Tag: South Africa

The merger combines complementary video offerings to empower established and emerging broadcasters with independence and control, as digital video becomes a must-have for all organizations.

NEW YORK and PLYMOUTH, United Kingdom and AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, May 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — JW Player, the leading video software and data insights platform, today announced it is acquiring VUALTO, a leading provider of live and on-demand video streaming and Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions. The acquisition deepens JW Player’s already robust offering to global broadcasters and further accelerates its vision to empower customers with independence and control in today’s Digital Video Economy by offering easy-to-use, scalable video technology.

This acquisition arrives as the consumption of digital video continues its push to the mainstream. Video now comprises over 80% of all traffic on the internet, and according to JW Player data, people are consuming over two hours of digital video each day, a 40% increase since the beginning of 2020. As a result, a digital video strategy has become a ‘must have’ not only for broadcasters and media companies, but also for organizations of all types, including for JW Player customers in fitness (Centr app), e-commerce (Tag Heuer), sports (Miami Heat) and e-learning (GoNoodle), among others. These new entrants have a diverse range of needs and require a scalable and flexible video platform that allows them to connect and engage with their audiences on the screens of their choice. Given these dynamics, the addressable market will grow from $14B today to $50B by 2027, a 20% CAGR.

“Over the past two years, digital video has become ubiquitous. We now live in the Digital Video Economy, and as a platform company that empowers our customers with independence and control, JW Player is uniquely positioned to succeed in this environment,” said Dave Otten, CEO and co-founder of JW Player. “Joining forces with VUALTO further solidifies our position. Their world-class technology stack expands our platform to include broadcast-level live streaming and content protection services, which are critical for today’s customers. We could not be more excited about this partnership and look forward to innovating together with the highly-talented VUALTO team.”

JW Player’s platform combines highly-scalable video delivery with data insights from 2.7 billion unique monthly devices to help its customers achieve their business goals with video. VUALTO complements JW Player’s offering with market-leading, high-end live streaming and DRM services for broadcasters. The combined result is a single platform for high-quality live and on-demand video delivery across mobile, web and OTT platforms; secure content delivery; and unique insights, intelligence and monetization features to help customers grow their revenue.

Camilla Young, CEO and co-founder, VUALTO, said, “This is a huge growth opportunity for us as a business, as well as for our team. Our successful partnership with JW Player over the past year has given our teams the opportunity to successfully go-to-market under real-world circumstances. Through this, a natural culture match between our teams has already developed, which gives us incredible confidence that together we will be hugely successful. As we embark on this new chapter, our commitment to our existing broadcast customers and our DRM service remains, and we will continue to provide the same high level of support and service that our customers have come to expect from VUALTO.”

VUALTO will expand JW Player’s customer base with prominent customers in the European market and elsewhere, including ITV, the UK’s most popular commercial TV channel, French national public broadcaster France TV, and the European Parliament. These broadcasters join over 12,000 media companies already using the JW Player platform, including broadcasters such as FOX, BBC, CNBC, EuroSport and VICE.

About JW Player
JW Player is the leading video software and data insights platform that gives customers independence and control in today’s Digital Video Economy. Started in 2008 as a hugely popular open source video player, JW Player ’s technology platform now powers digital video for hundreds of thousands of businesses, including half of the comScore top 50 sites in the US, leading broadcasters across EMEA, APAC and Latin America. Each month 1 billion viewers, or one third of all people on the Internet, consume video on JW Player’s technology across 2.7 billion devices, creating an unmatched and powerful consumption and contextual data graph that helps customers grow audiences and generate incremental video from digital video. The company is headquartered in New York, with offices in London and Eindhoven, visit http://www.jwplayer.com.

About VUALTO
VUALTO are experts in cloud-based OTT Video Delivery & Orchestration, developing streaming solutions on a global scale. With three products, the VUALTO CONTROL HUB (VCH) video orchestration tool, CLIP2VU live & VOD video clipping & syndication tool, and VUDRM Digital Rights Management, VUALTO deliver an adaptable, scalable & intelligent video delivery solution, taking your content from camera, right through to your chosen users, on multi devices. Working globally, VUALTO develops video solutions for a host of industries to include: Broadcasters, Sports, Governments, Media & Entertainment, OTT Service Providers and Telecoms & Operators. To learn more, please visit www.VUALTO.com.

