrease of 4 per cent on FY09 results.
Net profits after tax also fell from $263,326 in the year to 30 June 2009, to $81,556 in FY10.
Cash and cash equivalent assets were posted as $829,511 down from $1.2 million in the precious financial year.
In a statement to the ASX, MobileActive chief executive, Chris Thorpe said his company had performed well against the sizable change and difficult trading environment of the Australian mobile industry, while maintaining and developing growth opportunities.
“Through transformation and diversification, the asset base of the company has been substantially strengthened to scale and deliver across multiple product and service markets,” Thorpe said. “In the coming year we expect this to deliver strong growth and in following industry forecasts, see substantial increases year on year.”
According to the statement, the company spent the FY10 focusing on the development of scalable assets in all three of its divisions, Mobile Entertainment Retail (MER), Mobile Embrace and RingRing Studios.
“MER still provides the majority of the company’s revenue and is the division that has been most impacted by the challenging market conditions,” the ASX statement read.
“During the financial year, in assessing the impact of new and increased regulation in the market place the company has taken a cautionary approach to marketing expenditure, decreasing it by 29% and has carefully managed the cost of customer acquisitions.”
The company acquired a 50.1 per cent majority shareholding in online racing and tournament businesses 12Follow and TopBetta, in April this year, to add diversity to the MER branch and ensure the potential for future growth.
Mobile Embrace also saw expansion, entering into licensing agreements with the UK’s 2sms.com and Mobile Interactive Group, to increase its offering in the Australia and New Zealand market.
Mobile Embrace launched mobile internet and applications publishing platform, Kilrush, for Australia and New Zealand in August this year.
The third sector, RingRing Studios, has been described by the company as “still fledging”, however it did record a global sales increase for mobile applications of 50 per cent in four months from April 2010, to August 2010.


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An Australian dies of smoking related disease every 25 minutes. This burden could be vastly eased by getting Australians to stop smoking, yet the numbers smoking have not significantly changed in six years. Whatever Australia was doing to reduce smoking rates before, is no longer working.
Pleasurable reduced or no risk alternatives (tobacco harm reduction) to smoking, like nicotine vaping, snus (smokeless tobacco) and heated tobacco products - are all banned in Australia. These products have proven effective for getting people to switch away from smoking in other countries. Swedish style snus has resulted in a daily smoking rate of just 5% in Sweden. This is the lowest rate of any country in the European Union. The smoking rate in Iceland has dropped below 5%. Purchases of heated tobacco products have caused a reduction in cigarette sales in Japan by over a third in less than 5 years. Nicotine vaping is popular in many countries around the world, especially in the United Kingdom where health authorities are encouraging smokers to switch.
Australia smokers need to be informed of the alternatives to deadly smoking, health authorities & tobacco control need to be called out on their opposition to these products and regulators need to be encouraged to reverse the bans on import and retail sale of reduced risk tobacco and nicotine products.
In this effort, please support Andrew Thompson in the creation of a Tobacco Harm Reduction advocacy van - The Nicomobile. Andrew is a former smoker (of 29 years) now a vaper (mostly, but also occasional snus / HTP user) living in Sydney, with close access to our national capital, Canberra. He has contributed to every major inquiry into nicotine and THR in Australia, as well as a variety of other inquiries and calls for comment around the world. He was one of the first to join the (now defunct) New Nicotine Alliance (Australia) & rose to the position of Vice President. He has been tirelessly promoting THR on social media and in every other medium open to him. He is also the creator of The THR Blog.
Now Andrew wants to take advocacy to the road, to smokers at public events and to the legislators in Canberra who can overturn the bans on reduced risk tobacco & nicotine products & make them available to Australians. Please help him to do that with a contribution. Every dollar helps.
We have just 6 months until the delayed regulations to impose fines up to $220,000 for nicotine import & possession kick in. For maximum effect, we need to get the van bought, fitted out and in Canberra within two months.
- Australia’s ban on nicotine importation lifted…for now. "Vapers cannot rest. Over the next 6 months, vaping advocates will need to build a case to stop the proposed regulations altogether. Hundreds of thousands of Australian lives depend on it."Dr Colin Mendelsohn
- Do We Really Want More Smokers? "There are now six months to ensure that a move which would cause ex-smokers to take up smoking again never comes to pass. There is time for Australia to catch up to the countries where vaping is supported and smokers are quitting in greater numbers." Dr Joe Kosterich
- Vaping 'victory' is far from a win, just another LNP con. "The last thing any vaping consumer or advocate should do right now is declare victory, pack up and go home. It is an absolute necessity to continue to fight to make sure this ban is never implemented." Chris Mordd Richards
- Angry Vapers Force Australian Health Minister to Back Down ".. now is the time for vaping consumers and businesses to push their MPs for a sensible, permanent solution." Jim McDonald
- Australia delays nicotine ban after backlash from vapers "As Donald Trump found out last year, you don't mess with vapers." Christopher Snowdon


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Self-Publishing is No Longer a Profession – It’s a Piece of Equipment
Do you know that saying of Clay Shirky’s that "publishing now is a button"?
That statement referred to the fact that publishing was so simple now that it was no longer an industry or profession but was instead an automatic process. I was reminded of Shirky’s saying today when I realized that it now has a corollary:
Self-publishing is now a machine, or at least that is the common usage.
I reached that conclusion this week when I realized that the general media now refers to the Espresso Book Machine as a "self-publishing machine". While it is technically a POD, or print-on-demand, machine, it’s now widely referred to as a self-publishing machine, or SPM for short.
This first came up in late July when The Windsor Star reported that the local library’s self-publishing machine "was a hit". About a week later the Sacramento Bee announced that "nearly 200 authors have used the self-publishing machine", and then just a couple days ago DNAInfo revealed that the Shakespeare & Co was getting a new look and a new self-publishing machine.
A few minutes with a search engine has revealed that this is not a sudden change. I’ve found two references dating to 2013, including one from the WSJ. (Books-a-Million has also used the term in its press releases, but I’m not sure whether to count those.)
So there you have it.
The publishing industry media might call the Espresso Book Machine a POD machine (most of the libraries and bookstores which have one also refer to it that way), but the general media is telling the public that it is a self-publishing machine.
If the device ever becomes common, that term could stick.
So do you think we should fight the usage, or just roll with it?
I’m planning to let it go. I decided, around the time that the Danish word for crap (bae) became a term of endearment, that language shifts just weren’t worth fighting over.
But your mileage may vary.
images by Willi Heidelbach and Jeremy Mates
carmen webster buxton August 28, 2015 um 2:16 am
Totally NOT a self-publishing machine! Those things are damned expensive! Who has them? Book retailers, either online ones like Amazon, or boookstores. The reason they use them is so their inventory can be digital right up until a book is ordered. Certainly, many of the main beneficiaries of POD are self published authors, but that could easily change over time. As the machines get cheaper, more bookstores will buy them and more publishers will make their backlists available to POD. Distribution is still a challenge for print publishing.
Maria (BearMountainBooks) August 28, 2015 um 6:32 pm
Self publishing as easy as pushing a button?? Haaaaahaaaahaaa. Oh, that is funny. I’ve just spent a week studying up on facebook ads. So many things about self publishing have nothing to do with writing or pushing a button. Sigh.
As for terminology, you are right. The meaning of words change. I doesn’t really matter what they call those printers.


text: We’re learning a lot more about the PlayStation 4, just hours after it was announced. Joystiq reports the console will output 4K resolution, but only for video that was recorded in the format. President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei YoshidaHe says games will not play in the ultra high definition. Other PS4 tech specs that weren’t revealed during the big event in New York last night include an optical drive that reads 6-speed Blu-ray and 8-speed DVD discs; “super speed” USB 3.0 port; plus HDMI, analog, AV and optical audio outputs. Much to the relief of GameStop and bargain hunters everywhere, Sony has confirmed that the PS4 won’t require an always-on internet connection and that it will not block usedgames.


