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Kohl’s cut its full-year profit forecast after the department store operator missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly same-store sales and profit, sending its shares down over 10% Tuesday morning.
Much like other US retailers, Kohl’s has been bolstering its digital business to drive a turnaround as it fights to stay relevant at a time when shoppers increasingly prefer shopping online.
To get ahead of the game, Kohl’s has partnered up with Amazon and increased its focus on athletic apparel. Yet Kohl’s missed same-store sales expectations in the reported quarter for the first time in two years.
“The year has started off slower than we’d like, with our first-quarter sales coming in below our expectation,” chief executive officer Michelle Gass said.
Sales at stores open for at least a year fell 3.4%, the first drop in seven quarters, and were below the average analyst estimate of a 0.15% dip, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net sales fell to $3.82 billion in the first quarter ended May 4. Analysts on average were expecting $3.94 billion.
“We are planning the year more conservatively,” Gass said, adding that it was “actively addressing” the causes for weak first-quarter sales.
Net income fell 17% to $62 million, or 38 cents per share, from $75 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, the company earned 61 cents per share in the quarter, missing analysts’ expectation of 68 cents.
“There is no doubt that this (results) represents, at the very least, a serious diversion on Kohl’s road to recovery,” GlobalData Retail managing director Neil Saunders said.
The weak results also prompted the company to cut its adjusted profit forecast for fiscal 2019 to $5.15-$5.45 per share, compared to its prior outlook of $5.80-$6.15.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn profit of $6.04 per share.
The forecast for US consumer companies has come under the scanner recently due to the escalation of tariffs by Washington on Chinese imports.
Macy’s and JCPenney said on post-earnings conference calls that the companies could take a hit if the Trump administration implements 25% tariffs on about $300 billion of goods from China, including apparel and accessories. Kohl’s made no mention of the trade war with China in its statement.
Shares of Kohl’s were down 9.3% at $57.05.


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Whitbread sales froth up at Costa and Premier in first quarter
Whitbread booked in a strong start to its new financial year, with revenues at its Premier Inn hotels accelerating and Costa coffee shops sales returning to like-for-like growth.
Total sales for the 13 weeks to 1 June were up 7.6% and LFL sales were up 2.9%,
Premier Inn's total sales rose 9.2% and LFL sales by 4.7%, with total sales little changed since the fourth quarter of last year and LFLs a big improvement from the 2.7%.
The hotel chain continued to win overall market share amid a resilient hotel market and the near-9,000 rooms opened over the last two years, with revenue per available room (revpar) up 3.1% on last year versus a market up 4.1%.
Total UK occupancy was up compared to the first quarter last year at 79.2%, at the same time as capacity increased.
For Costa total sales frothed up 8.7% amid a swathe of new openings and LFL sales bounced 1.1% after an 0.8% decline in the fourth quarter, but are below the 2-3% full year expectation.
However compared to last year, Costa LFL sales are well down on the 2% gain in the last financial year and the 2.9% reported the year before that.
To boost sales amid the current heatwave there are new initiatives being rolled out including 'cold brew' coffee in over 200 stores and latest summer 'Frostino' banana and caramel blends and other cooler drinks have just gone on sale in June.
A breakfast range was introduced towards the end of the quarter, with further new food ranges launching throughout the year, while in May a new roastery opened to provide capacity to grow over the next 20 years and provide us with an industry-leading centre for coffee innovation and training.
Looking overseas, chief executive Alison Brittain said the five-hotel pipeline in Germany was being developed, with a Premier Inn hotel in Frankfurt performing well, while Costa was seeing good progress in China with positive like for like sales growth.
"We aim to accelerate the development of our international businesses in these attractive markets and continue to look for opportunities to grow more quickly."
In line with the property strategy, the the sale and leaseback of a 247 room hotel in Shoreditch was completed with proceeds of £51m representing a yield of just under 4%, with further proceeds of around £100-150m expected from sale and leaseback transactions this year.
"We have a clear plan to deliver growth in our existing estate and remain on track to open circa 4,200 hotel rooms, 230-250 Costa coffee shops and install circa 1,250 Costa Express machines this year," Brittain added.
Shares in Whitbread, which had been falling since the start of the month, jumped over 4% to 4,037p in the first half-hour of trading on Wednesday.
Analyst Neil Wilson at ETX Capital said the current heatwave will prove a key test for Costa's Cold Brew and Frostino products as Costa sales "continued their slow decline as the nation switches to a wider array of pricier artisan coffees".
He said the faster total growth from new coffee shop openings and Costa Express machines this year mean that while slowing LFL growth "is a concern" the growth of the top line growth and a focus on more expensive ‘finer coffee’ should help.
Shore Capital's Greg Johnson said Costa's rebound from the negative prior quarter was still below the 2-3% FY expectation "although the hot weather may have seen some drag in the period".
Group sales were consistent with his full year expectations of 2.5% and he said overall it was a "decent statement... which belies the recent weakness in the price especially given the property support".
Nicholas Hyett at Hargreaves Lansdown said the results are "pretty solid all things considered", being unable as they were to show the spectacular growth of years past, "but the UK business is a more mature animal than it was and that is inevitably going to slow growth".
"The group continues to set some fairly chunky growth targets for the rest of this year, which could be challenging if the UK economy remains sluggish. However, it’s the international business that seems likely to become the long term growth driver. Although there’s little in the way of fresh news this time round, performance remains robust."

domain: news


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A year ago Sony presented the first prototype of its virtual reality headset called Project Morpheus. Yesterday at Game Developers Conference 2015, the company introduced the upgraded version of the headset and announced that the device would go on sale in the first half of 2016.
The new version of Project Morpheus looks similar to the initial prototype, but bears some serious improvements over the predecessor. Now, Sony's VR headset features a 1920x1080 RGB OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, which is doubled from last year. The device also sports a 5.7-inch display providing a 100-degree field of view, as well as nine LEDs for positional tracking – triple that of the previous version of the headset. To interact with elements in the virtual worlds, the VR system requires a PlayStation 4 console and the PS Move motion controller.
"With the technical specs achieved on the new prototype, we are one step closer to realizing our vision for making amazing VR experiences on PS4, and ultimately to deliver a real sense of presence to players," President of Sony World Wide Studios Shuhei Yoshida said. "We believe that the near-final technology of Morpheus combined with the power of PS4 will provide a standard for game developers to target as they build on their creative ideas and turn them into VR games and experiences."
There has been no announcements on the price yet, but Sony promised more information on the headset as well as to show more games for the device at E3 in June.


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A U.S. District Court judge in Delaware has granted Callaway Golf’s request for an injunction to stop Acushnet from producing and selling its current line of Titleist Pro V1 golf balls no later than Jan. 1.
It’s the latest step in the legal dance between the two manufacturers over ball technology.
Callaway filed suit in 2006, alleging that Acushnet infringed on four patents in the production of its Pro V1 line of multi-layered balls. Before the trial began, Acushnet agreed that Pro V1 balls infringed the patents, but contended those patents weren’t valid. However, a jury ruled in December 2007 that the patents were valid.
After that decision, Callaway Golf filed its motion seeking the injunction, which was what led to this week’s ruling.
Is this the end of the road for the Pro V1, though.
I’d never presume to know what judges and juries would rule on any matter, but, after the Delaware court’s decision was issued, an Acushnet official said one of the most popular brands of golf ball on the market would carry on.
“We strongly disagree with the judge’s ruling and will file an appeal and seek relief from the injunction,” Joe Nauman, Acushnet’s vice-president of corporate and legal affairs, said in a statement. “It’s important to recognize that this ruling will not have any impact on our ability to supply our customers with Pro V1 golf balls because of the following actions which we have undertaken. In September 2008, we converted production of the existing Pro V1 models so that they are outside of the patents in question. And we have also developed, and will be introducing, new and improved Pro V1 products in the first quarter of 2009 that are also outside the scope of the patents in question.”
Callaway Golf’s take on the situation, as you might expect, is different: “Callaway Golf has invested millions of dollars in research and development to create innovative products for millions of golfers around the world and has protected those products with one of the broadest patent portfolios in golf,” senior executive vice-president and chief administrative officer Steve McCracken said in a release. “We are very pleased with (Monday’s) decision, which will stop the sale of these infringing Pro V1 golf balls.”
By the way, Callaway helpfully requested that professional golfers be allowed to play the disputed golf balls throgh the end of the calendar year. The judge requested Acushnet’s request to overturn the December 2007 jury verdict or to grant a new trial.
So, to summarize:
1) Callaway Golf wins a jury trial decision that Acushnet infringed on four patents with its Pro V1 family of balls
2) Callaway Golf also is granted an injunction halting production and sales of the current line of Pro V1 balls as by Jan. 1, 2009
3) Acushnet vows to appeal the decision granting the injunction
4) Acushnet says it has already modified production of the Pro V1 so that it is outside the scope of the patents in question
5) Acushnet says it plans to unveil a new version of Pro V1 in the first three months of 2009
Conclusion from yours truly: Regardless of whether Acushnet gets the injunction lifted and whether a court decides that the changes it has made mean the Pro V1 no longer infringes on Callaway Golf’s patents, it could be interesting when they’re both on the range for Demo Day and then under the roof of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando for the annual PGA Merchandise Show. Match play, anyone?