Contact: videosuccess@VUALTO.com

JW Player Media Contact:
Fatimah Nouilati
Scratch Marketing + Media for JW Player
fatimah@scratchmm.com

VUALTO Media Contact:
Amber Chawner
Whiteoaks International – PR for VUALTO
amberc@whiteoaks.co.uk

ATLANTA, May 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On May 4, J.M. Huber Corporation (“Huber”) signed a definitive agreement with RHI Magnesita (“RHIM”) to acquire their 50% ownership stake in the companies’ 50/50 joint venture, MAGNIFIN Magnesiaprodukte GmbH & Co. KG (“MAGNIFIN”). This transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, pending regulatory approvals.

Huber originally acquired its 50% ownership interest in MAGNIFIN as part of the purchase of the Martinswerk operation from Albemarle in 2016. Located in Bergheim, Germany, Martinswerk became part of the Huber Engineered Materials (HEM) Fire Retardant Additives (FRA) strategic business unit (SBU), which produces a wide range of halogen-free products for flame retardant and smoke suppression applications and aluminum oxides.

Based in Breitenau, Austria, MAGNIFIN has been producing and selling premium magnesium hydroxide (MDH) products since 1991. MAGNIFIN^® coated and uncoated magnesium hydroxides are environment friendly, non-halogenated flame retardants used in a wide range of polymer applications, especially thermoplastic materials and elastomers requiring high processing temperatures in excess of 300 °C. Typical flame retardant applications include energy and LAN (local area network) data cables, automotive wire and cable, engineering thermoplastics (e.g. connectors) and construction foils.

“This transition is a strong strategic fit with HEM’s mission to own and operate specialty chemical and mineral companies with market leading positions,” says Dan Krawczyk, President of Huber Engineered Materials.

“This step forward demonstrates our commitment towards our customers to support their growth and our clear strategy to grow our halogen-free fire retardant business globally,” adds Victor Dean, General Manager of HEM’s FRA Business.

About Huber Engineered Materials
Huber Engineered Materials (HEM), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (US), is a global leader in the production of fine precipitated alumina trihydrate and magnesium hydroxide, both non-halogenated fire retardants. Its FRA business unit has four manufacturing sites in North America and two in Europe, one of which is the MAGNIFIN plant.

HEM has been a trusted supplier of halogen-free fire retardants and smoke suppressants for almost 40 years, manufacturing a large portfolio of value-added Hydral^®, Hymod^®, Martinal^® and Micral^® alumina trihydrates; MAGNIFIN^®, Vertex^® and Zerogen^® magnesium hydroxides; and Kemgard^® molybdate compounds for a variety of end-use applications, including reinforced polyester molding and pultrusion, engineering thermoplastics, roofing, silicone rubber, wire and cable, coatings and carpet backing. In addition, Huber produces Martoxid^® calcined aluminum oxides, Compalox^® specialty oxides and Pergopak^® carriers and matting agents.

HEM is focused on engineered specialty chemical and minerals that enhance the performance, appeal and processing of a broad range of products used in industrial, agricultural and consumer applications and also has a portfolio of high value agricultural nutrients and adjuvants and industrial, food and USP grade calcium carbonate products. For more information, visit www.hubermaterials.com.

About J.M. Huber Corporation
J.M. Huber Corporation, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (US), operates a diverse portfolio of companies: CP Kelco, Huber Engineered Materials, Huber Engineered Woods and Huber Resources Corp. With locations around the world, our businesses create products used in a broad range of applications including personal care, food and beverage, agricultural nutrients and adjuvants, building materials, flame retardants and smoke suppressants, as well as sustainable forestry services. Founded in 1883, Huber is one of the largest family-owned companies based in the US. For more information, visit www.huber.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Lea Volpe
Director, Corporate Communications
J.M. Huber Corporation
678.247.7128 phone
lea.volpe@huber.com

Residential Portfolio Comprised of Four Mid-Rise Buildings with 1,161 Units Nearing Completion; Eight-Acre Newark Project Site Includes Plans to Develop 4,200 Residential Units

NEW YORK, May 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Madison Realty Capital, a fully integrated real estate private equity firm focused on debt and equity investment strategies, today announced it has provided a $395 million loan to Accurate Builders & Developers for a portfolio of assets that includes three nearly-complete multifamily properties located in Bayonne, Raritan and Linden, NJ that includes 1,161 units nearing completion and an eight-acre development located at the site of the Former Bears Stadium in Newark, NJ, that includes plans to develop 4,200 residential units.