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Finding Peace in the Great Outdoors!
According to a report released by the Outdoor Industry Association, national parks and mountain resorts are viewed as the safest weekend and vacation destinations by Americans in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The report’s poll, conducted by Leisure Trends between September 21 and October 6, asked about changes in leisure travel plans and activities. Many believe that outdoor activities and recreation can play a significant roll in the healing process of Americans. Other developing trends learned from this poll identified an increased importance in family time, getting back to nature, understanding our roots and spending time outdoors with family and friends.


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On iPhone 14, the SIM card slot will not be available. For good reason, innovation will replace historical chips.
A few days ago, we learned that iphone 14 price will start from 1000 EUR. Today, we learned that the iPhone 14 will not use an extension SIM card. This historical standard will be abandoned for a new format already built into the iPhone 13. But many people are not aware of this. From now on, put ineSIM.
The next line of smartphones fromapple You will not use the SIM card. The information comes from very serious Wall Street Magazine. This historical norm should give way to eSIMwhich is a format already integrated into it iPhone 13 And that many operators already offer. But What is an eSIM?
The eSIM is an innovation that saw the light of day in 2010. It was born from the desire of manufacturers who wanted to integrate more and more More features for smart phones. In fact, every space gained in the device was valuable for installing other useful things. This is what initially reduced the size of SIM cards. The microchips that were popular a few years ago are already starting to disappear in favor of the eSIM.
The eSIM is all digital It is integrated into the motherboard of the smartphone. When you buy your phone, just contact your carrier who will make the change within a few minutes. So you don’t have to worry about changing your parcel. Moreover, this innovation has many advantages.
Such a historical norm should not be abandoned without reason. For the Wall Street Journal, record adoption of this innovation in many countries around the world would have prompted Apple to make such a change. However, it wouldn’t be surprising. The Wall Street Journal is postponing it Only part of iPhone 14 You will use it. In other words, there will be iPhone 14s with The ability to use a SIM card And others who don’t want it.
Moreover, this adoption also contributes to Apple’s policy. The apple brand wants to achieve Carbon neutrality within 8 years. With such a change, Apple reduces the use of plastic in nature, so Less waste.
In addition, the eSIM is good news for Frequent travelers. From country to country, you will no longer need to juggle chips. and lo roaming It offers you freedoms, they are restricted, and the solution does not work in all countries. On the other hand, with an eSIM, a simple phone call to the operator is sufficient and accessible. To this end, remember that this type of SIM always uses GSM.
Finally, eSIM certification is aimed at security standards. Stealing a smartphone will become much more difficult, because using it will not be easy. A few changes to the eSIM are enough to disable the phone. Bad news for iPhone thieves!


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As Americans prepare to celebrate Labor Day, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) is recognizing the men and women of the beer distribution industry whose work positively impacts the nation’s economy.
NBWA President and CEO Craig Purser said, “From truck drivers to fork lift operators and from sales representative to graphic artists, America’s beer distribution employees work day in and day out to make this the best beer market in the world for everyone.”
“With more than 3,700 breweries in operation across the United States today, independent distributors are delivering more beer varieties and brands to the marketplace than ever before,” Purser added. “Because of distribution employees who drive the beer trucks in local communities, fill the beer coolers at corner stores and deliver new tap handles to neighborhood pubs, consumers can choose from an unparalleled variety of beer – from familiar domestic brands to intriguing imports and exciting new products from local and small craft brewers. That’s something we can all celebrate!”
The Beer Serves America economic impact study released this summer shows that independent beer distributors alone generate more than 131,000 local jobs across the United States – accounting for more than $8.5 billion in wages and benefits and $19 billion in economic output.
Jointly commissioned by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Beer Institute, the study shows that the beer industry as a whole – made up of brewers, beer importers, beer distributors and beer retailers – supports 1.75 million jobs, generates nearly $253 billion in economic activity and produces $48.5 billion in tax revenue.
Purser added, “Independent beer distributors provide significant economic benefits in their communities through local business-to-business commerce; investments in local infrastructure; and capital assets and tax revenue. Beer distributors provide services that help brewers of all sizes grow; improve efficiency for trading partners, especially small brewers and retailers; and ensure consumers have a broad selection of products to enjoy.”
The Beer Serves America study was compiled by an independent economics firm, John Dunham & Associates. It is the most comprehensive analysis of the industry available, using data collected directly from private companies, Dun & Bradstreet, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.


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Borderlands 2 will arrive completely uncut
Gearbox has revealed that Borderlands 2 has come through the rating process completely unscathed.
Even in countries like Australia and Germany which are notorious for cutting and even banning mature titles for seemingly small reasons, Borderlands 2 has managed to survive uncut.
They stated on their official blog, "We're happy to announce that Borderlands 2 will be uncut all over the world. Some fans will remember that the first Borderlands game was a bit toned down in certain territories compared to the rest of the world. No longer!"
"Do you live in Germany? Australia?" the blog continued. "Bandits will be just as likely to explode into bloody chunks of awesomeness as they will be in Canada or England (which is to say: very likely)."
- Thomas Was Alone gets a release date for PS4 and Wii U
- New Warframe update adds space-flight to the gameplay with Archwing mode
- New poll indicates that people believe online gaming is “the least welcoming space” for women
- CD Projekt RED releases The Trail, the opening cinematic from The Witcher 3
- New Project CARS trailer pulls up to the starting grid
- Far Cry 4 dev says linear games will suffer in the new world of gameplay video sharing
- Almost 1,100 developers, students and journalists sign the new #gamediversity petition embracing diversity in games
- Felicia Day breaks her silence about #Gamergate, is almost immediately doxxed
- Ubisoft announces PC specs for Assassin's Creed: Unity and they're killer


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The BlackBerry Passport Silver Edition may be slowly turning heads, but one rumored upcoming smartphone from BlackBerry is beginning to steal the limelight thanks to reports that it will be the first device from the Canadian smartphone maker to run on Android.
Crackberry has released what are purportedly internal renders of the BlackBerry Venice, the rumored upcoming slider Android phone from BlackBerry. According to the leaks, the Venice will have an 18 MP camera with optical image stabilization for its primary camera and, very possibly, support for Google Chromecast.
As seen in the rendered photo breakdown of the Venice’s camera layers, the phone will have the similar glass weave pattern found on the BlackBerry Z30 and could possibly have a stainless steel frame.
The images also suggest that the forthcoming device will have the similar look of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge, with the display curving around the phone's edges'
The handset is reported to have a 5.4-inch display with 1440 x 2560 screen resolution and will have Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 chip and 3GB RAM to ensure fast and smooth performance.
Though users of BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry's current OS, have access to Android apps via the Amazon Appstore, they have no access to Chromecast, Google's popular streaming TV dongle compatible only with Android phones. But one of the images indicate that the Venice will be able to support Chromecast.
Other reports have also stated that the Venice will be heading to AT&T and T-Mobile for its launch.
All these images and reports sound exciting, but as Crackberry says: “These are presumably internal renders and as such, they can't be 100 percent confirmed.”
BlackBerry has yet to comment on the leaked images and confirm any of the reports, but until then we must take everything with a grain of salt and consider them as interesting rumors that are waiting to be validated.