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As online shopping increases, so do phishing attacks
Since it was first named in 2005, Cyber Monday, or the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, has become the busiest – and for retailers, the most profitable – online shopping day of the year. For perspective, in 2020, consumers spent $10.8 billion on Cyber Monday. Some retailers eager to profit during the holiday season extend online deals into the following week, and so Cyber Monday morphs into Cyber Week.
Cyber Monday and other online holiday shopping events offer consumers great opportunities to purchase gifts from the comfort of their couches instead of lining up outside stores and dealing with traffic, crowds, and other nuisances. Unfortunately, criminals also view increased online shopping during the holiday season as full of opportunities. Their goal is to conduct phishing attacks to steal passwords and personal and credit card information and to compromise devices.
In 2019, Zscaler, a cloud-based information security company, performed an analysis of phishing attacks that occurred during the first 14 days of October and compared them to the first 13 days of November. The results were staggering. Zscaler discovered that the number of phishing attacks rose by nearly 400%.
Bad actors and criminal groups tailored their ploys to take advantage of vulnerable consumers through phony package delivery emails, forged special offers from major online retailers, text messages offering fake giveaways and sign-ups, and site skimmers. Three of the more common ploys included fake Amazon gift cards, fake Amazon login portals, and Trojan malware downloaded via malicious sites or email attachments.
Some ploys redirected users to fictitious sign-in portals, and others prompted them to enter credit card information. Even worse, some phishing attacks attempted to trick users into surreptitiously installing malware that would then attempt to establish persistence and call out to a command-and-control server.
Clearly, bad actors and criminal groups are organized and motivated to take advantage of consumers during the holiday season. Often, the so-called deals promoted in phishing attacks are forwarded to friends and family, thus accelerating an attack’s potential impact. To an information security professional or tech-savvy consumer these ploys are generally nothing more than an annoyance. But to a consumer looking for that hard-to-find gift or toy, these phishing attacks can be disastrous.
No, VPNs don’t protect against phishing attacks
Some consumers install virtual private networks (VPNs) to protect themselves online. However, despite what many advertisements claim, using a VPN for web browsing does not eliminate the risk of criminals stealing users’ personal information.
While VPNs are effective for encrypting traffic in transit and can be useful tools in a broader arsenal of defensive capabilities, they do not magically prevent phishing ploys or make sites or downloads safe. VPNs do not stop malicious programs from executing on users’ systems, and they don’t prevent malware from reaching back out to a command-and-control server. Additionally, VPNs don’t prevent users from navigating to malicious sites, and they don’t foil malicious sites from harvesting users’ credentials.
These 6 measures can help protect against phishing attacks
So, given the anticipated increase in criminal activity during the holidays and the insufficient solution of VPNs, what can consumers do?
To help make their online shopping experiences more secure, consumers should:
Raising awareness about phishing attacks pays off
Because of recent work-from-home trends, the lines between personal computers, home networks, and corporate environments have blurred. Not surprisingly, attackers see opportunity here, and they might try to access corporate infrastructure by compromising users’ personal assets. Therefore, organizations should educate and prepare their employees to fend off attacks, even when attackers might be targeting only noncorporate resources.
As we head into this holiday season, some consumers will no doubt be on the receiving end of nasty phishing attack surprises. But by educating ourselves as consumers and employees about how to spot and protect against phishing attacks, we can all have a safer and happier holiday season.
This content was originally published here.


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The ongoing patent wars being waged among several companies within the technology industry have some questioning whether copyright and trademark protections are being overused. One judge who has witnessed patent battles first-hand seems to think so.
CNET reported that U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner, who months ago dismissed a patent lawsuit between Apple and Motorola, recently took to his blog to speak out against such litigation. Posner argued that it’s difficult for judges and juries alike to rule on patent lawsuits, given the fact that devices themselves contain thousands—if not more—parts that can all be patented. The result, Posner said, is tangled “patent thickets” that make it easy for companies to accuse competitors of infringement. Not only that, but it also allows those organizations that are sued to then question the validity of certain patents—making the legal waters ever murkier.
Yankee Group Research VP Carl Howe comments
“Motorola must have been listening to Judge Posner’s arguments, because it dropped its ITC lawsuit against Apple today as well. While patents can be important protections for device manufacturers, that protection only comes at a cost of years of litigation and millions of dollars of legal fees. While those types of fights may be completely worth the cost to a company like Apple with $100 billion in cash, other manufacturers may see investments in new products and better marketing to offer better returns.”
Tablet manufacturers have done all they can to gain larger market share during the past two years, but little has been accomplished in knocking Apple from the top spot. Hewlett-Packard (HP) is the latest to hatch a scheme to attempt to at least cut into the iPad’s dominant sales figures.Read more >
The App Quality Alliance (AQuA) recently debuted what it’s calling the world’s first directory for quality mobile applications. Created in conjunction with app developers, the directory supports the non-profit organization’s mission of promoting apps that meet high industry standards.Read more >
Technology-savvy retailers are touting mobile couponing as the next best thing in shopping, as customers can access daily deals, rewards programs and other promotions all through their mobile devices.Read more >
VoX Communications, a subsidiary of Pervasip, recently announced that its VoIP app for Android smartphones and tablets has surpassed 100,000 downloads. The company says the figure is proof that mobile users are interested in and are using VoIP regularly.Read more >
Daily Insight | December 9, 2013


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Telecom technology provider Optiemus Infracom Ltd has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Wistron Corporation, a Taiwan-based original design manufacturer (ODM), to set up manufacturing facilities for telecom products in India.
Both the companies will together invest about $200 million in the JV over the next five years in developing infrastructure, technologies and processes to cater to growing Indian and global demands of telecom products via smartphones, tablets and smart devices.
The partnership aims to provide a complete end to end solution to global and Indian brands encompassing manufacturing infrastructure, distribution, retail and after sales, Optiemus Infracom said in a statement.
The JV also targets to create over 15,000 employment opportunities in India over the next five years.
“With this partnership, we are committed to make available world class technology products at affordable prices for global and local brands,” said Ravinder Zutshi, Managing Director, Optiemus Infracom.
“Embarking on this new journey, we intend to emerge as one of the top three third party manufacturers in the country in the next five years. Our collective expertise in design, manufacturing, distribution, retail and after sales services will provide a holistic solution for brands in India,” Zutshi added.
By 2017, India is expected to overtake USA to be the second largest smartphone market globally, as per research firm IDC. The market is expected to continue to grow in double-digits over the next few years as more and more people switch to smartphones and gradually upgrade to 4G-enabled phones.
“We are excited to enter the world’s fastest growing smartphone market with our partner, Optiemus Infracom Limited. We are confident that by leveraging each other’s strengths, we will be able to bring innovation and value at a faster pace to the end consumers,” said Robert Hwang, President & COO, Wistron Corporation.


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As part of McKinsey’s annual Global Payments Report unveiled ahead of the SIBOS banking conference, McKinsey highlights the regulatory uncertainties that surround growing stablecoin usage and the heightened interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). However, it notes that the “market is far too nascent to confidently predict outcomes,” and it questioned whether the two types of digital currency would coexist or one will become dominant.
The consultants rightly contrast the trillions of dollars of transactions that have used stablecoins primarily to pay for cryptocurrency trades, versus the very early steps in CBDCs. When talking about China’s pilot digital yuan, it mentions a figure of $40 million in lottery giveaways.
However, the mention of $40 million may unintentionally leave the impression that China’s trials are even smaller than they’ve been, as the 70 million transactions processed between October 2020 and mid-June 2021 amounted to RMB 34.5 billion ($5.34bn).
McKinsey points to a greater likelihood of CBDC adoption in emerging economies because developed economies have existing efficient real-time payment rails. And emerging economies have exhibited greater cryptocurrency adoption, acting as a spur for central banks to issue a CBDC.
In such an uncertain environment, it’s tricky to suggest actions, but McKinsey gives it a go. For example, for financial services infrastructure providers, it suggests they might need to operate a permissioned node for a CBDC and also a wallet that supports multiple blockchains for stablecoins. There’s a need for banks and payment service providers to accommodate both stablecoins and CBDCs in their modernization efforts.
McKinsey suggests that it’s in the interests of private sector banks for CBDC adoption to grow slowly to limit the impact on bank deposits. Hence limits on balances such as Europe is considering in its potential CBDC will be advantageous.
And when it comes to cryptocurrencies, McKinsey warns speculators should consider the impact of CBDCs, which could deter innovation “potentially unsettling investors in an asset class driven so much by sentiment.”


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Simbisa Brands, the company behind the brands Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn, Nandos and Steers has laid off some contract workers and all students on attachment as a measure to cut costs.
The company has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that has forced Zimbabwe into a lockdown situation.
Low revenue levels
The company said it does not have enough revenue to pay salaries. Some of the few restaurants that are open are only operating from 9am to 1pm on a takeaway basis and such revenue cannot sustain operations.
Students on attachment
The company has informed its employee that it will not be paying attachment allowances to students on attachment.
All contract workers hired from December 2019 will be laid off, the company said in an internal circular.
The remaining workers are required to go on leave whether they have a leave balance or not. The company has allowed leave days to go into the negative as a result of taking more leave days than one has.
Freezing vacant posts
The company has frozen all vacant posts and will not be filled until further notice


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BUSINESS BRIEFING / COSMETICS
Times Wire Reports
Estee Lauder Cos., the maker of Clinique and Bobbi Brown cosmetics, said it would cut 2,000 jobs as declines in makeup and perfume sales reduced second-quarter profit.
The job cuts, about 6% of the workforce, will occur over the next two years, the New York company said. That and other measures, including inventory reduction and a freeze on hiring and merit raises, will reduce expenses as much as $550 million over the next four years, Estee Lauder said.


