Geopolitical Risks and the Stock Market: Average Annual Returns Drop to 8.3% as Threats Intensify
Wandercraft Closes $45M Round to Launch the World’s First Personal Self-Balanced Exoskeleton
Exchange Listing Client AppTech Payments Corp. approved for NASDAQ listing
CSG Systems International Approves Quarterly Dividend
DomaCom (ASX:DCL) DomaCom Completes Placement
CSG Systems International Approves Quarterly Dividend
Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. Announces Pricing of $100 Million Public Offering of Common Stock
Coupang key officers rang the opening bell of the NYSE(New York Stock Exchange)
Alibaba Stock Grows by 80%, Valuation Surpasses $800 Billion
Bentley Files Registration Statement on Form S-1 for Proposed Initial Public Offering of Its Class B Common Stock
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Market Cap of Three Largest Tech Companies Listed on London Stock Exchange Dropped by $14.9bn in Six Months
The coronavirus outbreak caused the worst stock price drops in the last few decades, wiping billions of dollars in the value of companies across all markets and industries. According to data gathered by BuyShares.co.uk, the market cap of the three largest tech companies trading on the London Stock Exchange amounted to $120.4bn last week, a $14.9bn plunge since the beginning of the year. IBM Market Cap Stumbled by $14.64bn Since January As the leading tech company listed in London, the multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation, IBM has witnessed the most significant drop in the market cap value in the first half of 2020. In January, the market capitalization of the US tech giant amounted to $119.04bn, revealed the YCharts data. After the Black Monday crash, this figure plunged to $84.19bn in the third week of March. Statistics show that in the next two months, IBM's market cap rose to $111.47bn. However, June and July brought a decrease with the market cap falling to $104.40bn last week, a $14.64 drop since the beginning of the year. Just Eat Takeaway Market Cap Rose by $1.1bn The second-largest tech company trading on London Stock Exchange, Just Eat Takeaway, has also witnessed a drop in the market cap value amid the COVID-19 outbreak. In January, the market cap of the leading European food delivery app amounted to $5.69bn. By the end of March, this figure dropped to $4.82bn, a 15% fall in two months. However, in the next few weeks, the UK-based company's stock price started rising with the market cap jumping to $6.48bn in the second week of April. In June, the company announced its plan to buy the top food delivery service in the United States, Grubhub, to develop the world's largest food delivery company outside China. Statistics show Just Eat Takeaway market capitalization amounted to $6.79bn last week, a $1.1bn increase since the beginning of the year. Sage Group Lost $1.36bn in Value Since January The British enterprise software company, Sage Group, ranked as the third-largest tech company listed in London. Statistics show that in January, the market capitalization of the UK-based multinational company amounted to $10.60bn. After the Black Monday crash, this value tumbled to $6.95bn in March, a 35% plunge in two months. However, the next two months brought a recovery, with the market capitalization rising to $9.69bn in May. Statistics indicate this value fell to $9.24bn last week, a $1.36bn decrease in the last six months.
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World’s first Mobility-as-a-Service operator MaaS Global Completes €29.5M Funding Round
Helsinki, Finland, November 7, 2019 – the World’s first Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) operator MaaS Global, known for its mobility application Whim, announced today that its most recent investment round is worth €29.5M ($32.7M), bringing the company’s total investments to €53.7M ($59.5M). The new investors consist of BP Ventures, Mitsui Fudosan, Mitsubishi Corporation and Nordic Ninja. The earlier investors have also participated in the new investment round. “We are thrilled to have acquired further expertise on board. With this large-scale experience and vision, we have all it takes to conquer the world by storm,” says Sampo Hietanen, CEO and founder of MaaS Global. “The new investments will help us continue scaling the business to new continents.” With over six million trips made since its launch in Europe in November 2017, Whim is the first all-inclusive MaaS solution commercially available on the market. The mobile app enables route-planning, booking, ticketing and payment options combining various methods of transportation, such as railways, buses, taxis and rental cars. Helsinki-based MaaS Global plans to expand Whim’s reach to a number of new markets including European cities, Japan, Singapore and North America in 2020. The new investors were attracted by both the existing service and its global growth potential. The MaaS industry is forecast to grow to a revenue of approximately $500 billion by 2030. “The MaaS Global team is at the forefront of a tech-enabled mobility evolution – from having to own a vehicle to being able to easily connect and use all available forms of transport. Our collaboration is a great example of BP’s vision for the future of transportation, mobility and integrated cities,” says Roy Williamson, vice president of Advanced Mobility at BP. “We are excited to be on this journey with MaaS Global to change the world of transport towards a digital and sustainable future. The MaaS market is expected to grow rapidly as both consumers and cities are searching for smart solutions to ease everyday life and reduce pollution,” says Kyoya Kondo, General Manager for investment, business creation and digital strategy in the Automotive and Mobility Group, Mitsubishi Corporation.
