Day: June 29, 2021

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Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. annonce la tarification d’une offre publique de 125 millions de dollars de billets de premier rang

BRIDGEWATER, New Jersey, 29 juin 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (SNCR) (la « Société » ou « Synchronoss »), un innovateur mondial de premier plan en matière de produits et plateformes numériques, de cloud et de messagerie, a annoncé aujourd’hui la tarification d’un appel public à l’épargne par voie de prise ferme portant sur un capital total supplémentaire de 125 millions de dollars de 8,375 % de billets de premier rang arrivant à échéance en 2026, comprenant le plein exercice par les souscripteurs de l’option d’acheter un capital total supplémentaire de 5 millions de dollars en billets de premier rang. La clôture de l’offre est prévue le, ou aux alentours du 30 juin 2021, sous réserve de la satisfaction aux conditions habituelles.

Synchronoss et les billets de premier rang ont tous reçu la note de BB d’Egan-Jones Ratings Company, une agence de notation indépendante et non affiliée. La Société a demandé à coter les billets de premier rang sur le Nasdaq Global Select Market sous le symbole « SNCRL » et prévoit que les billets commenceront à être négociés dans les 30 jours ouvrés suivant la date de clôture de l’offre, s’ils sont approuvés.

Tous les billets de premier rang de l’offre sont vendus par Synchronoss. Synchronoss prévoit d’utiliser le produit net de l’offre, et de l’offre d’actions ordinaires et de la vente d’actions privilégiées de série B (chacun tel que décrit ci-dessous), pour échanger intégralement tous les titres en circulation des actions privilégiées perpétuelles participantes convertibles de série A et rembourser les encours au titre de la facilité de crédit renouvelable de Synchronoss.

B. Riley Securities, Inc. (« BRS ») agit en tant que seul gestionnaire de livres pour l’offre. Northland Capital Markets, Aegis Capital Corp. et EF Hutton, division de Benchmark Investments, LLC agissent en tant que chefs de file de l’offre.

Parallèlement à l’offre, la Société offre, au moyen d’un supplément de prospectus distinct, 100 millions de dollars de ses actions ordinaires. En outre, B. Riley Principal Investments, LLC (« BRPI »), une filiale de BRS, a conclu un accord en vertu duquel BRPI a accepté d’acheter 75 millions de dollars d’actions privilégiées de série B de la Société dans le cadre d’une transaction privée devant être effectuée parallèlement à la clôture de l’offre.

Les billets de premier rang décrits ci-dessus sont proposés par Synchronoss conformément à une déclaration d’inscription préalable sur le formulaire S-3 précédemment déposée auprès de la Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) et déclarée effective par la SEC le 28 août 2020. Un supplément de prospectus provisoire connexe et décrivant les conditions de l’offre a été déposé auprès de la SEC et est disponible sur le site Web de la SEC à l’adresse www.sec.gov. Les conditions finales de l’offre proposée seront exposées dans un supplément final du prospectus qui devra être déposé auprès de la SEC. Des exemplaires du supplément de prospectus final (lorsqu’il sera disponible) et du prospectus qui l’accompagne concernant l’appel public à l’épargne pourront également être obtenus en envoyant une demande à : B. Riley Securities, Inc., 1300 North 17th Street, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA 22209 ou en composant le (703) 312-9580 ou en envoyant un e-mail à l’adresse prospectuses@brileyfin.com.

Le présent communiqué de presse ne constitue ni une offre de vente ni la sollicitation d’une offre d’achat de quelconque de ces titres, et aucune vente de ces titres n’aura lieu dans un État ou une juridiction au sein duquel ou de laquelle une telle offre, sollicitation ou vente serait illégale avant son enregistrement ou sa qualification en vertu des lois sur les valeurs mobilières dans un tel État ou une telle juridiction.

À propos de Synchronoss

Synchronoss Technologies (NASDAQ : SNCR) est un développeur de logiciels permettant aux entreprises du monde entier de se connecter à leurs abonnés de manière fiable et pertinente. Sa gamme de produits contribue à rationaliser les réseaux, simplifier l’intégration et interagir avec les abonnés afin de créer de nouvelles sources de revenus, réduire les coûts et accélérer la mise sur le marché.