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From this office, it’s always been difficult to watch good Milwaukee people and companies endure hard times.
That was true when the Koss Corp. and the Koss family suffered through a court case in which a former company executive pled guilty to six counts of felony fraud and was ordered to pay $34 million in restitution in 2010.
Make no mistake. The company and the Koss family were victims in that embezzlement case.
I have always found my limited interactions with members of the Koss family to be pleasant. They strike me as hardworking, honest Milwaukee people with unquestioned integrity. The fact that the family patriarch, John C. Koss, invented the stereophone in 1958 is one of the coolest milestones in Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial history.
Koss continues as the company’s chairman, but the day-to-day operations of the firm are handled by his sons, Michael J. Koss, president and chief executive officer, and John Koss Jr., vice president of sales. Add a third generation, as Michael Koss Jr. is the director of marketing.
The CEO recently informed employees about the latest daunting challenges facing the company.
“The company had extremely disappointing results in the past fiscal year and in the quarter ended June 30, 2014,” Michael J. Koss said in one of the bluntest CEO quarterly report statements I have read in a long time. “We experienced major setbacks in export sales, particularly in Europe. That drop in sales was significant enough for us to suspend operations in Mexico until sales volumes support enough demand for the products being produced there. In addition, with the changes that need to be made to the Striva Wi-Fi headphone technology, we wrote off the capitalized software costs as well as the related tooling and inventory. These three factors resulted in a significant loss in fiscal year 2014.”
The company’s 12-month net loss was $5.6 million, compared with net income of $5.4 million a year earlier. The company’s quarterly sales dipped to $6.2 million from $9.9 million a year earlier.
“Increased competition in our industry has played a role in the setback, but we believe the severe reduction in 2014 export sales was also driven by certain economic challenges, struggling economies, and available credit for retailers and distributors. In addition, one of our largest European distributors reported overstocked inventory levels on a broad range of items on hand, including Koss products,” Koss said.
Bottom line: the company is losing money, has halted production at its plant in Mexico, is pulling back on research and development of new products and is suspending any payment of dividends to shareholders. The latter is the least of the family’s worries, quite frankly, because the family owns three-quarters of the company’s stock, which is traded on the NASDAQ Exchange and has dropped to a nearly 52-week low.
You can see a major problem for Koss Corp. by walking into any pharmacy or department store. You will find cheap, knock-off brands of headphones and earbuds. The devices have been commoditized in the global economy. How many consumers would be willing to pay extra for Koss brand earbuds?
Here’s hoping the Koss boys can find a way forward. One suggestion I would make is that they give a call to Kay Plantes, author, consultant and business model expert. Let me know if you would like me to hook you up, fellas.
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.


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The European Commission is to unveil officially its eagerly-awaited proposals designed to ease the impact of post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland.
The olive branch from the EU is expected to include a large reduction in the number of checks on goods flowing from the British mainland to the UK provinceJimmy Carter leans over to shake hands with people ridin, a condition of the Brexit divorce terms.
Businesses have welcomed reports of the EU concessions — to be outlined by Commission Vice President Maro? After months of negotiating?ef?oviexcludeInRecommendations? — but they are unlikely to extend to eliminating the role of the European court in Northern Ireland”s affairsSeven months later, Ontario, as demanded by the British governments death toll from COVID-19 was concentrated in long-term-care homes. As of May 25.
You can watch s reservation, which includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, to 30,239.?efThe spread?ovi?’s speech on this page from 1830 CESTThe hot spots, based on recommendations fro.


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There is an international e-commerce boom coming. It will soon be common for small packages to be sent anywhere in the world in three days or less, at affordable prices with electronic tracking and other features. Thinks of it as e-commerce 2.0.
Today, the road to an accelerated international e-commerce boom runs through the United Nations (UN). But if the UN fails to undertake much needed and overdue reforms on the standards and operating practices it sets for packages that go through post offices, workarounds will be found. In fact, most packages today already are shipped outside the UN system.
Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler discusses this in an Op-Ed in The National Interest here.
Find Archived Articles:


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Machine orders in Japan advanced in December after it sharply declined in November, giving us better outlook for business investments in the upcoming period. Increasing demand in the Asian region especially from China is encouraging Japanese manufacturers to enhance productivity, supporting recovery from the nation's deepest recession since WWII.
Machine orders in Japan rose 20.1% in December compared with a drop by 11.3% in November, and it came higher than analysts' estimates of 8.0%. On the yearly record, machine orders slid 1.5% less than the prior decline by 20.5%, and better than the forecasted decline by 10.8%.
Conditions in the business sector are getting better after global demand increased especially demand from China, Japan's first trade partner, which is encouraging exporters to increase capacity and production levels. Japanese exports advanced in the past few months which encouraged large manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corp to improve its earnings outlook after losses previously estimated.
However, overseas shipments rose 11.7% in December from a year earlier, recording the first yearly positive reading in 15 months, which makes us believe that capital spending will be rising over the next six months as companies are more optimistic about sales and profits. Imports declined 6.0% in December from a year earlier giving a chance for the current account surplus to widen for the fourth straight month.
Japan's current account surplus surged 453% in December recording 900.8 billion yen, while the trade balance surplus widened to 631.2 billion yen.
Regarding manufacturing output, it rebounded for the eighth straight month rising 2.2% by the end of 2009 following an increase by 2.6%. Industrial production rose 5.3% in December from a year earlier.
Moreover, the Bank of Japan expected the uptrend in exports and production to remain alongside better economic conditions in overseas markets, so business investments may rise over the medium term, especially with the better forecasts for corporate earnings.
If capital spending continued to improve, we should see conditions in the labor market getting better, keeping in mind that unemployment fell to 5.1% in December. Household spending will increase as income levels are moving forward, that may help to ease the decline in prices and support the economy to fight deflation that continued to weigh on economic activity.