“This transaction reflects Madison Realty Capital’s ability to provide a complex, hybrid financing solution to a high-quality borrower across price points and all stages of the project lifecycle, from land acquisition, ground up development and leasing,” said Josh Zegen, Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Madison Realty Capital.  “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Jack Klugmann of Accurate Builders & Developers and to work with the Town of Newark on this exciting, once-in-a-generation project that benefits the economic revitalization of downtown and will bring much needed high quality housing options to Newark’s hard-working residents.  Bayonne, Raritan and Linden are attractive, transit-oriented locations with growing demand for high-quality rental housing options.”

Details of the portfolio of three multifamily projects near completion, are as follows:

• The four-story Raritan multifamily building offers 276 studio, one- and two-bedroom units, 20 of which are affordable units, and luxury amenities, such as fitness centers, courtyards, BBQ and a parking garage. Leasing for this property is already underway.
• In Linden, the four-story rental property will offer 234 studio, one- and two-bedroom units with access to top-tier amenities including courtyards, pool, fitness centers, roof deck and children’s playroom. Leasing for this property is expected to begin over the summer.
• The Bayonne property consists of two, five-story multifamily properties with a mix of 651 studio, one-, and two-bedroom units and will offer top-tier amenities including a roof deck, concierge, pet center, spa facility, rooftop pool, fitness center and outdoor terraces. Leasing is for the buildings is expected to occur at the end of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, respectively.

The eight-acre Newark project site includes plans to develop 4,200 residential units as part of a master-planned community to be built in nine phases that enables the borrower to develop the assets over time and monetize the assets individually in partnership with the City of Newark. The ground up development project will include 200 affordable units, up to 3,000 parking spaces; at least 100,000 square feet of hospitality/destination retail, co-working space for small business, entrepreneurs, and freelancers; and publicly accessible green space. Shaya Ackerman of Meridian Capital Group arranged the acquisition financing for this transaction.

 

About Madison Realty Capital

Madison Realty Capital is a New York City based real estate private equity firm focused on debt and equity investment strategies with regional offices in key markets including Los Angeles and Dallas. Founded in 2004, MRC has closed on approximately $14 billion of transactions in the multifamily, retail, office, industrial and hotel sectors nationwide. The firm manages investments in the United States on behalf of a global investor base. MRC is a fully integrated firm with over 60 employees across all real estate investment, development, and property management disciplines. Among other industry recognitions, MRC has been named to the Commercial Observer’s prestigious “Power 100” list of New York City real estate players and is consistently cited as one of the industry’s top construction lenders. To learn more, follow us on LinkedIn and visit www.madisonrealtycapital.com.

Nathaniel Garnick/Grace Cartwright
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170
madisonrealty@gasthalter.com

 

NEW YORK, May 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via InvestorWire — InvestorBrandNetwork (“IBN”), an innovative corporate communications agency and diversified content distributor, today announces significant growth milestones in early 2021.

Since launching the first brand of its communications platform in 2006, IBN has consistently attained transformative growth. Today, the IBN Investor Brand Platform boasts a portfolio of 50+ brands with a collective social media audience that includes millions of followers and an expansive network of 5,000+ key syndication partners. The company’s proven track record serving 500+ client partners demonstrates its unique value proposition for companies operating across a broad array of industries.

InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN) is pleased to announce recent milestones that include:

• Expansion of Active CORE Client Partners to include over 85 public and private companies.
• Media partnerships with 93 events thus far in 2021, bolstered by re-engagements and supported by IBN’s portfolio of brands targeting specific market sectors.
• Publication of 685+ corporate profiles for companies presenting at partner events.
• Syndication of IBN’s 80,000^th editorial article, representing more than a decade of original content that reaches an expanding audience of prospective investors.
• Introduction of IBN Spotlights, offering up-to-the-minute coverage of the market’s most in-demand companies.

IBN has also expanded its Podcast Solutions by collaborating with well-known hosts and producers that have sizable existing audiences, further increasing recognition for IBN clients. Following each episode, IBN issues a news release through InvestorWire as part of continued efforts to position its clients as top-priority guests for popular podcasts that have considerable reach.

“IBN is already reaching incredible growth metrics early in 2021, and our team will actively build on this momentum in the months to come,” stated Jonathan Keim, IBN’s Director of Communications. “We are uniquely structured to help clients and event organizers more effectively communicate with the investment community using our proprietary digital distribution network.”

About InvestorBrandNetwork

The InvestorBrandNetwork (“IBN”) consists of financial brands introduced to the investment public over the course of 15+ years. With IBN, we have amassed a collective audience of millions of social media followers. These distinctive investor brands aim to fulfill the unique needs of a growing base of client partners. IBN will continue to expand our branded network of highly influential properties, leveraging the knowledge and energy of specialized teams of experts to serve our increasingly diversified list of clients.

