Thursday, 2 August 2018

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD ANNOUNCES PRICING OF ITS INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING OF ORDINARY SHARES

CHICAGO, Aug 2 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cushman & Wakefield plc (“Cushman & Wakefield”) today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 45,000,000 of its ordinary shares, at a price to the public of $17.00 per share. The shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and will trade under the symbol “CWK” beginning August 2, 2018. In addition, Cushman & Wakefield has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 6,750,000 ordinary shares at the public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions.
 
Cushman & Wakefield expects to use the net proceeds from the ordinary shares offered by it to reduce outstanding indebtedness, in particular to repay its second lien loan, to pay the outstanding amount of the deferred payment obligation related to its acquisition of Cassidy Turley and any remaining net proceeds for general corporate purposes.
 
Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and UBS Investment Bank are acting as joint book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering. Barclays Capital Inc., BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and William Blair & Company, L.L.C. are also acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. TPG Capital BD, LLC, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc., JMP Securities LLC, China Renaissance Securities (US) Inc., Fifth Third Securities, Inc., Academy Securities, Inc., Loop Capital Markets LLC, Samuel A. Ramirez & Company, Inc., Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co. L.L.C. and The Williams Capital Group, L.P. are acting as co-managers for the offering.
 
The offering is being made only by means of the written prospectus forming part of the effective registration statement. Copies of the final prospectus related to the offering, when available, may be obtained from Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, email: prospectus-eq_fi@jpmchase.com, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: (866) 471-2526 or email: prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com and UBS Securities LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, telephone: 888-827-7275 or email: olprospectusrequest@ubs.com.
 
A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective as of August 1, 2018 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or solicitation would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities law in any such state or jurisdiction.
 
About Cushman & Wakefield
 
Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value by putting ideas into action for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with 48,000 employees in approximately 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2017, the firm had revenue of $6.9 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services.
 
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
 
Any statements in this release that are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements convey Cushman & Wakefield’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Cushman & Wakefield’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in the “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” section of the Registration Statement on Form S-1. Unless required by law, Cushman & Wakefield undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this press release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180801006113/en/
 
Contact

Cushman & Wakefield
Brad Kreiger
Corporate Communications
+1 312 424 8010
brad.kreiger@cushwake.com
 
Source : Cushman & Wakefield
 
--BERNAMA

RFA ACCELERATES GROWTH WITH EXPANSION IN LUXEMBOURG

RFA announces new private financial cloud in Luxembourg to accelerate growth and accommodate increased demand in technology regulation and cybersecurity

LUXEMBOURG, July 31 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RFA, a next-gen managed IT service provider for the financial industry, announces a new private financial cloud in Luxembourg. This expansion allows RFA to accommodate accelerated growth in Europe and offer a portfolio of high quality private cloud services to both its existing and new financial services clients in Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, and the wider region.

Along with the London office, the new office doubles RFA’s footprint in Europe and further bolsters the company’s growth strategy. RFA has two highly secure, tier-one data centres in Luxembourg which meet the ISO27001 and SSAE16/Type II standards, which is key for firms regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Sector Financier (CSSF). RFA is now ideally placed to provide a range of services to clients in this region, and offer fully managed private cloud, infrastructure-as-a-service and secure multi-cloud services, which allow clients to take advantage of the flexibility and scalability of public cloud services, whilst enjoying the security and direct control of the private cloud.

RFA’s clients in Luxembourg also benefit from exceptional levels of support, with industry-leading response times and 24/7 connection to live assistance or onsite support when required.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth from new and existing clients,” said Yohan Kim, President and COO of RFA. “We’re excited to add to our ever expanding European teams; this area is abundant with diverse talent.” George Ralph, Managing Director, states: “this expansion of the RFA portfolio will help us to further enhance our workflow automation services, cloud management and security offerings, as well as increase our ability to service our current clients across Europe and give us the opportunity to develop future client relationships in the new market.”

About RFA
Founded in 1989, RFA is the trusted technology partner to 700+ clients globally, with $900+ Billion AUM. Offering a full range of technology solutions, global data center operations, and industry-leading service, RFA serves the IT and Technology needs of the Financial sector. RFA delivers scalable, reliable and secure enterprise-grade technology infrastructure by combining a seasoned executive team, carefully vetted engineers, and trusted partner companies. RFA is headquartered in New York City and London (EMEA) with operations in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, and Luxembourg.