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CONTACT Software acquires majority stake in ISKO engineers AG
ISKO, headquartered in Munich, Germany, is an expert and solution provider for modeling, validating and verifying products in the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors through Computer Aided Engineering (CAE). The company's customers include all well-known German automotive manufacturers and suppliers. CONTACT and ISKO are two companies with a clear focus, many years of experience and high competence in the field of digital product models and associated product development processes. CONTACT focuses on product and process structures in order to support division of labour, collaboration and validity through work products. ISKO focuses on complementary procedures, methods, CAE processes and tools that model and simulate the physical behavior of product components and systems and thus optimally complement CONTACT's range of services. With CONTACT’s investment, the two companies are intensifying their long-standing trusting cooperation. It opens up valuable synergies from the combination of data and process management and simulation methods. This includes consulting services for management and methods of both companies as well as the respective portfolio of software solutions. The common goal is to make sustainable use of the potential of digitization and model-based systems engineering. Companies and users are provided with suitable CAx tools and solutions for data and process management as well as for the interface between tools and management. Initial results can be expected, for example, in the area of simulation management. In addition, investments in the area of machine learning will be increased. "ISKO and CONTACT have been working together for many years. We are convinced that the partnership will enable us to make even better use of the existing potential," explains Karl Heinz Zachries, CEO and founder of CONTACT Software. "With now 15 OEMs as customers, we are an interesting solution provider for the industry," Zachries continues. "Our customers and, especially, our OEM partners expect us to provide the highest level of methodological and, increasingly, IT expertise. Through the connection with CONTACT, we can now meet this demand even better," emphasizes Michael Krause, member of the Executive Board of ISKO engineers AG. ISKO engineers will continue to be managed as an independent company. The ISKO founders Michael Krause and Michael Probst remain shareholders and board members of ISKO engineers AG and will continue to manage the company’s operations in the future. "We are looking forward to working with the exceptionally competent, talented and young ISKO team. It is our aim to use the complementary potential for the further growth of both companies", points out Zachries.
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Suspension of Two Sanctions Against Samsung BioLogics Is Confirmed, and It Accelerates Global Business
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has confirmed suspension of both first and second sanctions against Samsung BioLogics. The Supreme Court's third division announced on November 11 that it decided a ‘without hearing’ dismissal to the SFC’s re-appeal case to cancel the court’s suspension decision on sanctions against Samsung BioLogics. ‘Without hearing’ dismissal means that the Supreme Court considers that it is not subject to appeal or re-appeal case and decides without making a separate hearing. In 2017, the SFC announced that Samsung BioLogics deliberately committed accounting fraud in the process of changing accounting standards of Samsung Bioepis from subsidiary to affiliated company at the end of 2015. After the announcement, in July 2018, Samsung BioLogics was advised the first sanction including dismissal of its representatives and executives and auditor designation for three years. In November, the company faced the second sanction to dismiss a representative, rewrite financial statements, and pay a fine of 8 billion KRW. As sanctions increase, Samsung BioLogics requested for suspension of execution for the first and second sanction, and the lower instance agreed with Samsung BioLogics. The SFC re-appealed to the Supreme Court, but after the suspension of the second sanction on September 6, it concluded to suspend the first sanction as well. On the other hand, as the suspension of execution was confirmed, Samsung BioLogics was able to ease the congestion and accelerate the development of global business. Hence, in the Korean stock market, it has jumped 3.99 percent in a day on the 16th.