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FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
Inflation has been rising across Asia in recent months, with rates in several countries hitting highs not seen since the 1990s. The trend, driven partly by global commodity-price movements, will raise concerns about overheating in the region, and could increase the pressure for Asian currencies to appreciate.
Back to the 1990s?
Asian governments can congratulate themselves on achieving an enviable run of economic growth in the last few years. Moreover, the region is well placed to withstand the negative effects of the tightening of global credit markets, largely because domestic liquidity is ample and credit growth to date, while rapid, has not been excessive. Nevertheless, there are growing concerns that in parts of Asia price rises are beginning to accelerate.
The biggest inflationary concerns surround China, where in the course of 2007 year-on-year consumer price inflation has surged from 2.2% in January to a peak of 6.5% in August. This was the highest level seen since December 1996. Although the figure eased slightly to 6.2% in September, there are concerns that it may not come down again quickly--the government's recent move to raise state-mandated fuel prices and anecdotal reports of resurgent food-price pressures could signal even stronger inflation on the horizon for the rest of the year....MORE


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Max Payne Mobile about to be released
Rockstar announced that the classic game is coming on April 12th for the iOS version and two weeks later, April 26th, for the Android one
Rockstar has just sent us a PR indicating that Max Payne mobile will be released on iOS and Android platforms on April 12th and April 26th respectively. The game is an adapted version of the original one and promises a lot of action and fun.
Our thanks to 'Rockstar' for this PR item, and to 'Kaos2K' for posting it!


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Codemasters has announced that GRID, its upcoming track-focused arcade racer has been delayed from its original release date of September 13th, 2019 to October 11th, 2019.
Ultimate Edition owners will still receive three days of early access from October 8th. This delay applies to the launch of the game on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. GRID will also be available on the Google Stadia game streaming platform as a launch title later this year, though a release date for the service has yet to be announced.
Codemasters says the reason for the delay is “to give added exposure to a game we’re hugely excited about.” No further reasoning was specified, but the developer did tease that “more major news” about GRID will be shared within the next few days, with additional announcements to come leading up to the game’s release.
Recently, Codemasters debuted the new Havana circuit for GRID. Set in the bustling, exotic capital city of Cuba, located in the northern Caribbean, this fantasy track is a twisty and unforgiving circuit.
“Havana’s busy lifestyle and stunning architecture make it a perfect location for a street circuit in GRID,” Codemasters says. “With every corner lined with roaring crowds, imposing buildings, and even the odd crashing wave from the Gulf of Mexico, there’s plenty of atmosphere to go with the on-track action.”
Races in GRID are divided amongst seven classes, including Touring, Tuner, Stock, GT, Formula J, Prototypes and Group 7 Specials. Codemasters also recently unveiled the first 12 cars that will be featured in the game, including the likes of the Audi RS 3 LMS, the Ferrari 488 GTE and the Porsche 911 RSR.
Alan is the co-founder and co-owner of FullThrottle Media. As someone who enjoys spending all his free time playing video games, he delivers the latest in news stories, reviews, and feature articles to the website, as well as videos on his YouTube channel and livestreams over on Mixer.


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Jan 26, 2018
Royal Mail reaches agreement with union
Royal Mail and its main trade union have reached an agreement over pensions, pay and working conditions, paving the way for the resolution of a long-running industrial conflict. The CWU had threatened the first nationwide walkout at Royal Mail since it was privatised in 2013, but London's High Court ordered the parties into meditation. The draft agreement will be considered by the CWU's postal executive committee next week, according to a joint statement signed by Jon Millidge, Royal Mail Group's human resources director and Terry Pullinger, CWU deputy general secretary. "Ratification of the final agreement will be subject to a ballot of CWU members and approval by the Royal Mail plc Board," the statement added. The Financial Times reported last week that Royal Mail made an offer to the government to write the regulations required to set up a new kind of pension fund, called a "Collective defined benefit" scheme, which the company and union have agreed upon.
Make a complaint about Royal Mail by viewing their customer service contacts.


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Removable drives like thumb drives, universal serial bus and pen drives are the new home of malware in India with infected drives spreading around 39 per cent of the total web threats in the country. These infected drives are used to steal data and leak confidential information.
In the Asia-Pacific region, this number stands at 31 per cent while the worldwide, it is in single digits, says Internet content security firm Trend Micro.
"This trend is quite is specific to the Indian market because the world over, the web is the biggest form infection but in the APAC region, specially in India, it is these removable drives that are spreading the malware really fast," said Greg Boyle, APAC small and mid-sized regional product marketing manager, Trend Micro.
Customer information like credit card information and intellectual property are the main areas of theft.
Moreover, with the economic slowdown, staff redundancies are becoming more prominent. "At this time, when layoffs and retrenchment is happening, it is easier for employees to leak information to their new employers," explained Boyle.
Most of the data theft happens in the banking, financial services and insurance space but medical research and manufacturing are the new additions because these have expensive and valuable intellectual property, templates and patents.
As a preventive measure, Boyle says, companies should make strict rules about not allowing these USBs to transfer data, without prior permission. Also, Trend Micro has developed new office products against USB threats.
The company has partnered with Transcend, the global storage and multimedia products company, to develop a removable device with preinstalled security that will not allow confidential data to be transferred.
This will also stop the process wherein one infected thumbdrive is connected with many systems thereby corrupting all of them.
India contributes 7% to global spam
India has shown the highest percentage increase in spam in the first quarter of 2009 by contributing nearly seven per cent to global spam. Perhaps spam is the latest industry to try its hand at outsourcing to India.
The latest report by Internet security firm McAfee says that in this quarter, 63 per cent of the new IP addresses operating as 'zombies' were accounted for by the top 10 countries, in which India occupies the third spot.
In this quarter, McAfee detected nearly 12 million new IP addresses, a 50 per cent increase from 2008. These addresses were operating as 'zombies' or computers under the control of spammers and others.
The report reveals that spam levels have not yet fully recovered from the McColo shutdown, which took place in Nov 2008.


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While many people noshed on turkey or ham today, some got their protein from another source, a six-legged source.
Crickets are becoming a popular food option. Exo, short for exoskeleton, is one company leading the cricket revolution.
“We had live crickets show up on our doorstep; ordered them through the mail. And we put them in our freezer, and then put them in the oven and put them in the blender and basically made this powder on our own,” Greg Sewitz, co-founder Exo, said.
After six months of sales, they are started to establish themselves in healthfood stores.
Now, they are not alone and face increasing competition from other companies looking to get in on insect protein.


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Costco (NASDAQ: COST) stock rose 15% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, and the rally significantly outpaced the 2.8% gain in the broader market.
The boost pushed the warehouse giant back into solidly positive territory for the year, with shares currently sitting just below the 18% increase logged by the S&P 500.
October's bounce coincided with positive news from many of Costco's retailing peers. Wal-Mart announced in mid-November that its comparable-store sales had accelerated to a 2.7% pace from 1.8% in the prior quarter, for example. And Target during the same week revealed improving third-quarter customer traffic trends.
Costco's own data confirmed strengthening demand in the retailing industry. On Nov. 29, the company reported an 8% comps increase for the prior four weeks, which included the Black Friday holiday weekend. Comps were up a more modest 6% in the prior month.
Together, these reports suggest that major retailers like Costco, who have a significant physical presence in addition to a robust digital selling infrastructure, could enjoy healthy growth over the holiday season. Investors will get details on how much profit each of those segments is generating when Costco posts its first-quarter results on December 14.
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Gold Daily Review for April 11, 2018
|The precious metal continues to trade with a mildly bullish tone despite risk markets taking heart from a more conciliatory tone coming out of Beijing|
|Goldman Sachs has lowered its price target for Tesla to $195. The bank says the current Model 3 production rate suggests that the company has issues beyon…|
|Tesla Inc.’s TSLA, +5.19% “sustainable” Model 3 production rate for the second quarter is likely below 2,000 sedans, and the Silicon Valley car maker|
Have a nice trading!