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As the UK gets ready to leave the European Union next year, the bank has launched a campaign featuring comedian Richard Ayoade emphasising the international aspects of everyday British life, from Colombian coffee to Swedish flat-pack furniture and Indian takeaways.
A 60-second TV ad, called "Global Citizen", is set to the soundtrack of Edward Elgar’s Nimrod and ends with Ayoade saying: "We live on a wonderful lump of land in the middle of the sea. But we are not an island. We are part of something far, far bigger."
It ends with HSBC's new global tagline "Together We Thrive", the bank's first since it dropped "The World's Local Bank" in 2011.
The campaign was created by J Walter Thompson London with media planning and buying by Mindshare.
Accompanying print, outdoor and digital content, also starring Ayoade, promote the bank’s sponsorship of British Cycling, its £10bn Small Business Fund and its support of The Prince’s Trust.
In a statement, HSBC UK said the campaign highlighted its commitment to an open-looking ethos: "We have been connecting the world through trade for 152 years. Our new ad campaign reflects our proud international heritage and our commitment to helping people, businesses and communities in the UK to thrive."
Under government rules stipulating the ring-fencing of personal deposits, HSBC was forced to spin off its UK retail banking arm into a separate division under the HSBC UK brand. The company will later this year move its headquarters from London to Birmingham.
Its global marketing is now led by Leanne Cutts, who joined the organisation from Mondelez International last year.


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VICTORIA, BC – In the latest set of liquor policy changes that have followed in the wake of Parliamentary Secretary John Yap’s B.C. Liquor Policy Review report, British Columbia’s Justice Minister Suzanne Anton announced yesterday that grocery stores in the province will be allowed to sell wine from B.C. winemakers starting next year, with B.C. craft beer likely to follow.
The move comes in tandem with plans to allow full liquor stores stocking beer, wine and spirits to open inside groceries under a “store-within-a-store” model. VQA-certified wine, however, will be allowed on the regular grocery store shelves, with B.C. craft beer expected to be given the same exception once an official designation similar to VQA can be established.
“The Premier and Government have listened to B.C. consumers asking for availability B.C. Craft Beer and VQA wine in aisles of grocery stores,” said Ken Beattie, Executive Director, B.C. Craft Brewers Guild in a statement. “This increased opportunity for people to enjoy or discover great-tasting B.C. Craft Beer also presents a real opportunity to increase B.C. jobs and investment in communities throughout B.C.”
For more details of this initiative, see coverage in the Vancouver Sun.


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Skin substitutes hold much potential for wound healing and will offer an alternative to skin grafting, according to a scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute, Ross Tilley Burn Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
"We can make skin substitutes using cells from patients. There are adult stem cells in almost every organ of the body and these cells are potential sources of cells for skin regeneration," explains Saeid Amini-Nik M.Sc., M.D., Ph.D., a stem cell biologist who spoke during the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Wound Care (November 2016, Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada).
With the aging of the population and the rising incidence in diabetes, there is a growing burden in managing wounds with deficient healing, according to Dr. Amini-Nik. The cost of the treatment of chronic wounds in the United States has been put at more than $25 billion annually, he notes1.
There are an estimated two million burns annually in the United States, 70K of which require hospitalization. Dr. Amini-Nik notes that 10K patients in the United States die annually of infections or other complications associated with serious burns.
Even when patients survive burn injuries, there are some ongoing issues that they have to cope with such as pain and scarring, Dr. Amini-Nik notes.
"If patients survive, there is a high morbidity and a strong psychosocial impact," he says.
When there is an injury to the skin, normal healing with a scar does not always occur2,3, explains Dr. Amini-Nik, an assistant professor in the department of surgery at the University of Toronto in Toronto.
Skin healing can be deficient because of the presence of systemic conditions like diabetes, and it can be deficient in the elderly population4,5, Dr. Amini-Nik notes.
"Sometimes there can be excessive healing, and that is associated with scars like keloids," Dr. Amini-Nik says.
Skin grafting is a means of restoring the skin so it can again perform multiple functions such as acting as a barrier and keeping the body hydrated, Dr. Amini-Nik says. However, bleeding, infection, and nerve damage can occur. Repeat skin grafts may be required, thus making skin grafting an inefficient process, Dr. Amini-Nik explains.
Skin substitutes have reduced morbidity and mortality associated with skin wounds, but there are some disadvantages with using cultured skin substitutes, according to Dr. Amini-Nik. Those include a wait time of three to 12 weeks after taking a biopsy before applying a cultured skin substitute, and the potentially significant cost of the application of a cultured skin substitute to a wound.
"The cost of a cultured skin substitute is about $15 per cm2," Dr. Amini-Nik says.
In addition, inadequate skin regeneration may result when wounds are very inflammatory, Dr. Amini-Nik explains.
Most skin substitutes that are used in wound healing are acellular and fail to use growth factors to aid in wound healing. Basic elements of an effective skin substitute would include scaffold materials, growth factor and cells, Dr. Amini-Nik6 says.


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A court has allowed a group of protesters dressed as zombies to continue with a lawsuit against police who arrested them for disorderly conduct.
The appeal court overturned a previous finding that the group had correctly been arrested over a 2006 protest in a shopping centre.
The group had been wearing makeup designed to make them look like and extra in a horror flick, with white faces, fake blood and black circles round their eyes. Read more
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
US Court Rules Zombies have Right to Free Speech
An appeals court ruled that horror-movie style zombies have the right to free speech after a group of protesters dressed as zombies were arrested by Minnesota police.


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Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is keen to investigate technological advances that can improve consumer confidence in seafood products while also reducing administration for fishers, merchants, processors and retailers. Being able to trace consignments of commercially caught fish is critical to …
Chris Graham, MMO Senior Evidence Specialist
Portable DNA testing device trialed to determine species from fish fillets.
Related content and links
About marine developments
News and updates about the work of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and its partners in enabling sustainable growth in seas around England. Marine industries are estimated to contribute around £49.4 billion a year to the UK economy.
Our about us page explains the MMO's work in more detail.