Through NetworkNewsWire (“NNW”) and its affiliate brands, IBN provides: (1) access to a network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets; (3) enhanced press release solutions to ensure maximum impact; (4) full-scale distribution to a growing social media audience; (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions; and (6) a total news coverage solution.

For more information on IBN, visit https://www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the InvestorBrandNetwork website applicable to all content provided by IBN, wherever published or re-published: https://IBN.fm/Disclaimer

Managing Editor | http://www.IBN.fm
InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN) – Digital Media Syndication
Los Angeles, CA | O: 310.299.1717
Editor@InvestorBrandNetwork.com

WASHINGTON, May 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As the world continues to grapple with the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global community faces an urgent need to develop an efficient, coordinated and sustainable model for a healthy and well-functioning vaccine research and development (R&D) ecosystem.

In a new report, “Powering Vaccine R&D: Opportunities for Transformation,” the Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group uses lessons learned from the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines to explore opportunities to overhaul vaccine R&D practices to better prepare for the next pandemic, to make strides against diseases currently without vaccines and to establish next-generation vaccines that offer meaningful improvements.

“The COVID pandemic and the rapid development of vaccines to fight SARS-CoV-2 have heightened our sense of urgency that the time has come to evolve and reform the vaccine R&D ecosystem with the goal of creating a world free of vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Shirley M. Tilghman, PhD, co-chair of the Group and president emeritus and professor emeritus of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs at Princeton University.

“This report reflects our group’s end-to-end thinking on vaccine science and policy, from continued innovation in developing and deploying vaccines, through equitable distribution of vaccines in low- and middle-income countries, to overcoming vaccine hesitancy and realizing the full benefit of vaccines to individuals, families and society,” adds Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD, co-chair of the Group and president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Despite remarkable accomplishments in recent years, including the new vaccine development platforms that have enabled the rapid response to COVID-19, challenges and structural barriers remain that have slowed the development of new and improved vaccines. The report focuses on five “Big Ideas” that aim to stimulate a more efficient and responsive approach to vaccine R&D:

• Define leadership roles, responsibilities and mechanisms of accountability to prepare for the R&D demands that surface in a pandemic, including a leadership model that engages diverse stakeholders, expertise and institutions from across the globe.
• Propel a transdisciplinary research effort to expand and advance vaccine science, including support for a research infrastructure that creates opportunities for novel and high-risk/high-reward ideas, leverages lessons from other scientific areas, ranging from the chemistry and physics of vaccine formulation to the immunologic basis of protection and creates two-way learning opportunities between research focused on pandemics and on longstanding endemic diseases.
• Restructure regulatory science to reflect advances in vaccine R&D to make vaccine trials faster, nimbler and more cost-effective as well as to enhance product scale-up and manufacturing and post-market surveillance.
• Reimagine clinical trials to feature equity and efficiency as prime drivers, with lower- and middle-income countries as full partners in clinical trial development at every stage.
• Position vaccines as a public good and align incentives so that benefits accrue to all sectors of society, including a strong push to develop or maintain policies and practices that promote information sharing and collaborative problem-solving.

These recommendations offer the opportunity to advance and accelerate vaccine development and should be a critical part of any effort to reexamine and restructure the R&D component of the vaccine/vaccination ecosystem, a particularly relevant undertaking as the world continues to address and learn lessons from the COVID-19 response.

“The rapid generation and distribution of effective COVID-19 vaccines have demonstrated the efficiency that can be achieved through heightened collaboration, cooperation and data sharing across multiple contributing disciplines,” said Bob Tepper, Group member and co-founder and partner at Third Rock Ventures. “This offers a blueprint for the future where worldwide coordination of scientific, clinical, regulatory and distribution efforts must be established as the new norm.”

The Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group is a partnership which brings together senior leaders across many disciplines to examine some of the most challenging vaccine-related issues and drive impactful change. The meeting of the Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group and its research and report were funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.

About Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group

The Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group, a partnership launched in 2018 between the Sabin Vaccine Institute and the Aspen Institute, brings together senior leaders across many disciplines to examine some of the most challenging vaccine-related issues and drive impactful change. Members are influential, creative, out-of-the-box thinkers who vigorously probe a single topic each year and develop actionable recommendations to advance innovative ideas for the development, distribution and use of vaccines, as well as evidence-based and cost-effective approaches to immunization.