George Ralph
Managing Director
gralph@rfa.com

Source : RFA

--BERNAMA

Wednesday, 1 August 2018

JAPANESE GOV'T, JAPAN WORLD EXPO 2025 COMMITTEE BEEFING UP BIDDING ACTIVITIES TO HOST WORLD EXPO 2025

TOKYO, July 31 (Bernama-AsiaNet) --

- Bringing Public-Private Sectors and Pokemon Together Ahead of Decision on Host Country in November -

The Government of Japan and the Japan World Expo 2025 Committee (hereinafter "the Committee") have been conducting activities at home and abroad seeking to host the World Expo 2025. From July 21, the Committee took the initiative to begin an event-oriented campaign in which Pokemon, one of the Committee's "Special Envoys (Mascot Characters)," boosts bidding activities at the Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo in Ikebukuro and elsewhere in Japan as part of efforts to win the bid to host the World Expo.
http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=32391

Toshiba unveils new advanced microcontrollers for consumer and industrial equipment


 
KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 (Bernama) -- Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba) has added the M3H Group to its TXZ™ Family of Arm® Cortex®-M-based microcontrollers for consumer and industrial equipment.

The new microcontrollers can be used in air-conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, office automation equipment, housing and facility equipment, audio-visual equipment and motor control applications.

The company in a statement said the new products are now in mass production.

The M3H Group has two groups based on their functional level. M3H Group 1 offers standard functions, while M3H Group 2 offers an expanded package line-up and memory size and supports high-speed processing (80MHz).

Both groups offer a rich line-up with 13 packages (32 pins to 144 pins) and flash memory ranging from 32KB to 512KB.

The M3H Group is designed for motor control and to meet diverse requirements for consumer and industrial equipment.

Toshiba plans to release groups of microcontrollers for communications control for high-speed data processing and devices equipped with high-precision analog circuits for control of low- to medium-speed motors.

More details on https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com

--BERNAMA 

SETTING SIGHTS TO BE TOP CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS IN ASIA; CREATIVE FESTIVAL FOR STUDENT "GATSBY CREATIVE AWARDS 13TH" NOW ON

OSAKA, Japan, Aug 1 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Mandom Corporation (TOKYO:4917) is holding the GATSBY CREATIVE AWARDS 13th, one of the largest awards in Asia for creative students. Calls for submissions begin on August 1, 2018.
 
This award, which highlights both the fun in personal grooming and creativity within the younger generation, will allow any student within the target area to participate easily, using YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
 
Overview for the GATSBY CREATIVE AWARDS 13th
 
The GATSBY CREATIVE AWARDS began when GATSBY, a men’s cosmetics brand enlarging its market share in Asia, wanted to support and encourage young people. The awards, which are among the largest of the kind in Asia, seeks to expand awareness of creative work being produced by the students who apply. The awards process not only shares the work of young people both from within Japan and throughout the rest of Asia, whose abundantly powerful creativity and freedom of expression are already beacons to the world, but also creates a forum for these students to know one another and begin to collaborate.
 
Submissions are open to any novice artist, hoping to become a creative or performance professional, and with an interest in and passion for creation and expression.
 
There will be five entry categories for this 13th annual event. Finalists will be invited to join the ceremonies in Tokyo’s Shibuya, in March of 2019, for the GATSBY CREATIVE AWARDS 13th FINAL. That event will afford students with opportunities to interact at the international level, through the medium of their creativity.
 
Entry Categories and Submission Deadlines

(1) CM, (2) ART
Submissions accepted from Wednesday, August 1, 2018 to Sunday, October 14, 2018.

(3) DANCE, (4) MUSIC, (5) PHOTO
Submissions accepted from Monday, October 15, 2018 to Sunday, December 2, 2018.
 
Submission Qualifications

1. Be a student enrolled in senior high school, vocational school, community college, college, or university.
2. Be a national within the target area and reside anywhere within the target area.
 
Target Area

Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand.

See the official website for the GATSBY CREATIVE AWARDS 13th for more information.
https://award.gatsby.jp/sg/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180801005315/en/

Contact

Mandom Corporation
Miki Shimizu, +81-3-5766-2484
Communication Design Division
shimizu-mi@mandom.co.jp
Please contact us in English.

Source : Mandom Corporation

--BERNAMA

Natural human speech now available with artificial intelligence


 
KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- An artificial intelligence (AI) capable of natural human speech, known as 'alt Dialogue Engine Version 1' has been unveiled by alt Inc.

alt Inc is a Japanese startup and developer of 'al+' personal artificial intelligence (PAI) company.

The Dialogue Engine can automatically classify intent of questions to return most suitable response using ranker learning technique.

When two humans converse with each other, there are questions, answers and then new topics arising in a mutual and free interplay, a statement said.

The Dialogue Engine also actively participates, asking its own questions to promote the flow of the conversation, as would be the case for a truly natural conversation, without simply keeping responding to questions.

It is combining artificial intelligence markup language rules, data drawn from knowledge bases and response and question generation that uses recurrent neural networks.

This is world's first dialogue AI that incorporates all these elements for the Japanese language. It is also ranked in the highest class for English dialogue AI.