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PE Weekly: Unilever Carveout May Signal Consumer M&A Opportunity
As enterprise services and manufacturing drive M&A volume, Unilever's sale of Suave could signal opportunity for consumer-focused transactions
Dealmakers in the middle-market continue to search for non-cyclical investment opportunities, with enterprise services, manufacturing and other B2B-focused businesses driving the majority of M&A volume this week. But macroeconomic conditions are forcing many larger companies to look inward and streamline operations, creating carveout opportunity in a variety of sectors—including the consumer space.
Unilever’s exit of the Suave beauty and personal care brand to a middle-market private equity firm is one example of how consumer-focused M&A volume hasn’t entirely disappeared. What’s more, the close of a new fund gives further evidence of confidence in the corporate carveout opportunity. Find out more about the transaction, plus a flurry of other deals announced this week, in our roundup below.
Monroe Street Acquires Criminal Justice Electronic Monitoring Business. Monroe Street Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has acquired Vigilnet America, which provides electronic monitoring services to the criminal justice system. In a statement, Monroe Street managing partner Alex Foshager said, “this partnership will enable us to support key growth initiatives, with a particular focus on strategic acquisitions.”
CORE Industrial Partners Acquires GEM Manufacturing. CORE Industrial Partners, a private equity firm focused on the industrial technology and services spaces, announced its acquisition of precision deep drawn metal components and mechanical assemblies provider GEM Manufacturing. The investment marks CORE’s fifth from its Fund II, which closed in February 2021. CORE said it plans to grow the business through “strategic initiatives and complementary acquisitions,” according to partner Matthew Puglisi.
GenNx360’s ITsavvy Acquires INOC. ITsavvy, a provider of end-to-end technology solutions and portfolio company of private equity firm NenNx360 Capital Partners, has acquired INOC, which offers outsourced network operations center support and consulting solutions. The IT acquisition will strengthen ITsavvy’s existing offering for business clients, a press release noted. “With ITsavvy’s expansive solutions portfolio and expertise in the broader infrastructure market, we can provide quicker technology innovations and better service scalability to clients globally,” said INOC CEO Prasad Ravi in a statement.
Cloud Equity Acquires eBizUniverse to Combine with Cherin. Lower middle-market private equity firm Cloud Equity Group announced its acquisition of eBizUniverse, which provides a variety of digital services including social media and web design to government and private-sector clients. In a statement, Cloud Equity Group managing partner Sean Frank pointed to the opportunity for eBizUniverse to combine with existing portfolio company Cherin, a deal that “creates instant synergies between the two companies and establishes a solid foundation to support major expansion in the digital agency sector.”
AEA Investors’ Meritus Gas Acquires MagneGas Welding Supply. Meritus Gas Partners, formed by AEA Investors as a national federation of industrial, medical and specialty gases and welding safety supplies distributors, has acquired MagneGas Welding Supply – South. The transaction is a part of the Chapter 11 filing of Taronis Fuels, MagneGas’ previous parent company. The acquisition includes MagneGas operations in Texas, Louisiana and Indiana, which includes retail locations, fill plant and specialty gas laboratory.
Mill Rock Capital’s Packaging Platform Acquires Keystone Paper Company. Mill Rock Packing Partners, a packaging platform company of private equity firm Mill Rock Capital, has acquired Keystone Paper & Box Company, according to a recent press release. The platform company, formed in 2020, will use the latest investment to expand in the Eastern U.S. This marks the company’s fourth add-on acquisition.
Crestview’s SyBridge Technologies Announces Manufacturing Acquisition. SyBridge Technologies, a platform company formed by private equity firm Crestview Partners in 2019, announced its acquisition of Cavaform, a tight tolerance precision tooling and molding market. The acquisition enhances SyBridge’s existing design and manufacturing solutions within the life sciences end-market. In a statement, Cavaform Owner and President Dave Massie said the combination of the businesses “creates an exciting platform for growth.”
Dominus Capital’s Uptime Institute Acquires Cybersecurity Company. Uptime Institute, a cybersecurity company enhancing customers’ digital infrastructure security, has acquired LEET Security, which provides cybersecurity risk evaluation and rating solutions. Uptime is a portfolio company of private equity firm Dominus Capital. In a statement, LEET CEO and founder Antonio Ramos said the merger with Uptime delivers “many more opportunities for growth through geographic expansion and development of new service offerings as part of Uptime.”
Audax’s Centerline Communications Acquires Telco Company. Centerline Communications, a telecommunications company that provides design, build and maintenance services for large corporate communication infrastructures and networks, announced its acquisition of Pearson Pelletier Telecom. The investment supports growing demand for Centerline services in Canada, the announcement, noted, and marks its sixth acquisition since being acquired by Audax Private Equity.
Gryphon’s Vivify Expands Colorant and Pigment Business with Acquisition. Vivify Specialty Ingredients, which provides specialty colorants and ingredients for the food and beverage, personal care and cosmetics, and industrial sectors, has acquired Reitech Corporation, which manufactures pigment dispersions. Vivify is a portfolio company of private equity firm Gryphon Investors via its Gryphon Heritage Fund, which acquired the business in December 2021. Their announcement noted Vivify is actively seeking additional partnerships to further expand its product offering.
Unilever Exits Suave Brand to Yellow Wood Partners. Yellow Wood Partners, a private investment firm targeting the middle market, has announced its acquisition of the Suave brand from current owner Unilever. The firm will acquire the beauty and personal care brand’s North American operations in a transaction expected to close in the second quarter of this year. In a statement, Yellow Wood partner Dana Schmaltz said, “We believe our extensive experience with divestitures of large and small brands from multi-national consumer branded companies such as Bayer and Reckitt will help us successfully transition and grow Suave as a focused brand in the Yellow Wood portfolio.”
VSS Capital Exits GreenSlate. VSS Capital Partners, a private investment firm focused on healthcare, education and tech-enabled business services, announced its successful exit of GreenSlate Holdings, a cloud-based payroll, accounting and tax company for the entertainment industry. As part of the transaction, VSS will re-invest in the business alongside Francisco Partners, a private equity firm focused on technology and tech-enabled businesses, as well as VSS’s management team.
A&D Firm Acorn Growth Exits Black Sage to Highlander. Aerospace and defense private equity firm Acorn Growth Companies announced this week its sale of Black Sage Technologies, which provides counter-unmanned aerial systems. Highlander Partners has acquired the assets. In the announcement, Acorn notes that the sale to Highlander “represents a strategic opportunity for continued growth and expansion” for the business.
Pharos Capital Sells Majority Stake in Physical Therapy Business. Pharos Capital Group, a middle-market private equity firm, announced its sale of a majority stake in physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy company MOTION PT Group. MOTION operates 59 clinics, and during its time within the Pharos portfolio, the business completed more than 25 acquisitions. While the announcement noted MOTION will be moving forward with “new strategic partners,” it did not indicate who those partners are.
Blue Sage Exits Manufacturing Company to 3 Rivers. Blue Sage Capital, a lower middle-market private equity firm, announced this week its exit of customized systems and engineered components manufacturer Magnum Systems to 3 Rivers Capital, a private equity firm that invests in small private businesses. Patriot Capital and SharpVue Capital provided debt and equity financing for the deal, the announcement noted.
D.E. Shaw Raises $450 Million for First PE Fund. D.E. Shaw & Co., a global investment firm, announced the close of its first dedicated private equity fund at $450 million, shy of its $500 million target. Dubbed the Voltaic fund, the vehicle aims to capitalize on continued declines in private company valuations, according to reports in Bloomberg. D.E. Shaw said it will focus on enterprise services and products, including software security and artificial intelligence, as well as consumer internet assets. The fund will also focus on both early-stage and growth-stage companies.
Rainier Closes Inaugural Fund at $300 Million. Lower middle-market private equity firm Rainier Partners announced the close of its inaugural fund, Rainier Partners Fund I, at its hard cap of $300 million, a press release said this week. The fundraise surpassed its initial target of $250 million. LPs include foundations, global asset managers, insurance companies, pension plans, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. The fund will focus on control buyouts and corporate carveouts. Rainier targets investments towards the services space, but its existing platform investments also include retail.
Bain Capital Credit Launches Business Development Company. Bain Capital Credit announced this week the launch of Bain Capital Private Credit, a business development company expanding access to middle-market business investment opportunities beyond the institutional investor. Bain pointed to its existing experience in the middle-market private debt market, and noted BCPC will focus on senior secured, floating rate loans and some junior capital investments.


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AOL has reported 47 per cent turnover growth and better-than-expected earnings for the three months to 31 March.
Profit of $438m was up from $411m in the same period last year. Reported profit included one-time gains from the sale of investments totalling $275m in the most recent quarter and $567m in last year's quarter. Turnover rose to $1.8bn.
Kicking Palantir off of AWS is among their demands, too
Rafaela Vasquez was watching The Voice at the time of the crash, new evidence shows
PUBG price slashed on Steam after selling more than 50 million copies - as daily player numbers plunge
Use the same password for every website? It might be time to change them all


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Eleven startups pioneering products and services to ‘help end hunger’ will join next week’s World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator in Munich.
Early-stage companies – ‘from as far afield as Kenya and Dubai’ – will take part in the accelerator, which is being delivered in collaboration with Google Developers Launchpad.
“WFP’s Innovation Accelerator opens its doors next week to the latest cohort of startups and social entrepreneurs who believe they have what it takes to help end hunger,” a WFP Innovation blog states. “Since launching in 2016, more than 20 innovations have progressed from bootcamp to join the Sprint Programme, where they received funding, hands-on support and access to a global network to bring their concept to life.”
One of the startups is Swiss company, URS Labs, which has ‘developed a Guided Drone Transportation System using complex and innovative robotics and artificial intelligence, combined with custom made, revolutionary all-terrain delivery platforms’.
All of the startups will pitch to investors at Google’s office in Munich, between 7pm and 10pm, on Thursday 8 March, which members of the public can book to attend.


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The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association commissioned an Economic Impact Study on the RV industry, released on June 7, 2016. The study found that the RV industry contributes about $49.7 billion in economic output or 0.28 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Through its production and distribution linkages, the industry impacts firms in 426 of the 440 sectors of the United States economy.
Nationwide, the industry is responsible for 216,170 jobs, both directly and inderectly, creating an economic impact of $37.5 billion. The full study results, along with each individual state and congressional district's economic impact is available on the website by clicking here .
Thu Mar 16, 2017
A golden anniversary is a milestone to celebrate. To be in business for 50 years in a competitive marketplace is a feat that too few businesses can claim.
D&W, Inc. is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, as it looks to further position itself as a major player in the RV industry as a supplier of HVAC ducting and venting.
Dudley Warning received a degree in sales engineering from Purdue University in the late 1930s and was involved in the refrigeration business for nearly 30 years before he found a void in the RV industry that he thought he could fill.
In 1967, Warning established D&W, Inc. as a supplier of over-the-floor ducting systems for the RV industry and started to develop the business around a heat rotator that would be flexible enough to be installed in the space through the cabinets in an RV unit.
Lacking a facility or any revenue from sales, Warning set up shop in his own garage on Eastlake Drive in Elkhart, Indiana, where the company’s headquarters were located for nearly five years.
Current General Manager Jay Riblet has been with the company for five years and says Warning had the vision and determination to get the company off the ground.
“He was in talks with business industry leaders at the time who were looking for a way to move the heat through the unit,” Riblet says. “He (Warning) did some research and came up with the round flexible duct.”
In the early 1970s, the company moved into its first building, a small facility on Oak Street in Elkhart. About 10 years later, the company had been successful enough to move into a larger 110,000 square-foot facility down the street, where the company still calls home.
In 50 years, the world has changed significantly. Man landed on the moon, technology is accelerating at an unprecedented rate and the RV business has reached its best year since D&W had barely moved into a new building.
In that time, it is astounding to see how little D&W has changed the way it does business and the products it offers to its customers and dealers.
The formerly metal vent has been transitioned into a plastic vent, which is what the company uses today. However, the marketing and actual manufacturing of the product has remained basically the same since Warning built the first one.
“The actual makeup and design and style of the product hasn’t changed a whole lot other than going into plastics,” Riblet says. “We expanded from the original ducting and heating. We’ve done a good job of meeting our customers’ demands and needs and incorporating the technology with the times and what’s being driven. We are keeping up with the changing times and putting things into place to help us grow and adapt to the ever changing needs of the industry.”
The fact the offering hasn’t changed much is a testament to the Warning’s modern vision. Warning passed away in 2000, at the age of 81. His son Tony got involved, working at the plant in his high school years. He returned to the company in 1985 and provided the genesis for adding the mirror and glass fabrication lines, for which he has several patents in his name.
Tony Warning now owns the company that his father started. The true American dream story for the Warnings began in a garage in northwest Indiana and has developed into a $14 million company, whose primary focus is to meet the customer and offer them the products they’re looking for.
“Our on-time delivery and meeting the customers’ needs and listening to what they’re looking for is our mission,” Riblet says. “We’re looking to grow with the customers. For Tony – a family atmosphere is important to him and to us. We’re making sure the customer is taken care of.
“We’re trying to create new products and niches in the market, where we find what the customer is looking for and try to fill that void that they’re looking for.”
As the company looks to the future, there’s a third generation of Warning that is waiting in the wings. Paul Warning received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Purdue and then a Masters of Science in Biology from IUPUI. He now serves as the sales manager for D&W, Inc.
Additionally, the company features five employees, in addition to Tony Warning, who have spent more than 15 years with the company.
“There is very little turnover here,” Riblet says. “People seem to come here and find a home. We had our past general manager just retire after 29 years. We have multiple 25-year-plus employees.”
Looking ahead to the next 50 years, D&W has a vision for the future. Just like the products today, not much is likely to change in the high quality of products the company produces. It will continue to keep the same methods of customer service, family atmosphere and high quality manufacturing that kept them surging forward in the last 50 years to make the next 50 just as good.
Because, in business, consistency is key.