About the Sabin Vaccine Institute

The Sabin Vaccine Institute is a leading advocate for expanding vaccine access and uptake globally, advancing vaccine research and development, and amplifying vaccine knowledge and innovation. Unlocking the potential of vaccines through partnership, Sabin has built a robust ecosystem of funders, innovators, implementers, practitioners, policy makers and public stakeholders to advance its vision of a future free from preventable diseases. As a non-profit with more than two decades of experience, Sabin is committed to finding solutions that last and extending the full benefits of vaccines to all people, regardless of who they are or where they live. At Sabin, we believe in the power of vaccines to change the world. For more information, visit https://www.sabin.org/ and follow us on Twitter, @SabinVaccine.

About the Aspen Institute and its Health, Medicine & Society Program

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just and equitable society. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners.

Established in 2005, the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program brings together influential groups of thought leaders, decision-makers and the informed public to consider health challenges facing the U.S. in the 21st century and to identify practical solutions for addressing them. For more information, visit https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/health-medicine-and-society-program/.

Media Contact:
Mary Beth Wooden
Vice President, Communications
Sabin Vaccine Institute
+1 (202) 842-5025
press@sabin.org

The health authority acceptance opens doors to creative brand innovation and renovation of sugar products.

Rancho Santa Margarita, May 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As pandemic conditions have encouraged Asian consumers to adopt healthier lifestyles and diets, the Malaysia Ministry of Health officially accepted SweeGen’s zero-calorie Bestevia sweeteners, Rebaudiosides D, E and M for use as ingredients in food and beverage products.

Brands in Asia are striving to deliver sweet indulgence alongside new and exciting flavors in snacks and beverages to satisfy consumers’ cravings. The acceptance of not just one, but three of SweeGen’s premium stevia ingredients, gives brands in Malaysia the creative latitude to tackle sugar challenges when innovating and renovating products.

“Cutting calories and adopting nature-based ingredients in diets has long fit into the importance of health and wellness for consumers in Asia,” said Senior Vice President of Sales, Luca Giannone. “Our promise well into the future is to ultimately move the needle in what consumers eat and drink through better sugar reduction solutions.”

Malaysia is one of many APAC countries where SweeGen’s non-GMO stevia sweeteners will change the landscape for offering a low cost-in-use sugar reduction solution.

In its quest to provide highest levels of customized service to brands and the broadest toolbox of taste solutions in Asia, SweeGen is in the process of opening a food and beverage application center in Singapore to collaborate with brands on exploring and discovering product innovations motivated by consumer trends and regional tastes.  Last year, Singapore’s food safety authority approved SweeGen’s Rebs D and E in 2020 and Reb M in 2019.

Next generation non-GMO stevia sweeteners have led the way in replacing sugar in foods and beverages, nutritional products, and many other market products world-wide. In a Mintel 2020 report on table sauces, it reported that “consumers in this region are increasingly keen to eat more natural foods. This should encourage table sauce brands to remove artificial additives and prioritize natural, organic, and less-processed ingredients.” SweeGen’s proprietary zero-calorie stevia sweeteners are produced through a patented bioconversion process, which begins with the stevia leaf to achieve high-purity clean-tasting Rebs D, E and M.

SweeGen offers food and beverage manufacturers rapid innovation sugar reduction solutions for beverage, dairy, savory, bakery and confectionery. Bestevia Rebs D, E and M were commercialized in the past few years, and have already been approved in many regions around the world.

“This regulatory milestone is just one of many achievements in APAC, said Director of Regulatory Affairs, Hadi Omrani. “We’re looking forward to continuing our goal throughout the region which will help an industry that strives to be relevant with consumers.”

About SweeGen

SweeGen provides sweet taste solutions for food and beverage manufacturers around the world.

We are on a mission to reduce the sugar and artificial sweeteners in our global diet.  Partnering with customers, we create delicious zero-sugar products that consumers love.  With the best next generation stevia sweeteners in our portfolio such as Bestevia® Rebs B, D, E, I, M, and N, along with our deep knowledge of flavor modulators and texturants, SweeGen delivers market-leading solutions that customers want and consumers prefer.

For more information please contact info@sweegen.com and visit SweeGen’s website, www.sweegen.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, among other statements, statements regarding the future prospects for Reb M stevia leaf sweetener. These statements are based on current expectations, but are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are beyond the control of SweeGen, Inc.

Relevant risks and uncertainties include those referenced in the historic filings of SweeGen, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, and therefore should be carefully considered. SweeGen, Inc. assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.

Attachments

• Malaysia dairy
• Malaysia Rebs D, E and M beverages

Ana Arakelian
SweeGen
+1.949.709.0583
ana.arakelian@sweegen.com