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VComply, an Integrated GRC Solution Provider, Secures $2.5 Million in Seed Funding
VComply, a leading GRC management platform, announced today it has secured $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Accel, which will help further product development as well as global expansion plans. While the company already has a global presence with offices in the US and abroad, it is also currently in the process of developing a European office in the UK to support a growing local clientele on the ground. With this additional capital, VComply will continue building its future-forward solution and expand its presence in Europe to empower organizations with the value of holistic GRC management. VComply provides a comprehensive cloud-based governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solution that streamlines operations management, third party management, auditing and regulations requirements such that organizations have complete control over their governance needs. Since launching in early 2016, over 4,000 users across 100 countries have started using VComply’s platform for GRC management. Clients span a wide array of verticals and include Acreage Holdings, Ace Energy Solutions, CHD, Department of International Trade (United Kingdom) and Burger King among many others. Harshvardhan Kariwala, founder and CEO of VComply, said: “As GRC management has gained more widespread awareness and adoption, organizations are now seeing the value of leveraging a comprehensive and cloud-based solution to solve their needs. We are building a platform which revolves around the overall governance of an organization and not just one specific area. Our constant drive for sustainable innovation is what has pushed us and enabled us to come this far. We’re continuously brainstorming ways in which we can simplify, streamline and synchronize workflows, and strengthen the governance of an organization.” Dinesh Katiyar, Partner at Accel said: “The first generation of GRC solutions primarily allowed companies to comply with industry-mandated regulations. However, the modern enterprise needs to govern its operations to maintain integrity and trust, and monitor internal and external risks to stay successful. This is where VComply shines, and we’re delighted to be partnering with a company that can redefine the future of enterprise risk management.” VComply provides a powerful solution set that standardizes compliance processes through a central management dashboard which is accessible via desktop or mobile. While designed for enterprise-level business needs, any organization of any size can use VComply to assign responsibility for hundreds of internationally recognized compliance requirements to individuals and departments across their business, streamlining this otherwise complicated process and saving significant time and money. Users of VComply are also protected from expensive penalties and human error risk-reduction when meeting compliance deadlines. Its comprehensive and cloud-based GRC solution uniquely positions the company for growth in the multi-billion-dollar global GRC industry.
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Peak Capital invests EUR 450,000 in Happyprinting
The Dutch online printing company Happyprinting has received a €450,000 investment from the Dutch venture capital firm Peak Capital. The investment will be used to accelerate Happyprinting’s international roll out and further develop its online printing platform. “We are excited to partner with Peak Capital. Peak has proven to be the right smart capital investor for fast growing companies such as Catawiki and Studocu, and therefore also for us.”, according to Sven Rusticus, CEO Happyprinting. Printing Platform as a Service (PaaS) Happyprinting started in 2017 to develop a highly intuitive online printing webshop, including the brand and the marketing. This platform is now offered as a service to printers worldwide that want to benefit from the high growth in the online printing market and accelerate their business by partnering with Happyprinting. “Globally, the shift from traditional to online order placing in print has only just started. With our platform we make it easier, more efficient, more sustainable, and more fun for both the printers and their customers. It’s our mission to create happy customers and happy printers, worldwide with our platform. That’s why we are Happyprinting.”, according to Rusticus. Johan van Mil, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Peak Capital: “We are impressed with the Happyprinting platform and the international business model that the founders of Happyprinting created. The team has vast entrepreneurial experience and knows the market very well. They were capable to rapidly develop and enter eight European and Asian countries, fully self-funded and in a short amount of time. We are thrilled to assist Happyprinting in growing even faster and fulfilling their global ambitions.” Franchising online printing Happyprinting offers its brand, the marketing and the webshop in a franchise agreement to printing companies worldwide. This enables Happyprinting to grow quickly, without investing in printing equipment, and allows printers to grab their share of the online market by leveraging the brand, the marketing and webshop from Happyprinting. “We created an innovative franchise concept in the e-commerce sector. Where Starbucks franchises bricks and mortar shops, we franchise our country online print shops.”, according to Rusticus. It’s the company's vision to create a global network of in-country printers that all share the Happyprinting brand, the marketing and the Printing as a Service platform. This vision will also enable multinationals to distribute printed products overnight to any country in the world. In contrary to centralized printing, local printing minimizes transportation and hence lowers the carbon footprint of print. “We stop putting print in planes.”, according to Rusticus. “And through our global partnership with HP Indigo, we are able to ensure consistent print quality, anywhere in the world.” Online Print market explodes towards 2025 The global print market is calculated at $980 billion and is close to the size of the global car industry. Despite what many people think, “Print is big, here to stay and still growing”. The global Online Print market is growing even faster and is expected to explode in the coming five years. For example, in Western Europe, for 2018, 19% of all printed matter was ordered via online printers. The market share of online printers is expected to rise to 42% in 2025, according to Bernd Zipper, Europe's recognized expert in the field of online print. In emerging markets like Asia and Eastern Europe, the growth is expected to be even higher.