Énoncés prospectifs

Le présent communiqué de presse contient des énoncés prospectifs au sens de l’article 21E du Securities Exchange Act de 1934, tel qu’amendé, y compris, mais sans s’y limiter, les énoncés concernant la clôture de l’offre publique et l’utilisation prévue du produit de celle-ci. Ces énoncés prospectifs sont assujettis à un certain nombre de risques, comprenant la satisfaction des conditions de clôture habituelles liées à l’offre publique et les facteurs de risque énoncés de temps à autre dans les documents déposés par Synchronoss auprès de la SEC, incluant, sans s’y limiter, les risques décrits dans les sections « Facteurs de risque » (Risk Factors) et « Rapport et analyse par la direction de la situation financière et des résultats opérationnels » (Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations) (selon le cas) du Rapport annuel sur formulaire 10-K de Synchronoss pour l’exercice clos le 31 décembre 2020, ainsi que du Rapport trimestriel sur formulaire 10-Q pour le trimestre clos le 31 mars 2021, déposés auprès de la SEC et disponibles sur le site Web de la SEC à l’adresse www.sec.gov. Outre les risques décrits ci-dessus et dans les autres documents déposés par Synchronoss auprès de la SEC, d’autres facteurs inconnus ou imprévisibles pourraient également affecter les résultats de Synchronoss. Aucun énoncé prospectif ne peut être garanti et les résultats réels peuvent différer sensiblement de ces énoncés. Les informations contenues dans le présent communiqué de presse sont valables à la date des présentes uniquement, et Synchronoss décline toute obligation de mettre à jour tout énoncé prospectif contenu dans ce communiqué que ce soit à la suite de nouvelles informations, d’événements futurs ou autrement, sauf si la loi l’impose.

Médias

Diane Rose
CCgroup
diane@ccgrouppr.com

Investisseurs

Todd Kehrli/Joo-Hun Kim
MKR Investor Relations, Inc.
investor@synchronoss.com

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The Globe and Mail’s Sophi.io Wins Digiday Media Award

Digiday awards Best Publisher Platform to Sophi.io, a suite of artificial intelligence-powered automation, optimization and prediction tools developed by The Globe and Mail

TORONTO, June 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sophi.io, The Globe and Mail’s artificial intelligence-based automation and prediction engine, won the 2021 Digiday Media Award for Best Publisher Platform, which recognizes technology that is most successful in helping publishers achieve their goals.

“AI is an essential technology for helping publishers add authentic value to stories — extending their measure of success beyond page views and virality. For example, Sophi is able to provide data on how much each article on The Globe and Mail contributes to subscriber retention, acquisition, registration potential and advertising dollars. Additionally, to effectively deploy machine learning, around 10% of The Globe and Mail’s workforce is now data scientists and engineers, hired to develop Sophi and grow the strategy even further,” Digiday said.

The awards honour companies, technologies and campaigns that have stood out throughout the media over the past year. “This year, the competition was fierce and the programs robust. Innovation and big ideas expanded the playing field for many of the winners, even in a year when quarantines limited where and how people could work — and play,” according to Digiday.

Phillip Crawley, Publisher and CEO of The Globe and Mail, commented: “It’s an honour to be chosen as the winner of Digiday’s Media Award for Best Publisher Platform. We aren’t often up against companies in both the media and marketing industries but our investments in Sophi have been driven by the understanding that our technology can directly drive performance and economic growth for companies across a large range of industries.”

The other finalists in the Best Publisher Platform category were: Piano, Connatix, Insticator, Duration Media and Adapex LLC.

Sophi is an artificial-intelligence system that helps publishers identify and leverage their most valuable content. It has powerful predictive capabilities – using natural language processing, Sophi Dynamic Paywall is a fully dynamic, real-time, personalized paywall engine that analyses both content and user behaviour to determine when to ask a reader for money or an email address, and when to leave them alone.

Sophi Site Automation autonomously curates digital content to find and promote the most valuable articles. It places 99% of the content on all of The Globe and Mail’s digital pages, including its homepage and section pages. Sophi has been so successful that it is now being used for print laydown as well. Sophi is available to publishers across the globe to enable their content producers to focus on creating the best content possible.