The Dialogue Engine will continuously evolve and grow as humans grow while learning language and interaction.

-- BERNAMA

TRICOR GROUP EXPANDS INTO DEBT SERVICES WITH ACQUISITION OF ASIA MARKET LEADER MADISON PACIFIC

Asia’s leading business services provider enhances capabilities with new debt trustee services
 
HONG KONG, Aug 1 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Tricor Group (“Tricor”), Asia’s leading provider of business, corporate and investor services, is pleased to announce today its agreement to acquire Madison Pacific Group, the leading independent provider of corporate trust and agency services throughout Asia (“Madison Pacific”).
 
Combined with the current business of Tricor Investor Services, Madison Pacific, which specialises in providing corporate trust, loan agency and security trustee services, will give Tricor a complete platform to support corporate clients in their capital needs in the debt and equity markets, especially in Hong Kong, one of the world’s largest capital markets.
 
The acquisition adds Madison Pacific’s strong franchise and deep expertise in corporate debt and investment to the Tricor platform and allows the combined group to offer sophisticated solutions to both firms’ clients. Madison Pacific was founded in 2010 in Hong Kong to address the need for an independent and experienced expert provider of trusted third-party trustee and agency services in sophisticated cross-border debt focused transactions.
 
Madison Pacific operates across Asia and EMEA from offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and London. Since its founding Madison Pacific has acted on over 700 transactions with a combined value in excess of US$50 Billion.
 
Lennard Yong, Group CEO of Tricor, said: “Madison Pacific adds an important capability to Tricor’s customer solutions. We are now the number one provider of share registrar solutions in Hong Kong, trusted by over 1,200 companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As our clients’ capital requirements mature to encapsulate debt issuance, Tricor can now provide solutions as a corporate trust provider, enabling our customers to more easily access capital in the debt markets. Our enhanced capabilities with Madison Pacific enhances our status as the most desirable partner in business solutions.”
 
Jonathan Hatch and David Naphtali, the Managing Directors of Madison Pacific commented: “We are very pleased to be moving into a new phase of global growth with a strong partner. We thank all of our staff and stakeholders for their valuable contributions, especially Lennard for his wise stewardship of this transaction on behalf of Tricor. Tricor’s deep understanding of corporate trust as a professional service, rather than an administrative service, is exactly what has driven our own success to date, and we are confident that our broadened platform we will deliver superior value to our clients.
 
Tricor is also pleased to recognize Madison Pacific’s Managing Directors, Jonathan Hatch and David Naphtali, whose leadership and experience enabled Madison Pacific’s success in its specialist area. Lennard Yong remarked, “I am very excited and look forward to working with Jonathan and David as well as the wider team at Madison Pacific. Jonathan and David bring exceptional talent and expertise together with a fast growing business that strongly complements our existing brand. From our Hong Kong headquarters, Tricor is already recognised as a leading Asian-based multinational corporate services firm. As Asia continues to drive the world’s economic growth, we will leverage our geographic advantage to help our clients accelerate growth in this region. Together with Madison Pacific, we will deliver truly invaluable solutions for our clients.”
 
About Tricor Group

Tricor Group (Tricor) has a growing global presence and is Asia’s leading provider of integrated business, corporate and investor services. As a business enabler, Tricor provides outsourced expertise across payroll, accounting, corporate secretarial, and investor services. Tricor has had a rapid expansion through organic growth and development as well as mergers and acquisitions, today with 29,000 clients globally, staff strength of over 2,000 and a network of offices in 37 cities across 20 countries / territories. Our client portfolio includes over 1,200 companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, more than 500 companies listed in Singapore and Malaysia, over 40% of Fortune Global 500 companies, as well as a significant share of multinationals and private enterprises operating across international markets. In March 2017, the Permira Funds became the controlling shareholder of the Tricor Group, alongside management. See: www.tricorglobal.com.
 
About Madison Pacific

The Madison Pacific Group is a premier independent provider of an extensive range of trustee, agency, escrow, custodial, directorship and company secretarial services in a wide variety of transactions including private and public debt and new capital raisings, restructurings, distressed transactions, complex workouts and enforcements, asset management in other special situations, and opportunistic investment.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180730005436/en/
 
Contact

TRICOR GROUP HONG KONG (HEAD OFFICE)
Tricor Services Limited
Sunshine Farzan, +852 2980 1261
Sunshine.Farzan@hk.tricorglobal.com
or
FleishmanHillard Hong Kong
Sadie Lam/Olivia Cao
+852 2586 7836/ +852 2586 7845
sadie.lam@fleishman.com/
olivia.cao@fleishman.com
or
MADISON PACIFIC
Madison Pacific Group
David Naphtali, +852 2599 9500
dnaphtali@madisonpac.com
 
Source : Tricor Group
 
--BERNAMA