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gumi Inc. Acquires Shares of Blockchain Game Developer double jump.tokyo
gumi Inc. today announced that through its subsidiary, gumi Cryptos Inc., it has acquired shares of double jump.tokyo from DLE Inc. gumi first entered into a capital and business alliance with the double jump.tokyo in December 2018. Today's acquisition announcement reflects its efforts to further strengthen the partnership between gumi Cryptos and double jump.tokyo and expand its blockchain game business. As part of the acquisition, acquisition agreement, gumi Cryptos received 891 of non-voting shares from DLE with the price of ¥200,500 per share for a total consideration of ¥179,536,500 (shareholding percentage: 22.61%). In 2018, gumi's consolidated subsidiary, gumi X Reality Inc., which changed its trade name from gumi VR Inc. to gumi X Reality Inc., acquired 1,760 shares of double jump.tokyo (shareholding percentage: 44.67%). These shares will be transferred to gumi Cryptos Co., Ltd. on July 1, 2019. After the share transfer, gumi Cryptos will hold 67.28% of the shares of double jump.tokyo. Since some of the shares held are non-voting, double jump.tokyo does not fall under an affiliate of the company of gumi. Founded in 2007, gumi Inc. set out to become the world's No.1 entertainment company in the information revolution through offering new amusements and richness in everyday life. gumi Inc. has focused on increasing its earning capacity of mobile online game business, which is its current main revenue source, and expanding its business by entering in early stage VR/AR businesses, blockchain businesses and other new businesses. For its blockchain business, gumi aims to make strategic alliances with companies offering new technologies inside and outside of Japan, mainly by capital injection via gumi Cryptos to obtain future income sources. Double jump.tokyo is a leading game development company in the blockchain industry, having launched My Crypto Heroes, which went into its pre-sale period on September 21, 2018. In its first 24 hours, the game achieved the number one ranking for the quantity of Ethereum transactions in Decentralized Applications Game (DApps game), which includes games on distributed application, and live on blockchain platform. Also, after the launch of My Cryptos Heroes on November 30, 2018, in DApps game, it achieved number one in first day daily active users (DAU) and in the quantity of Ethereum transactions, taking the lead in the blockchain gaming industry. Partnering with gumi Inc. is the natural next step in double jump.tokyo’s growth as they look to expand globally and break new ground in the blockchain industry.
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ING Life IPO Press Conference
On the afternoon of the April 19th, ING Life's IPO press conference was held at Conrad Hotel in Youngdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The press conference is prepared by ING Life, which is scheduled to be listed on Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI), to present its information and disclose its future goals and plans for listing, and ING Life CEO Jung Mun-guk, vice president Park Ik-jin, and executive director Lee Sung-tae attended. ING Life CEO Jung Mun-guk, who organized the event, said, "ING Life has maintained management that pursues an optimal balance between profitability, growth, efficiency, capital and risk under the vision of 'reliable financial partner for customers' dreams'." And, "This listing will contribute to make ING Life's position in insurance industry stand out and will become a momentum that further differentiates our values." ▲ ING Life's IPO press conference was held. ▲ CEO Jung Mun-guk said, "This listing will become a momentum that further differentiates ING Life's values." According to the announcement, ING Life will carry out demand forecasting expects on April 6-21, after submitting registration statement on March 23, and will be listed on the KOSPI market in May after making a subscription on the April 27th and 28th. The number of public offering stocks is 33,500,000, which is equivalent to 40.9% of the total stock, and they will be proceeded with 100% secondary distribution. The bid price for public offerings is 31,500 won to 40,000 won (par value 1,000 won) and the offer price is 1,552 billion won to 1,330 billion won. The main organizers for this listing are Samsung Securities Co., Morgan Stanley Securities International, Seoul branch, and the co-organizers are Mirae Asset Daewoo, KB Securities, and Goldman Sachs, Seoul branch. Founded in 1987 and celebrated 30th anniversary this year, ING Life has exceeded its total assets of 30 trillion won in 2016, and its risk-based capital (RBC ratio) is recording 319% as of the end of 