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POSCO Chemical, part of Korea’s steel giant POSCO, announced that it will expand to a 4th battery cathode plant in Gwangyang, Jeollanamdo in order to meet the huge demands in the electric vehicle (EV) battery market.
POSCO Chemical is one of the main tenant companies of the Main Industrial Complexes in Gwangyang Bay Area. Since 2019 it has been expanding its EV-battery-plants from originally 5,000-ton capacity. The 4th expansion will bring the capacity up to 100,000 tons.
The company will invest about 250 million US dollar in this project and expects the new plant to be operational by 2023. The expansion is part of POSCO’s new brand “e Autopos” which will produce exclusively steel parts and batteries for electric vehicles.
This expansion proves once again that Jeollanamdo plays a crucial part in Korea’s response to climate change and Korea’s growing Blue Economy.


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Ather Energy came into existence in 2013 when co-founder Tarun Mehta along with CTO Swapnil Jain came together to launch India’s native smart two-wheeler startup. In 2014, the startup received a small investment of $65,000 from the Department of Science and Technology, IIT Madras and Srini V Srinivasan, founder of Aerospike. Then in 2019, Ather raised $51 million in a funding round led by Sachin Bansal.
Most new innovations in the automotive world are driven heavily by software-connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles. While innovation typically flows from four-wheelers to two-wheelers, it may not be strictly true in the Indian context. The launch of the Ather 450 is the real example of a connected two-wheeler — and not just a Bluetooth vehicle typically in the electric two-wheeler category.
In this latest column of Deep Dive, Analytics India Magazine talked to Ather Energy’s co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta to understand what the smart automotive startup is planning in the near future.
Ather Energy: Constant Learning From Market Response
Ather Energy came into existence in 2013 when co-founder Tarun Mehta along with CTO Swapnil Jain came together to launch India’s native smart two-wheeler startup. In 2014, the startup received a small investment of $65,000 from the Department of Science and Technology, IIT Madras and Srini V Srinivasan, founder of Aerospike. Then in 2019, Ather Energy raised $51 million in a funding round led by Sachin Bansal.
Despite being in existence for more than 5 years, the company is currently manufacturing less than 1,000 scooters each month. It begs the natural question of why things have been a tad slow for the much-hyped smart scooter. According to Tarun Mehta, he is in the long run to capture the market, and for them, the sales and manufacturing capacity are not the primary focus areas right now.
“We have been clear for years now that our first phase revolves around learning about the market. We will sell as much as needed to learn from the market and make sure we are setting ourselves up for success. It’s never been about how much units we can sell. In fact, we have sold units at a loss, because it’s just a marketing cost, product learning process.”Tarun Mehta, co-founder & CEO- Ather Energy
Tarun says that discussing Ather Energy’s numbers by capacity and the size of its plants is the wrong metric. “We have been clear for years now that our first phase revolves around learning about the market. We will sell as much as needed to learn from the market and make sure we are setting ourselves up for success. It’s never been about how much units we can sell. In fact, we have sold units at a loss, because it’s just a marketing cost, product learning process. The metric for us has never been how many units we have in the field, but do we have the right supply chain and the right tech set up for the right cost structures and right product line.”
Ather Energy Says Data Analytics Is Critical For The Company
Given there are many touch-points, including about 50 sensors and mobile app, the team ensures that every single part of the vehicle is effectively connected and the data out of it has come out reliably. This needed a lot of effort and overcoming multiple roadblocks successfully, says Tarun.
“We have a lot of data being generated but analysing data was fun when there were 50-100 vehicles but now with a few thousand vehicles on the road and all of them being connected, churning out a lot of data back and we have committed on massive pipeline of feature upgrades and everything, at this point we are focusing on those commitments, making sure infrastructure, production and software side is working well at all times.”
Apart from making sure the touchscreen always works and the navigation works even in all the black spots on the mobile app, the team pushed out a recent feature over-the-air, which allows the people to see the right statistics as soon as they close the ride, along with the entire history.
“That alone opened up a massive requirement to maintain the data up reliably up all the time. The team’s focus is to consistently make sure that when once users close the ride, all the data immediately gets uploaded and the stats are available on the dashboard,” said Tarun.
The Ather product team has also been able to improve many of the hardware features of the vehicle by software upgrades like OTS with whatever bugs we found even in the hardware of the vehicle, for example making software upgrades in Battery Management System (BMS) settings to optimise battery usage. According to the company, with a thousand vehicles on the road, it can even to map out where the potholes are in the city using GPS coordinates and acceleration response.
Tarun said, “One data point probably won’t tell whether the pothole is but having a thousand scooters go over a road every day for a year, now you have a million data points, the average of all those will get a very realistic picture of the potholes.”
Proprietary Innovation Has Been The Focus
Ather Energy has now taken up a large manufacturing space in Hosur, and Ather Grid Public Charging Network is live across 10 locations in Chennai and 26 locations in Bengaluru.
“R&D has to be the step for the first few years. If you miss that step, you may be just a manufacturing company that just produces things but doesn’t know how to respond to the market when the larger funded startup comes with a more innovative product.”Tarun Mehta, co-founder & CEO- Ather Energy
While sales and manufacturing capacity may not be the centre of focus currently, innovation has been certainly going strong. Ather has developed most of its innovation independently without buying software stacks from anywhere else. The OS is a Linux version which the startup team modified for its needs. The data pipeline, the middleware is all proprietary. For Cloud, it leverages Google Cloud IoT and also has its own analytics layer which it pickups data insights.
“All the applications, the navigation layer is ours which we created from Google APIs. Actually took us a few years to understand that while we kept calling ourselves a vehicle OEM, we are actually doing a much bigger job. So, in our case most of the core technology that you see, the battery, the Battery Management System (BMS), the charger, the touch screen and dashboard gear, the software stack, all that was developed in house. We have the largest R&D in India for connected vehicles. ” Tarun said.
Customer Engagement: Another Key Area For Ather
Ather’s management says its main job currently is to take constant feedback and keep the owners happy by building a great product first. Its recent over-the-air (OTA) updates for hardware included features like performance tuning, onboard analytics, guide-me-home lights, ride statistics on app, efficiency visualisation, charger fan noise reduction, etc.
The startup team is also working on releasing new smart features like Navigation 2.0, geofencing, smart commute planner, performance analytics, user analytics. Ather also has a very active online community, where its customers even act as moderators on the community. For the sake of ownership experience, the startup runs owner events, with hundreds of users registering.
“We have been super engaged with the users even when we have software bugs in the vehicle, to help give us feedback and enhance customer experience,” according to Tarun.
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Vishal Chawla is a senior tech journalist at Analytics India Magazine and writes about AI, data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and blockchain. Vishal also hosts AIM's video podcast called Simulated Reality- featuring tech leaders, AI experts, and innovative startups of India.