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Conde Nast staffers are bracing for another S.I. Newhouse "January surprise."
NY Post: According to sources, the trouble spots are rumored to include Sarah Chubb's CondéNet Web operation, which has already absorbed year-end cuts with the shutdown of flip.com and other staff cuts within the online unit.
"Digital accounts for only 3 percent of their total revenue," said one knowledgeable executive. "They don't make a penny on digital - and they never have..."
Many fear the reins will be further tightened next year, especially since most magazine publishers are expecting double-digit revenue declines. The hit to Condé's top line could be particularly severe given its reliance on luxury ads. One source said Condé's first-quarter revenue could be down as much as 30 percent.
In 2008, aside from start-up magazines, Golf World, a relatively small weekly, and parenting title Cookie were the only ones in the empire to post ad-page gains. Golf World was up 5 percent this year, while Cookie rose 10 percent, according to year-end numbers from Media Industry Newsletter.
The embattled Condé Nast Portfolio also was up in ad pages this year, but the comparisons are complicated by the magazine going monthly in September after publishing sporadically before then. Condé has since decided to publish just 10 issues a year instead of 12.
Vogue, the biggest money maker in the company, had a poor year, sliding 9.6 percent in the ad-page count to 2,893.
Read full article >


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Fuelled by record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought, Australia’s deadly bushfires have destroyed 15.6 million acres of land, killing at least 27 people, leaving thousands homeless and devastating local businesses – including some of the country’s cherished vineyards. In the face of adversity, the wine industry has rallied together to support those who have lost their livelihoods. Here’s how you can help, too…
Ever since Australia’s fire season started uncategorically early – back in September 2019 – brave volunteer firefighters have grappled with the worsening blazes, the deadliest found along its eastern and southern coastal areas. On 9 January, around 130 fires were burning across New South Wales (NSW), with more than 50 uncontained, according to the BBC.
Across South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, vineyards and wineries have suffered serious damage that will take years to recover from, according to Andreas Clark, CEO of Wine Australia – the government authority that promotes and regulates the industry – who warns it will be several weeks before the extent of the damage is revealed.
“In some areas where people have been evacuated it will be some time before it is safe to access vineyards,” Clark explains. “There is also the fact that assessment of the impact on vines is complex. It is easy to see when vines are burned but often it takes much longer to establish the damage caused by heat.”
Huge numbers of grape growers and wine producers up and down the country face an unpredictable 2020 vintage, as the full impact of the extreme heat and toxic smoke plumes remain unknown; bushfire smoke permeates the skin of ripening grapes, giving the resulting wine a less-than-pleasant taste.
For others, the outlook is rather more bleak. In Adelaide Hills, the Cudlee Creek fire is thought to have destroyed up to a third of the region’s vines, affecting more than 60 growers and producers – an estimated loss of AUD$20 million worth of wine – and burning through equipment, barrels and buildings. Vines that have tended by families across generations are left scorched and reduced to ash.
“On Friday 20th December, the Cudlee Creek bushfire swept through our property destroying 21 years of hard work – the winery, all the wine stock, 90% of the vineyard, all of the farm, all of the sheds,” the owners of Adelaide Hills-based Tilbrook Estate wrote on their website. “Our insurance will cover the physical items, but it’s going to take months, if not years, to get there. We have lost our livelihood. We have no wine or grapes, so we have no income.” He has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to repair the damage.
Devastating as such stories may be, they are, thankfully, in the minority. Just a fraction of Australia’s national vineyard land has fallen within the fire zones, says Clark, with most fires “in heavily forested areas or National Parks”.
“While the toll on individuals cannot be underestimated and should not be downplayed, a review of fire maps suggests a maximum of around 1,500 hectares of vineyards fall within the fire affected regions to date,” he explains. “Even if all those vineyards were fire damaged – and they are not – it would only be about 1% of Australia’s total vineyard area.”
Where growers and producers have been severely impacted, the wine sector is coordinating short-term relief and longer-term planning with government bodies and local agencies, says Australian Grape and Wine chief executive Tony Battaglene. “Responses must include relief for those directly impacted – including those growers who might not be able to sell smoke-affected grapes,” he explains. “In the medium term we must look to strengthen regional tourism and bring people back to the regions.”
In the longer term, grape shortages in fire-affected areas are expected to send prices skyrocketing. For now, however, growers and producers are focused on preserving and protecting the surviving vines and limit the impact of the ongoing fires wherever possible.
“Our message is that Australia is hurting from the fires, but we are open for business,” Battaglene adds. “We need donations to the relief funds, support for our emergency services, and consumers to buy our wine and visit our regions. It is important to note that the fire season is not over and our temporary relief may not last.”
Want to help Australia tackle its bushfire crisis? To donate directly, visit the Australian Red Cross, seek out regional fundraises, or simply buy a bottle of Aussie vino. Bars, restaurants and businesses across the globe are holding fundraising events, from wine flights to dedicated menus, so you can further support the cause with your palate, too.