2016. Especially, as it presents asset & liability management (ALM) strategy, it has financial solidity that is optimized for changes in the regulatory environment. For example, if the financial authorities tighten the RBC, RBC ratio will be increased. In addition, it has maintained excellent profitability through continuous product innovation, strengthened FC channel and system innovation for future growth. ING Life generates profits from all three profit sources of life insurance companies: death rate, working expenses, and interest rate. In 2016, its net profit is 6.8%(excluding one-off factors such as accidental death benefit payment for suicide), which is above the average of listed life insurance companies’ average of 2.8%. Based on this, ING Life has made a lot of effort to create shareholder profit by raising the dividend payout ratio from 45% in 2014 to 58% in 2016, increased by 13%. In aspect of external growth trends, ING Life showed an average annual growth rate of 26% over the past three years based on ‘Annual Premium Equivalent (APE)’. Moreover, the company’s main channel, FC Channel, is leading the company’s business growth through virtuous cycle, including improving product mix and FC productivity, increasing monthly incomes per operating FC, and improving the retention rate and persistency rate.
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Netmarble Games IPO Press Conference
On the afternoon of the April 18th, Netmarble Games (Netmarble) held a press conference at Conrad Hotel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The press conference was prepared to present information of Netmarble, which is in the process of being listed on KOSPI, and clarify its future goals and listing plan. CEO Kwon Young-sik, Vice-President Beak Young-hoon, Director Do Gi-uk, and Business Strategy Manager Choi Chan-seok attended the event. Kwon Young-sik, CEO of Netmarble, said, "Today, we are introducing the status, performance, and core competitiveness of Netmarble, preparing to be listed on KOSPI. We hope you to give a lot of encouragement and support to the challenge of Netmarble, trying to grow into a global game company." ▲ Netmarble Games IPO press conference was held. ▲ Kwon Young-sik introduced about Netmarble's performance and core competitiveness According to the announcement, Netmarble submitted a securities declaration to Korea Exchange for listing on KOSPI on March 20. The main organizers for this IPO are NH Investment & securities Co., J.P. Morgan Securities(Seoul Branch), and the co-organizers are Korea Investment & securities Co., and Citigroup Global Market Security. As a part of offering progress, Netmarble is in the process of company IR for domestic and foreign investors, and after demand estimation by April 20th and competition for stocks on April 25-26, it will be listed on May 12. The total number of stocks to be offered is 16,953,612 (100% new stocks offering), and the estimated price is 121,000-157,000 won. The total offering amount is 2,051.4 billion won at the bottom of the band and 2,661.7 billion won at the top of the band. Next, Kwon Young-sik introduced about Netmarble's core competitiveness. First, it is introduced that general global mobile game companies heavily rely on a single game. However, Netmarble has a well-balanced portfolio with 6 games that account for more than 5% of total sales, such as 'Seven Knights', 'Everyone's Marble', 'Lineage II Revolution', 'Marvel: Future Fight', 'Cookie Jam', and 'Panda Pop'. He then emphasized that Netmarble is outstanding in PLC management ability than other game companies. 'Everyone's Marble,' launched in June 2013, achieved the greatest sales in February 2016, 32 months after launch, and 'Seven Knights,' launched in March 2014, achieved the greatest sales in July 2016, 28 months after launch. Moreover, with more than 2,500 of global development manpower from 17 development studios such as Netmarble N2, Netmarble Neo, Netmarble Monster, Netmarble Nexus, Jam City, Kabam, etc., lots of new line-ups, perfect localization, and excellent development and publishing capabilities that enable periodic updates are mentioned as Netmarble's strengths. He also stated that it is entering North American market through successful M&A as well as improving market dominance in the major mobile game market in Asia based on its successful localization. In this regard, Kwon Young-sik analyzed that, "Netmarble achieved average sales growth of 104% from 2014 to 2016, which is even better than domestic Internet and major global game companies." And, "This is because we applied effectively managing and operating PLCs by the same publishing model as PC online game to mobile, and dominated the genre by analyzing user preferences and trends."
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