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HONOLULU (KHON2) — Ross is the second major retailer in the state to reopen its doors to customers. Macy’s opened last week.
Hundreds of people lined up on the first day all Ross Dress for Less stores in Hawaii were open.
The lines snaked outside the building because the stores limited how many could be inside at one time.
“Everyone’s been cooped up in the house and whatever’s open people are just coming here and there,” said shopper Jasmine Kim.
“You know what, I saw a lot of people with wagons, and their wagons are all full,” said shopper Tai Utoafili. “A lot of children’s clothes, a lot of house things, you know. I know we have a lot of house things in our baskets.”
Other shoppers say it was the same story at other Ross stores even on the neighbor islands.
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Boeing Confirms Takeover Talks With Brazil's Embraer
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Boeing Co. confirmed it is in takeover talks with Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer, potentially strengthening its hand in the regional jet market and helping it counter a move by Airbus to strike a similar deal with Bombardier.
Nike Sales Climb, Despite Declines in North America
Nike Inc. sales climbed in its most recent quarter even as profit and revenue in its home market declined, as the sportswear maker attempted to sell more directly to consumers instead of through retailers and others.
Papa John's Founder to Step Down as CEO
Papa John's International Inc. founder John Schnatter is stepping down as CEO following a tumultuous few months at the pizza chain.
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Baseball's Rainmaker Forced Out After Alleged Misconduct
Bob Bowman, long considered one of the most influential executives in media and sports, was pushed out by Major League Baseball after allegations related to his workplace conduct.
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Facebook Licenses Music for User-Generated Videos
The world's largest record company licensed its music to Facebook in a deal that paves the way for a new revenue stream for an industry in the early stages of recovery from years of online piracy and other woes. Vivendi's Universal Music Group is the first major music company to strike such a deal.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 21, 2017 17:15 ET (22:15 GMT)


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The arrival of the new daily Qatar flight from Doha, the longest duration flight in the world, is one more important milestone to opening up New Zealand to more European visitors. The flight is expected to bring in excess of NZ$50m in incremental tourism revenue to NZ per year.
Pip Casey, Tourism New Zealand’s Regional Manager Europe says European visitors are crucial to New Zealand tourism, offering unrivalled value to the economy. “They stay longer, visit more regions and are the biggest spenders of all our visitors. European visitors account for nearly a quarter of New Zealand’s total visitor spend”.
The logistics of getting to New Zealand have long been a barrier to travel from Europe, particularly for those travelling from regional cities, but that’s changing with the new flights. The arrival of the new Qatar flight on Waitangi Day, added to the popular Emirates Dubai-Auckland route means more one-stop flights to New Zealand, meaning it’s easier to travel from more cities. Qatar services Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Birmingham, Edinburgh, London, Manchester and Dublin. Emirates flights leave from Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Dublin.
In the year to December 2016, 71,376 Germans visited New Zealand for a holiday, up 15% on the previous year. There were 95,888 holiday visitors from the UK, an annual increase of 12%.
Total international visitor spend in New Zealand reached a new high of $10.1 billion for the year ending December 2016, up 4% on the previous year. Holiday visitor spend is up 10% on last year to $6.4 billion due to increased holiday arrival numbers.
“This is the highest level of international tourism expenditure on record and it’s predicted to increase as tourism numbers grow,” says Acting Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Brighid Kelly.
“Tourism spend is wide reaching, benefiting retail owners, supermarkets, petrol stations, restaurants and cafes plus many more in addition to traditional accommodation and travel spend.”


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Do you own a Saturn and are having trouble with getting warranty service? Well, some consumers are. Saturn owners in the Hartford, Conn., area are being given the runaround when it comes to warranty service. With two Saturn dealers closed and a third no longer servicing Saturns under warranty, consumers in the area are forced into a 54-mile round trip to the next closest dealer for warranty service.
Saturn owners should contact customer service to find out where they can get their vehicles serviced, according to General Motors. But they are also allowed to take their cars to dealerships servicing other GM brands for warranty service. However, a Chevrolet dealer in the Hartford area said they are not servicing Saturn vehicles under warranty, and the CBS Early Show found only four non-Saturn GM dealers out of 20 that they contacted in New York and New Jersey would accept a Saturn car for warranty service.
This morning I spoke with a regional public relations officer, Travis Parman, from General Motors, before I appeared on the CBS Early Show. He said that some dealers may be misinformed and that Saturn owners can take their cars to non-Saturn, GM dealers, if they need to. He reiterated that consumers should contact Saturn customer service first. GM even Tweeted about the issue after I discussed the matter with them.
Also appearing on the CBS Early Show today, GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson was confronted on the issue of dealers refusing warranty service. He responded that it was "regrettable" and admitted "we have some work to do." He added, "We have absolutely no intention at all of not taking care of customers." (This portion of the interview is about half way through the video.)
Have you run into this trouble with a Saturn, or a Hummer, Pontiac, or Saab? Let us know by commenting below.


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First Distribution aims to make KEMP Technologies the No1 server load balancer brand in SA
INDUSTRYBy BiztechAfrica - Sept. 10, 2012, 7:21 a.m.
KEMP Technologies, a global manufacturer of server load balancers and application delivery controllers, has appointed First Distribution to engage the Southern African market and establish the brand.
First Distribution is an established broad-based distributor of premium IT solutions to the Southern African market. It will leverage off its experience within highly strategic areas of ICT to entrench the KEMP product brand.
KEMP Technologies manufactures a globally-recognised range of server load balancers and application delivery controllers. The company’s solutions ensure high availability of server and application resources, as well as optimisation and scalability of mission critical applications.
The company’s server load balancers are approved by Microsoft for use with MS Exchange, Lync, Sharepoint and Terminal Services. The range comprises both hardware appliances and virtual (software) appliances which can run on VMware and Hyper-V and can be used for load balancing any kind of server/application.
KEMP’s products are used to guarantee high availability and optimise user experience and performance in private and public sector organisations of varying sizes, from medium-sized organisations to large enterprises.
The increase in web-based applications and the growth in the average number of servers in an organisation are all contributing to the importance and need for server load balancing to ensure optimum performance and high availability of services.
The company has identified the Southern African marketplace as a rapidly developing area of opportunity and one that continues to appreciate the value inherent within business-building ICT solutions.
KEMP Technologies has appointed First Distribution to engage the local market and help grow the brand.
Phil Thersby, KEMP Product Manager at First Distribution, says the company has adopted a multi-faceted strategy to grow and entrench the KEMP brand.
“We are seeing a shift towards customers wanting value-for-money within these virtual hosted environments, which is understandable in today's economic environment. This is something which the KEMP product portfolio clearly provides,” says Thersby.
First Distribution also emphasises the value of one-to-one meetings with prospective KEMP clients.
“We're aided in these meetings by the fact that many of our leads come via the KEMP website and people already know what the KEMP products do and how they are utilised, which makes our job a lot easier. We also keep an eye on cyberspace and contribute where we can - a lot of 'unofficial' marketing for KEMP is done on blogs where 'product champions' promote the values of the brand,” he adds.
Paul Luff, Sales Manager at KEMP Technologies, is confident that the partnership will achieve the objectives of building awareness of the brand and developing an accurate, sustainable and effective local market profile by building long- term partnerships with resellers and integrators in the SA ICT channel
“KEMP is differentiated not only by the quality of its solutions, but also by the fact that unlike competitors, the company has the resources and expertise to accommodate and help first-time buyers and small-to-medium sized operators. This segment of the market was previously neglected in terms of load balancing vendors. Our value proposition is strong, can be identified with by the local market and we have a tier one distribution company that we know we can rely on to generate channel business effectively,” says Luff.
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By Dhirendra Tripathi
investallign — Shares bounced increased on Wednesday heading into the ultimate half-hour of buying and selling, boosted by the power sector as stronger than anticipated drawdowns in U.S. final week despatched oil costs 3% increased.
U.S. oil stockpiles fell 6.4 million barrels final week, almost twice as a lot as anticipated, in response to knowledge from the Power Data Administration.
There was additionally optimistic knowledge on manufacturing unit exercise. Buyers are awaiting Thursday’s retail gross sales numbers and jobless claims because the Federal Reserve prepares for its periodic coverage assembly subsequent week.
Industrial shares had a powerful displaying after knowledge confirmed that manufacturing unit exercise expanded in August, although the tempo of that progress was slower due to a brand new wave of Covid circumstances and Hurricane Ida.
Amongst particular person shares, Dutch Bros Inc (NYSE:) jumped 65% after its buying and selling debut because the espresso retailer turns into the newest challenger to Starbucks (NASDAQ:), which fell 4%.
And “purchase now, pay later” agency GreenSky LLC (NASDAQ:) soared greater than 50% after Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:) mentioned it could purchase the agency in an all-stock deal valued at $2.24 billion.
Listed here are three issues that might have an effect on markets tomorrow:
1. Retail gross sales for August
are more likely to have weakened once more in August after they fell in July, although the tempo of decline is seen having slowed down. On a month-over-month foundation, they’re seen 0.8% decrease in comparison with July’s 1.1% erosion, in response to analysts tracked by investallign. The information are launched at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT).
2. Ongoing unemployment
within the U.S., a measure of individuals receiving unemployment advantages for some time, are anticipated to rise to 2.785 million within the week ending September 11 from 2.783 million every week earlier than, in response to investallign.
3. New jobless claims
The variety of people who filed for unemployment insurance coverage for the within the U.S. can be seen rising to 330,000 for the week ending September 11 from 310,000 for the week earlier than.