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Fashion group Capri Holdings reported strong earnings results in the first quarter, highlighting the resiliency of the luxury market amid inflationary periods.
Capri — which owns brands like Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors — saw its total revenue rise 8.5% year-over-year in the first quater to $1.36 billion. For individual brands, Versace’s revenue increased 14.6% to $275 million compared to last year, Jimmy Choo’s revenue rose 21.1% to $172 million and Michael Kors’ revenue was up 4.8% to $913 million.
The company’s growth was largely driven by the consistent demand for luxury goods from high-income shoppers. Retail analysts said shoppers of luxury goods aren’t as easily swayed by inflationary pressures. As a result, the company has remained optimistic about its long-term potential.
“While we recognize there are near-term macro uncertainties, our confidence in Capri Holdings’ ability to achieve our long-term goals is grounded in the proven resilience of the luxury industry, the strength of our luxury portfolio and the talented group of employees executing our strategic initiatives,” Capri Holdings CEO John D. Idol,said during a call with investors and analysts. “As a result, Capri Holdings is positioned to deliver multiple years of revenue and earnings growth as well as increased shareholder value.”
For the full fiscal 2023 year, the company expects total revenue to be around $5.85 billion from its previous $5.95 billion outlook in the previous quarter. The company maintained its full-year revenue outlook for Jimmy Choo of about $650 million but projects Versace’s revenue to be $1.18 billion from its previous $1.23 billion expectation. Michael Kors’ revenue outlook was also lowered from $4.08 billion to $4.03 billion.
“The luxury consumer has been less affected by inflation so they’re having to be less choosy,” said Charles Lewis Sizemore, chief investment officer of Sizemore Capital. “They’re not having to necessarily cut back in some areas in order to compensate for higher spending and others.”
Similar dynamics are playing out at apparel brand Ralph Lauren, which reported that revenue rose 8% to $1.5 billion in the first quarter, beating analysts’ expectations. Luxury company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, on the other hand, reported that its revenue for the first half of 2022 was up 28% compared to 2021.
Capri also seem to be acquiring new luxury customers. The company said 12 million new names had been added to its databases over the last year. Capri was able to achieve this, despite publicly stating plans earlier this year to increase prices.
“They are one of the few brands out there that are actually looking to maintain the brand equity that most brands earned over pandemic but most are also getting back really quickly. So I think that is a very strong driver,” said Simeon Siegel, managing director at Canadian multinational investment bank BMO Capital Markets. “The Versace [and] Jimmy Choo brands appear to be benefiting from the broad-based lift we’re seeing across luxury.”
Michael Kors’ growth appears to be lagging behind Versace and Jimmy Choo, both of which saw a double-digit revenue lift. Bryan Gildenberg, svp of commerce at Omnicom Commerce Group, said Michael Kors has a much larger distribution than the other two brands and is also positioned as more of amass market luxury brand. Because of that, he said its growth will inherently be slower and it is slightly more vulnerable to market conditions.
Though Capri’s luxury offering has allowed it to thrive despite macro-economic headwinds, they aren’t entirely immune to it.
Revenue in Asia for all three Capri brands declined, partly due to Covid-related lockdowns in China. Executives said they expect the impact of these restrictions in China to continue through the second half of the fiscal year.
“The vagaries of [China’s] Covid lockdown situation are they’re very difficult to forecast, particularly if you get either a shutdown in a market like Shanghai, which clearly impacts luxury brand performance, or just a mitigation in domestic Chinese travel,” Gildenberg said. “Brands that are dependent upon China for a significant amount of the sales growth, I think, are required to be a little bit more cautious.”
Additionally, the company’s margins had been squeezed slightly tighter this quarter. The company’s gross margin in the first quarter was 66.3% versus 68.3% the previous year, and its net income was $201 million compared to last year’s $219 million. Sizemore said this could be due to supply chain constraints, among other inflationary pressures.
“I expected some margin compression just due to inflationary issues that affect everybody,” Sizemore said. “Otherwise, the story that they have told has been very consistent with what we’ve seen elsewhere. This is a very consistent story across the high-end retail space.”


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M-PESA has won the Mobile Money for the Unbanked Award at this year’s Global Mobile Awards, which was held last week in Barcelona.
The category topped by M-PESA recognises innovative, sustainable, pioneering mobile money services around the world that bring low-cost financial services, through mobile, within the reach of low income groups. The award recognises the mobile money service that has had the most significant impact on unbanked customers in developing markets over the last year.
The award was jointly received by five operators – Vodafone Group, Safaricom, Vodacom, Vodafone Essar Limited and Roshan Ltd – that offer the M-PESA service in various parts of the globe. The service is available in a number of countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt, Afghanistan and Fiji.
M-PESA was first launched in Kenya on the Safaricom network just over three years ago.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore exalted in the win and said it was a validation of ongoing work to expand the M-PESA service in line with meeting the needs of the Kenyan customer.
In an exclusive interview with How we made it in Africa last year, Susie Lonie, who was recruited to develop and manage the project on the ground in Kenya from pilot to commercial operation, said: “From very early in the project I felt certain that we were onto something pretty big with M-PESA. However, I would never have predicted anything like the growth we experienced. I remember a month after the Kenyan launch the Safaricom CEO called us to his office and said he wanted us to triple our year one target. We thought he was joking but in fact we achieved this new target in the first eight months.”
Lonie expects to see an increasing level of integration between products such as M-PESA and the more traditional financial services infrastructure. “Already in Kenya, M-PESA customers can have a savings account held in a bank but only access it via M-PESA, and never set foot in a banking hall. In Tanzania, customers have been able to top up their prepaid electricity through M-PESA without needing to travel to a licensed vendor of electricity vouchers for nearly two years. This kind of integration, where M-PESA is an access channel to many kinds of payment and banking services, will continue to grow. One day in the not too distant future products like M-PESA will be accepted by the banking community as just as obvious an extension of their portfolio as internet payments have become,” she said.


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Bengaluru based electric vehicle platform, Micelio Mobility has inked an MoU with the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), a government organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world.
The MoU was signed at the recently-concluded Micelio Global Clean Mobility Summit 2022 in Bengaluru.
Together, they will collaborate on three areas:
- Clean Mobility Partner – Micelio mobility will be the clean mobility partner for Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in India
- Supply chain – Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) will be helping Japan and India in the Supply chain industry in the clean mobility sector.
- Knowledge space – This association will help in organizing joint workshops and partnering with universities where Micelio will offer specific programs in the clean mobility sector and lastly bring Indian universities or student communities closer.
In the collaboration between Micelio Mobility and Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), Micelio Mobility will be the launchpad for any clean mobility Japanese startups and companies who plan to start operations in India.
Shreyas Shibulal, Founder & CEO, of Micelio Mobility, says “We are delighted to collaborate with Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO). Our goal at Micelio Mobility is to create a supportive ecosystem for clean mobility that fosters innovation at scale.”
Toshihiro Mizutani from Japan External Trade Organisation says “We are delighted Micelio has become our first partner that covers mobility-related industries. We would like to work together to create innovations in India and Japan.


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By Asher Moses
Commonwealth Bank customers are being inundated with phishing attacks, some at a rate of several scam emails a day, sent by cyber criminals seeking to steal passwords and credit card details.
The scammers, who are specifically targeting the bank in a sustained assault, are bombarding customers with several clever variations of the email ruse - such as using bogus call centres - in an attempt to hook even tech-savvy web users.
The emails have largely managed to evade spam filters using methods such as images instead of text.
Commonwealth Bank spokesman Steve Batten said the bank was working closely with the Australian Federal Police's Australian High Tech Crime Centre to track down the scammers. However, the bank appears to be losing the war.
"As soon as we close them down they are opening up elsewhere," Batten said.
This is backed up by figures from the Australian Payments Clearing Association, which reported a 33 per cent increase in both the volume and value of fraudulent online payments in Australia for the year ended December 31, 2008.
The scam emails, which look authentic and include the Commonwealth Bank's logo, try to trick the victim into handing over sensitive information by telling them they need to unlock an account, activate a card, claim a fee refund, update internet banking details, view an important security message or complete a survey in exchange for payment.
When the victim clicks on the link in the email, they are either infected with a password-stealing virus or presented with an official-looking page that asks them to enter their details, which are then harvested by the fraudsters.
Batten said some of the emails purport to come from actual Commonwealth Bank staff members. He stressed that the bank would never ask customers to submit sensitive information over email.
But in a new variation on the traditional "phishing" attack, which usually asks victims to click on a malicious link, one Commonwealth Bank scam email asks customers to call a Queensland phone number in order to redeem a $500 "cashback bonus".
IT contractor Tom Howard, from the Central Coast, received the email and attempted to call the number just as an experiment.
"It's an automated system with an American accent that welcomes you to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and then requests an account number or says something's expired and asks for your credit card number," he said.
The voice recording then requested Howard's expiry date and pin number, but he just entered in random digits.
"It actually told me the information was incorrect, which suggests that it's hooked up to a payment gateway and it's actually trying to do an authorisation on the credit card right then and there," he said.
Howard said he was alarmed at the sophistication of the scam and believed the bogus call centre idea would trick a lot of people.
"People have been conditioned in terms of these phishing emails to 'don't click on the links', but not so much to 'don't call the number'," he said.