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"The sales velocity for ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is unprecedented, with reader demand still growing," Anthony Chirico, the president of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, said in a statement. "As we head into the heart of the summer reading season, sales are likely to continue exceeding even our most optimistic forecasts." The erotic novels were released by Vintage Books, part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, beginning in March in e-book format and in April in trade paperback. They were originally published by a small independent press in Australia and difficult to find in paperback form in the United
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers Inc. has formed an agreement with a majority of its creditors to eliminate $3.1 billion of debt, marking the publisher's latest effort to tackle a heavy debt load in the face of weak textbook demand.
The company plans to reorganize through a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, an effort it hopes to complete by the end of next month.
The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Houghton had hired restructuring advisers for help reworking its finances, citing people familiar with the matter.
At the BISG ninth annual Making Information Pay Conference, held at the McGraw Hill auditorium on May 3, seven expert presenters took the assembled 200 industry professionals through a fast-paced three-and-a-half-hour session slicing Big Data down to manageable bites.
Not for the faint of heart, the event was focused on the message that Angela Bole, BISG Deputy Executive Director opened with. Citing a McKinsey Institute study’s warning of a critical shortage of expert analytical information workers she said that “It’s our belief that, as an industry, we need to harness the awesomeness of ‘deep analytical expertise’ in order to create the kind of book industry that’s truly capable of the innovation necessary to stay relevant over the coming years.”
Big Data, she said, “refers to the act of ‘taming’ the volume, variety and velocity of massive datasets.” It is what takes us to a place where we’re now able to develop holistic approaches to full-scale strategies that are analytical in the deepest sense of the term.”
The legal controversy over Apple's efforts to use the agency model when selling books directly to its consumers offers a good opportunity to examine the benefits and costs of adopting that approach, both for online retailers and their customers. Does the agency model of selling online harm consumers — and society in general — by raising prices for numerous products, not just for e-books? Or might the agency model offer significant, if often overlooked, economic and social benefits over the wholesale model for manufacturers, retailers and the general public?
Zondervan has announced plans to honor Chuck Colson’s legacy by donating a portion of the proceeds from Colson’s titles published with Zondervan to Prison Fellowship Ministries. These contributions are above and beyond author royalties that already go to the Colson estate. Through all his accomplishments as an author and Christian leader, Colson never lost focus on his passion for helping inmates. He founded Prison Fellowship Ministries in 1976, and today the ministry reaches prisoners, ex-prisoners and families of prisoners throughout the United States and, through Prison Fellowship International (PFI), in 115 countries worldwide.
On PaidContent, Laura Hazard Owen has followed up with the Salon reporter who broke the story yesterday that the Big Six publishers may be refusing to sign Amazon’s newest contract. Owen contacted the Salon reporter, Alexander Zaitchik, for further details, and was told one source was “within the publishing journalism industry” and another was a contact at a major New York publishing house.
The terms causing the publishers to balk are “co-op fees,” which were traditionally fees publishers paid to bookstores to get them to plug their books in the store.
Recently, the leadership of the American Library Association (ALA) met with senior management from several large publishing houses. Some of them allow libraries to purchase and own their e‑books (Random House; Perseus). Some of them are not making their e‑books available to libraries (Macmillan; Simon and Schuster). And some are somewhere in the middle (Penguin, until recently; and Harper–Collins with its "26 circulations" loan cap model). In all of our meetings with the publishing executives (all of the aforementioned except HarperCollins), we found that for those not making their e‑books available through libraries, the sticking point was identifying a business model that protected their digital editions from piracy and loss of sales. These are understandable concerns.
Indian service providers for typesetting, e-book, copy-editing and other production services are an established fact and part of virtually every major publisher's workflow.
To be sure, the business process outsourcing (BPO) of publishing services is a growth business, forecast to reach $1.2 billion in 2012 (according to a report by research and intelligence organization ValueNotes, "Offshoring in the Publishing Vertical: 2009"), including outsourcing for book, magazine and newspaper publishing—with 60 percent of these revenues being directed to Indian providers.
That said, it appears that we may be on the verge of a new addition to the existing Indian business model—an initiative that the Indian book manufacturing community has named Book City—Vision 2017.
In 1455 Johannes Gutenberg produced his famous "Bible"—the first book printed with moveable type—launching what would become in subsequent centuries the modern publishing industry. In 1995, Jeff Bezos sold the first book through Amazon.com, launching what would produce in less than 20 years the end of the modern publishing industry.
Hyperbole? Perhaps not, when the earth-shaking influence of the e‑commerce giant's recent moves in publishing are taken into account.
The Educational Development Corp., which announced today that it is pulling all of its titles from Amazon, plans to increase its sales by abandoning the major online retailer, according to the company’s CEO.
Amazon accounted for about 13% of EDC’s sales in 2011, estimated Randall White, CEO of the publicly traded Tulsa, Okla.-based children’s book publisher. The exact number is uncertain because EDC sells to Amazon through distributors who also sell through other channels and do not provide EDC an exact breakdown of sales.


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The M/V Nukumi, Canada Steamship Lines’ (CSL) new purpose-designed self-unloading ship built to service Windsor Salt, departed on her maiden voyage recently. The cutting-edge vessel with a deadweight of 26,000 metric tonnes will be the first diesel-electric Laker and the first single point loader to operate in Canada.
Featuring a unique hull design, quieter machinery, single point of loading system and a shuttle boom, the new ship will bring a long-term, safe, sustainable, efficient and reliable shipping solution to the Magdalen Islands region, where it will load deicing salt at Windsor Salt’s Mines Seleine mine and deliver it to stockpiles throughout Eastern Canada to help keep roadways safe during the winter season.
Sailing from Jiangyin, China to Halifax, Canada, M/V Nukumi’s voyage is expected to take six weeks.
Leveraging their shared values of safety, sustainability and innovation, Windsor Salt and CSL began construction of the custom-made vessel in August 2020 after several years of collaborative planning, which included an environmental impact analysis, ship and shore personnel safety reviews, an efficiency evaluation of cargo operations, and navigational optimization.
The distinctive, purpose-designed vessel was created to service Windsor Salt’s need to deliver deicing salt from its Mines Seleine salt mine on the Magdalen Islands to stockpiles in Quebec and Newfoundland. Windsor Salt’s consistent and timely delivery of deicing salt helps keep roadways safe during the winter season across Eastern Canada.
The new vessel will bring a long-term, safe, sustainable and reliable shipping solution to the region that relies on the Mines Seleine salt mine.
Compared to the previous vessel servicing the same salt routes, the new ship is expected to emit approximately 25 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions and 80 per cent fewer air pollutants.
Windsor Salt Ltd. is headquartered in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. The company’s highly recognizable Windsor brand has been a part of Canadian life since 1893. Today, the Windsor portfolio includes a full range of products for consumers, business and industry.
Canada Steamship Lines is a division of The CSL Group, the largest owner and operator of self-unloading ships in the world. Headquartered in Montreal with regional operations in the Americas, Australia, Europe and Asia, CSL delivers millions of tons of cargo annually for customers in the construction, steel, energy and agri-food sectors.
For further information visit mvnukumi.com.
Featured image credit: CSL Group.


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Sunshine Mills Expands Dog Food Recall Over Mold Concerns – CBS Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Sunshine Mills is expanding its recall to include products that may contain high levels of toxic mold.
The company, which first announced the recall a month ago, said the products may contain high levels of aflatoxin, a naturally occurring mold by-product.
CONTINUE READING: The design of the Miami Dolphins can be remembered for players who have gone elsewhere
Aflatoxin can be harmful to pets if consumed in significant amounts.
Dogs affected by the toxin may be sluggish and reluctant to eat.
CONTINUE READING: Southwood Middle Killer Michael Hernandez dies in prison
Vomiting and yellowing of the eyes may also be symptoms.
Champ®, Field Trial®, Good Dog, Hunter’s Special®, Old Glory®, Paws Happy Life®, Pet Expert, Principle, Retriever®, River Bend, Sportsman’s Pride®, Sprout®, Thrifty®, Top Runner® or Whiskers & Tail tags are all part of the latest recall.
Retailers have been asked to pull the products out of their inventory. Customers can return them to the same store for a full refund.
MORE NEWS: Missing adult may have fallen from the boat near the naval stadium
For more information and a list of the recalled products, visit the FDA website here.


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This acquisition enters Neighborly into an entirely new service vertical and reinforces its position as the hub for home services.
“At Neighborly, we want to be the mainstream home services a homeowner typically needs on a reoccurring basis,” said Mike Bidwell, president and CEO of Neighborly.
“We saw Junk King as another excellent opportunity to expand into a new service vertical with a brand that has a strong reoccurring business model and potential for growth. Junk King is one of a handful of scaled franchised companies operating in the $10bn junk removal market today.”
Co-founder Michael Andreacchi started the company from his garage in San Carlos, California in 2005 and began franchising it in 2010. Today, the customer-centric brand prides itself on its unparalleled service and its goal to keep 60 per cent of all materials it collects out of landfills by repurposing materials and recycling as much as it can.
Junk King’s extra-large trucks – which are 20 per cent bigger than its competitors’ – also work to decrease its carbon footprint while saving customers money at the same time.
“I never would have dreamed that we could grow Junk King into what it has become in the market today,” said Michael. “This is due to the hard work and perseverance of our leadership team and employees, and further reinforced by our franchise owners, who believed in our vision and propelled the brand through their entrepreneurial drive.
“Now, with the opportunity for Junk King to join the largest home services company in the world, there’s no limit to how large this brand can become, and I’m certain this is the right step for the future.”
Lisa Merry, chief operating officer for Junk King, has assumed a new role as brand president. Lisa has extensive experience in franchising with multiple prior leadership roles at Huntington Learning Centers, Coverall Health Based Cleaning and School of Rock.
Michael will remain connected as an investor and brand ambassador while Junk King employees will be eligible to begin vesting into the Neighborly Associate Equity Program.


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By air, land or sea, cybersecurity has become a basic ingredient for safe and secure operations across all business sectors, including transportation. This is especially true in the age of the Internet of Things – and the trucking industry is
New artificial intelligence techniques can help battle old methods of hacking.
Although cyber attacks against businesses like the recent one against Yahoo are increasing, hackers are using the same techniques they always have. They’re just doing it lot more and
A year ago, presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping stood next to each other and declared that neither the U.S. nor Chinese governments “will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business
The European Commission proposed measures on Wednesday to increase controls on exports of cyber-surveillance goods and technologies that can be used to violate human rights or threaten international security.
The Commission had earlier identified deficiencies with the current system, including
Digital Shadows, a provider of cyber situational awareness, released its Compromised Credentials research paper which analyzed the largest 1,000 companies listed on the Forbes Global 2000.
The report found that 97 percent of those companies, spanning all businesses sectors and
CSC assesses the relationship between digital strategies and better protection in business.
Purely-digital companies are creating cyber security advantages over traditional businesses in Australia and New Zealand, as the impact of industry change plays out across enterprise.
Today, cyber security
A Liverpool-based biometric security business is expanding with the help of backing from the Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF).
Amaco, which develops and installs biometric systems, secure turnstiles, monitored CCTV cameras and permanent intruder alarms predominantly for use in new
The Beersheva based company’s financing round was from Orange, Connecticut Innovations, Amichai Shulman and JVP.
Israeli cyber security company SecBi has raised $5 million in a Series A financing round from Orange Digital Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Amichai Shulman and previous
Microsoft Chairman John Thompson spent a decade at the helm of security software developer Symantec. Since he stepped down in 2009, cyberthreats have gotten significantly more sophisticated and pervasive, which helps explain his latest bet.
Contrast Security, a Silicon Valley
OnHub’s real-world experience has helped Google learn to dodge common security flaws. That’s welcome news in a world of easily hacked routers.
When Google released OnHub, its sleek home router, last year, CNET reviewer Dong Ngo found it perfectly serviceable,
Cyber criminals have made “multiple” attacks on Cornwall’s main hospital in the past year with repeated attempts to hold health bosses to ransom by stealing sensitive information. According to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, the IT system of the
Eighteen US states have requested сybersecurity help from the US Department of Homeland Security ahead of presidential elections.
Eighteen US states have requested help from the US Department of Homeland Security to reinforce their cyber networks ahead of upcoming elections,
This may be a further sign of a rebound in the U.S. IPO market.
ForeScout Technologies has interviewed investment banks in recent weeks to hire underwriters for an initial public offering that could value the U.S. network security company at
Yahoo has confirmed that it is the victim of a cyber security breach affecting at least 500m accounts, perhaps the largest in history. Data breaches of email and social media accounts, retail stores, health insurance companies and even governments are
Last week renowned cyber security journalist Brian Krebs’ website, Krebs On Security, was hit with a record cyber-attack and taken off line.
Everything turned out O.K. for Krebs, as tech. giant Google stepped in to help out. Krebs On Security
Last week at EGX, the UK’s biggest games event, attendees got a chance to play upcoming blockbusters like Battlefield 1, FIFA 17, and Gears of War 4. But budding gamers may also have spotted a slightly more unusual sight: a
Security expert Bruce Shneier revealed this month that some of the major companies that provide the basic infrastructure that make the Internet work, have seen an increase in DDoS attacks against them. It is believed that these attacks are designed
The US security agency will request tourists provide social media handles when filling in immigration forms
Digital privacy advocates in the US are taking a stand against a new proposal by the Department of Homeland Security that would ask foreign
The current threat landscape is evolving day-to-day, and with businesses operating within increasingly complex and heterogeneous networks, it has never been more critical for IT teams to protect their organisations from malicious cyber-attacks.
Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated in their
Big Red Cloud survey finds 75% were able to deal with cybercrime without having to pay out
Four in every 10 small and medium businesses in Ireland have suffered a cyberattack resulting in data being lost or stolen, according to


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Mall of Qatar size equals 50 FIFA football fields
The $824m mall, 5m sqf-large, is on track for opening in 2016
The upcoming Mall of Qatar, sprawling an area of 464,515sqm (5m sqf) and worth $824m, is about as large as 50 football fields, sized as per FIFA regulations.
Located near the Al Rayyan stadium for the FIFA World Cup 2022, in total the Mall of Qatar will house 500 boutiques, restaurants and tourist attractions, and is expected to attract 20 million visitors in its first year, The Malaysian Insider reported.
Owned and developed by Mall of Qatar, in collaboration with turnkey contractors UrbaCon Trading & Contracting (UCC), the mall is due for opening in 2016.
A steady 5% annual increase in visitors is forecast, based on research conducted by T&L Associates. In addition, a 10% increase in 2022 with FIFA World Cup being hosted in Qatar is also expected.
Retail giant Carrefour will anchor the mall, which will also feature the largest IMAX theatre at its multiplex complex.


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LG Electronics has introduced new dual-view flat and curved displays that use the same OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology already available in some of its television sets.
Calibre, an image scale and processing technology company, has introduced a streaming video input option for its HQView600 series presentation scaler-switchers, LEDView700 series LED scaler-switchers and HQUltra700 series live events scaler-switchers.
Altia Systems has introduced a new "huddle room solution" that aims to provide the technology to make communication between teachers and students in remote locations easier.
How do you go about creating a space to support collaboration, creative problem-solving and innovation? Two institutions share their experiences.
Optoma has unveiled two new single-chip digital light processing laser phosphor projectors scheduled for availability in the next nine months.
DVIGear is revealing a new technology to extend the range of DisplayPort cable to 100 meters at this week’s InfoComm 2016 conference taking place in Las Vegas.
The Huddlewall platform is designed for Windows-based applications for teams and groups.
At the InfoComm 2016 conference taking place this week in Las Vegas, Ricoh is debuting several new projectors, including a pico projector, two short-throw projectors and a 12,000-lumen auditorium projector that has a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,200.
At the InfoComm 2016 conference taking place this week in Las Vegas, tvONE is showcasing a new system designed to accommodate small, external devices in rackmounts along with an update to its video processors for video walls.
ZeeVee is debuting new IP video decoding and encoding hardware at the InfoComm 2016 conference taking place this week in Las Vegas. The systems are designed for distributing video over IP using common, off-the-shelf 10 gigabit switches.


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Mr. Rekey Awards 50 New Franchises Nationwide
Austin, Texas - Jan. 7, 2014 – Mr. Rekey Locksmith, America’s largest residential locksmith, awarded 50 franchise territories nationwide in the second half of 2013. The company has been on a fast-track to expand the reach of its industry-leading locksmith service franchises.
"This is a momentous transition for our company. Awarding these franchises represents years of work from the Mr. Rekey corporate team and we could not be more pleased with the results," said Kenneth Jennings, CEO, Mr. Rekey.
The 50 franchise territories span over 500 cities and towns across Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, Nevada, Florida, California, Arizona, Virginia, Georgia and Washington. In business for 18 years, Mr. Rekey provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art and quick turnaround locksmith services for real estate professionals in all sectors of the industry, including residential and commercial property management, property sales, new and remodel construction, as well as directly to homeowners.
Mr. Rekey plans to continue the company’s momentum, while also ensuring the best service to franchisees and customers.
"Locksmith services are truly a core trade and valuable skill-set to communities, which is appealing to many looking to own their own business," continued Jennings. "We’ve been in business for nearly two decades and have a track record of profitable growth that provides a model utilized to train and support our franchisees. We look forward to ongoing franchise expansion in the coming months."
The company’s operations center, located in greater Austin, provides full-service dispatching, invoicing, collections and scheduling services for franchises, eliminating administrative constraints with streamlined back-office infrastructure and support. Additionally, Mr. Rekey provides franchisees with a variety of strategic components to drive their growth, including marketing and sales system assistance based on years of real-world operations and growth.
Mr. Rekey believes that tenants and new homeowners should rekey their locks before spending the night in their new home, and businesses should rekey locks as an ongoing facet of their security protocol.
About Mr. Rekey Locksmith
"Thinking Outside the Locks™"
America’s largest residential locksmith, Mr. Rekey changed the locks on over 50,000 homes and commercial buildings in 2013. The company has rekeyed or changed the locks more than 3 million times since being founded. Mr. Rekey is dedicated to providing the highest quality and most professional commercial and residential locksmith services. The company’s team of customer representatives and company certified locksmith technicians are the best in the industry, taking great pride in being prompt and professional with every transaction. Founded by a single father nearly 18 years ago, Mr. Rekey is today considered one of the fastest growing franchises in America.
Mr. Rekey offers franchisees a comprehensive business platform that includes back-office operations, marketing methodology, company certified training, industry specific tools and equipment, along with a proven support team to help our franchisees.
To learn more, visit us at www.rekey.com. Follow us on Twitter (@Mr_Rekey) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mrrekey).
SOURCE Mr. Rekey
anthonyBarnum Public Relations
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In addition to its namesake brews, its brands include Miller Lite, Pilsner Urquell and Blue Moon.
Molson Coors also wouldn’t say if the cyberattack was related to a global hack of servers running Microsoft Exchange email software. That breach has impacted small businesses, law firms, city governments and manufacturers.
It’s not the first time a major beverage maker has been targeted in a cyberattack.
In November, Milan-based Campari Group said it was the victim of a ransomware attack that caused a temporary technology outage and compromised some business and personal data.