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An Asda store in Manchester, UK, has taken an incredible step to helping autistic and disabled shoppers as it introduces the first ever “quiet hour”.
During quiet hour, the store will shut down escalators, turn off in-store music and TV displays to offer those uncomfortable with a lot of noise a chance to shop in peace.
Disabled and autistic customers will also be given a map of the store with large pictures to help them navigate the superstore.
Simon Lea, manager of the Manchester branch, explained that he had the idea after a meeting with a customer: “This boy was kicking and screaming. His mom just looked drained. She told me he suffers from autism.”
Simon gave the boy a 50p voucher and a £1 football to calm him down and had the idea for an in-store quiet hour.
“The lad looked at me and he started playing with the football. His mom was the happiest I have ever seen anyone — just for giving him a football.”
After discussing the idea with colleagues and customers, Simon’s excited to host the first quiet hour at 8am on May 7th.
“It’s all about helping people really. Six months ago I would have said, ‘Control your child’, but speaking to people with autism and disabled people has helped me think about how I can make it a better place to shop.”
“There are a lot of people out there who have mental health issues. There are many people who don’t talk about it. We have a lot of disabled customers and we want to make the shop better for them.”


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Unlike stablecoins, tokens designed to track the rate of fiat currencies or other assets, which companies have attempted to make in the past, Terra already possesses an active user-base. The man who created it is the CEO of the unicorn startup TMON, one of the high-end online stores in South Korea.
So now Terra has partners that bring along about 40 million clients. One of these partners and investors is the Binance trading platform. Other investors are Polychain Capital, FBG Capital, etc.
The stablecoin is planned to be utilized as a stable digital payment system.


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Aftersales should be a major focus of the March ‘plate change month as retailers look to retain customers in the busiest month of the year, according to Xtime.
The customer retention solution is encouraging dealers to be mindful of the longer term profits each sale could represent as cars are sold at high volumes and the temptation is to chase targets rather than consider longer-term profit possibilities.
In March 2016, SMMT figures show that 518,707 new cars were registered in the UK and, despite uncertainty in the market over the past 12 months, VED increases arriving in April could see this March deliver the highest ever monthly registrations figure.
Paul Humphreys, managing director of Xtime at Cox Automotive UK, said: “With around 80% of UK adults now using the Internet for purchases, it would be naïve to assume that these consumers are not also looking to arrange their car servicing online.
“Xtime provides dealers with market-leading customer retention tools to allow them to reach car owners seeking online solutions to their aftersales needs, from servicing booking systems to MOT reminders.
“We help dealers to maximise their aftersales offering and ultimately improve their profitability, as it typically delivers the highest margins of any part of their business.”
Xtime processes more than 3.2 million appointments per month and has booked more than 100 million service visits since its formation in 2004.
Xtime works with 28 global OEMs to help drive success for their businesses, working with a total of 8,000 dealerships across three continents.


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Mesquite Fresh Street Mex Announces Partnership with Phoenix Rising FC
By Claire Natale -
Friday Apr 28, 2023
PHOENIX – Mesquite Fresh Street Mex is thrilled to announce its latest partnership with Phoenix Rising FC, Arizona’s only professional football club. As of April 2023, Phoenix Rising’s soccer enthusiasts have access to free taco cards for fans at all home matches, 15% off in-store meals at the 40th St. Phoenix location, in addition to $6,000 in meal credit for Rising’s staff and players.
“It’s an honor to be recognized as Phoenix Rising’s preferred team meal provider for its talented players and dedicated fans,” said Ahmad Alatrash, co-founder of restaurant creative group AR Concepts. “Everyone at Mesquite is excited for the possibilities this partnership opens for future collaborative efforts.”
As an official partner of Phoenix Rising, Mesquite will benefit from social promotion by the team and inclusion on 2023 match day posters, field signage, stadium videoboards and the team’s official website – PHXRisingFC.com. This high-profile collaboration follows the restaurant’s recent announcement as official sponsor of Grand Canyon University in late 2022, through which Mesquite offers meal discounts for the university’s students and faculty with presentation of school ID.
"Phoenix Rising is excited to partner with another one of our new neighbors in central Phoenix,” said Rising President Bobby Dulle. "Our fans can now enjoy 15% off a great post-win meal, right across the street from our stadium, thanks to Mesquite Fresh Street Mex. We look forward to working alongside Mesquite and finding more ways to enhance our matchday experience, even beyond our gates.”
Mesquite Fresh Street Mex was created by the Alatrash brothers in 2015, its first location opening in Old Town Scottsdale’s entertainment district. Since its creation, the brand has blossomed to nine Valley locations, with a new Tolleson location slated to open in late 2023.
For more information about Mesquite’s partnerships, menu items, hours of operation and more, visit eatmesquite.com.
About AR Concepts
AR Concepts owners Nas and Ahmad Alatrash, the creatives behind Mesquite Fresh Street Mex, Speedy Street Tacos, Chickadees Chicken and Fries and Grindhouse Espresso Bar, seek to elevate the industry standard of ‘grab and go’ cuisine with decidedly untypical brands. Serving up savory soul foods to crisp BBQ salads and drip coffee to sweet energy juices, offerings from AR Concepts suit any lifestyle and taste palette. For more information about the brands, visit https://eatmesquite.com/, https://eatchickadees.com/, and https://grindhouseespresso.com/.


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That’s a wrap on this year’s edition of the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International, and what a thrilling one it has been. We saw a lot of ultimate highs this weekend as well as some of the lows, and we’re taking one last look around social media to wrap things up. Congratulations to all competitors who achieved their goals this weekend and we look forward to seeing what’s on tap next for all of these talented combinations.
From the Head Steward to all of YOU, our amazing family: "Fair Hill is such an extraordinary place full of extraordinary people." THANK YOU, extraordinary volunteers, for making #DuttaFHI such a successful event! Go up to the VIP tent – Meghan's got a free beer for you, as thanks for all your hard work!


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As Liberians strive for electricity to improve living standard and the growth of businesses in the country, Liberia entrepreneurs have called on the government to help ensure that the Liberia Electricity Act is passed into law.
Many businesses, including foreign investors are currently finding it difficult to improve their businesses owing to the high cost of electricity in Liberia and thereby hampering the decentralization of some in other parts of the country.
For over a decade now, Liberian entrepreneurs have turned more serious attention toward entrepreneurship in contribution toward the development of the country.
But many have described the lack of electricity as a hurdle that must be addressed in a timely manner to ensure that they reach their benchmark.
“If the electricity crisis is resolved in Liberia, many businesses can contribute to the development of the economy through a regular tax payment process and the employment of a workforce in Monrovia and other parts of the country. We believe that the passage of the
Liberia Electricity Act will empower many businesses, including the government in addressing some of their needs across Liberia,” a local entrepreneur said.
A young Liberian entrepreneur, Menekenu Waritay, who is engaged in clothing design and printing, told the Daily Observer yesterday that many businesses were facing a huge challenge with regard to electricity, which is cardinal to the growth and development of any business, especially considering the technology era of the world.
According to him, if Liberia’s electricity impediment is addressed, many businesses would take advantage of the opportunities for loan to purchase the necessary equipment that will improve their businesses as well as support the decentralization through the establishment of local branches in other parts of Liberia.
He maintained that many businesses in the country were also facing multiple challenges, including tax clearance from the government that continue to be marked with a delays, adding that, “We need to have a fast process in getting tax clearance to enable entrepreneurs to obtain contracts in the shortest possible time.”
Mr. Waritay said, there are some equipment that required the use of reliable electricity, which many small businesses desperately need in order develop or improve their performance and profit margins.
According to him, decentralization will only take place, especially for businesses with the coming of new electricity companies to provide competitive energy solutions across the country, particularly at low cost.
“Many of these businesses will continue to find it difficult in ascending or reaching to their benchmarks if we continue to face the same problem of electricity. We need to have other companies competing through the distribution of current that will lead to a reliable and less costly access to power throughout Liberia,” he observed.
According to him, with Liberia acceding to the World Trade Organization (WTO), other countries with standards will greatly outshine Liberian businesses competing on the world market.
“In exporting, you need to have a high volume to put out into the western world, getting it from Liberia is the first step but landing it in the United States for example is another, because America has its own standards that I need to address. In order to compete on said market, we need equipment to be able to scale a lot of our products to specific quantity and quality standards. When we have current, we can buy the necessary machinery and get the right quality for the western market,” he said.


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Following the news that Indian airline IndiGo has collaborated with Stemz Healthcare to enable COVID-19 RT-PCR test for domestic as well international passengers; Animesh Kumar, Director of Travel & Tourism and Automotive Consulting at GlobalData, a leading research and consulting company, offers his view:
“Increasing consumer confidence is the only way for the travel and tourism industry and segments like airlines and hospitality to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The move by IndiGo to offer COVID-19 RT-PCR test along with flight bookings is in that direction. Globally, several destinations require the travelers to produce a negative COVID-19 test result either before the boarding or at the time of the arrival. The move allows the customers to opt for either a home test or visit an empanelled collection center.
“Airlines across the globe are coming up with measures to facilitate this process of getting tested and increasing the consumer confidence. Reportedly, Lufthansa is in discussions with Roche for deploying rapid antigen tests that can give results in minutes. In some of the routes, United Airlines is offering free COVID-19 testing.
“Customers in India are postponing their travel plans as they are concerned about getting infected by the virus in the closed environment of an aircraft cabin. If airlines offer rapid antigen tests at the airport and ensure that only those who have tested negative are allowed to board, it will help in elevating the consumer confidence. However, it would also be an operational nightmare and may not be feasible for all flights. ‘Negative-Only’ flights can be attempted on routes that are popular in the holiday seasons as that may provide the much-needed boost to all stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry.”


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HONG KONG (Reuters) - A handful of Chinese artists broke world auction records during Sotheby’s spring sales in Hong Kong on Monday with demand proving robust for certain categories of Chinese art despite a global economic slump.
Chinese artist Lin Fengmian’s rare oil painting “Fishing Harvest” which went on the market for the first time, sold for HK$16.34 million ($2.1 million) in brisk bidding, a world auction record for the artist at auction according to Sotheby’s.
A quartet of Lin oil paintings of Chinese opera figures, sold separately, also fetched a combined total of around $3.1 million, far exceeding pre-sales estimates. Of these, “Mu Guiying taking Command” made HK$8.4 million ($1.1 million), more than four times the pre-sale estimate.
Zhu Yuanzhi’s “The Last Supper” sold for HK$6.02 million ($770,000), a world auction record for the artist.
“It was a really nice surprise,” said Lily Lee, the head of 20th Century Chinese art for Sothebys.
Sotheby’s biannual Asian sales in Hong Kong, often seen as a barometer for Chinese art market sentiment, were noticeably smaller this time round given the weak market conditions.
Yet some experts said a combination of cheaper, more realistic valuations and a condensed offering lacking in major blockbuster works, had drawn an unexpectedly robust showing.
“The market is there. Today is very strong,” said Anthony Lin, a fine arts dealer and a former head of rival auction house Christie’s in Asia who attended the day’s sales.
“Obviously they (Sotheby’s) didn’t take risks or they couldn’t find any large works by any of the top artists. But in general it’s pretty impressive in this market,” he added.
While only 80 percent of the lots were sold in the 20th Century Chinese art sale, dealers said demand for premium lots was stronger, especially from mainland Chinese buyers.
“A lot of people were bidding like crazy,” said Hugh Moss, a veteran collector and dealer of Chinese art and ceramics who attended the Sotheby’s sales: “It goes against all recent trends,” added Moss who bid, but failed to buy three paintings.
In the sale of Chinese contemporary art, which has cooled noticeably since a pre-crisis boom, 21 percent of lots were unsold with patchy demand for lesser works. But a couple of Chinese artists, including Huang Yongping and Sui Jianguo, did break world auction records for their works, Sotheby’s said.
In the more established fine Chinese paintings category, 89 percent of the lots were sold in a Sunday sale. Fu Baoshi’s “Drunken Monk” inkbrush painting fetched HK$6.26 million ($801,000), around twice its pre-sale estimate, while the entire sale made a total of $16.6 million, well above expectations.
“It is a very encouraging sign for the market that quality works are highly sought after, with almost three quarters of the lots sold making above the pre-sale high estimate,” said C.K. Cheung, the head of Chinese paintings at Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s inaugural Hong Kong wine sale over the weekend raked in HK$49.9 million ($6.4 million), and was 100 percent sold by lot, reflecting cheaper pre-sales valuations and solid demand for top vintages among wine collectors in Hong Kong which is positioning itself as a regional wine hub.
($1=7.749 Hong Kong Dollar)
Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Bill Tarrant
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Blog: Nestle receives green light on Pfizer deal
Michelle Russell | 6 November 2012
Swiss food group Nestle today (6 November) received approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce for its US$11.85bn deal to acquire Pfizer's infant nutrition business.
The approval brings Nestle another step closer to completing the acquisition, which was announced in April this year, enabling the world's largest infant nutrition group to extend its lead in this fast-growing category.
Pfizer Nutrition operates in more than 60 countries globally and 85% of sales are generated in emerging markets, meaning the acquisition effectively fills in the blanks on the map for Nestle. It will provide the company with increased scale in a high-growth, high-margin, category in fast-growing developing markets, CEO Paul Bulcke told investors as it emerged as victor of competitive auction process.
Nestle beat companies including Danone and Mead Johnson to seal the agreement. The next hurdle, however, is to receive approval from anti-trust bodies in several countries in order to fully complete the acquisition.
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