Earlier this month, Sophi won the 2021 International News Media Association (INMA) Global Media Awards for Best in Show in North America and Best Use of Data to Automate or Personalize. Sophi has also won the Online Journalism Award (OJA) for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism, handed out by the Online News Association (ONA), and both the World Digital Media Award and the North American Digital Media Award awarded by The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in the category of Best Digital News Start-up.

About Sophi.io

Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) is a suite of AI-powered optimization and prediction tools that helps content publishers make important strategic and tactical decisions. Sophi solutions range from Sophi Site Automation and Sophi for Paywalls to Sophi Analytics, a decision-support system for content publishers. Sophi is designed to improve the metrics that matter most to any business, such as subscriber retention and acquisition, engagement, recency, frequency and volume.

Contact

Jamie Rubenovitch
Head of Marketing, Sophi.io
The Globe and Mail
416-585-3355
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com
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Tanzania Publishes First COVID-19 Data in Over a Year

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA – For the first time in more than a year, Tanzania has released figures on coronavirus, confirming 100 cases since a third wave of infections began. President Samia Hassan says Tanzania has budgeted $470 million to buy COVID-19 vaccine. The actions mark a sharp turn from Hassan’s predecessor, the late John Magufuli.

A week ago, Tanzania’s health ministry warned citizens that a “third wave” of COVID-19 infection was spreading across Africa.

On Monday, President Samia Hassan announced Tanzania has recorded 100 such cases in recent days, and said 70 patients required oxygen.

She warned citizens to protect themselves from infection.

Hassan said when you look at the number of patients, it’s not that high but we must protect ourselves so it doesn’t rise. She said the first step her government has taken is to go in line with the world by allowing the vaccine. And it will be voluntarily, she said. Hassan emphasized that a citizen who want to be vaccinated will get the shot and those who don’t want it will not be disturbed until they change their minds.

Hassan said $470 million has been budgeted to purchase COVID-19 vaccine and provide economic relief for businesses that were severely hit by the pandemic.

In a message on Twitter, U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Donald Wright welcomed Hassan’s intent to buy vaccine and signaled that the U.S. is ready to help.

Now, are the country’s health care services ready to deal with COVID-19? Shadrack Mwaibambe is the president of the Tanzania Medical Association.

He says we have taken lessons from the first and second waves of COVID-19. The country is standing firm and where there are weaknesses, we are continuing to address them he says. Mwaibambe says that’s why the president has decided to handle the pandemic using scientific methods like accepting its presence and she’s fighting it. The amount of money that is set is enough and she has not diverted it to other areas he says.

Rights activists say with the government now doing its part, citizens should also follow COVID-19 guidelines. Felista Mauya is the director of empowerment and accountability with the Legal and Human Rights Center.

“We continue to emphasize that citizens and the whole society should continue to observe precautions by washing hands, wearing masks, and observing social distancing,” she says. “Mauya added that people should focus on the guidelines and statements that our leaders are issuing following all the health guidelines and we can fight the virus.”

President Hassan has yet to announce when the vaccine will arrive, but said Tanzania has joined the COVAX facility that sends doses to lower-income countries.

She said specialists are determining which brand of vaccine will be sent to Tanzania and how it will be distributed.

Source: Voice of America

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COVID, Climate Change, Food Security Top G-20 Ministers Agenda

The coronavirus, climate change and food security are on the agenda Tuesday as foreign ministers from the G-20 group of nations meet in Italy.

The talks in the city of Matera represent the first time the ministers are gathering in person since 2019.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement Tuesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would stress the importance of working together to address such global challenges, a common theme in recent months as he and President Joe Biden set a foreign policy path heavily focused on boosting ties with allies.

“Multilateralism is our best tool for tackling global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, global health security, the climate crisis; and preventing famine and food insecurity, responding to democratic backsliding and rising autocracy, and building a sustainable economic recovery,” the statement read. 

“To address the climate crisis, Secretary Blinken will encourage G-20 members to work together toward ambitious outcomes, including a recognition of the need to keep a 1.5 degree Celsius of warming threshold within reach, the importance of actions this decade that are aligned with that goal and taking other steps like committing to end public finance for overseas unabated coal,” Susannah Cooper, director of the Office of Monetary Affairs in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, told reporters ahead of the meetings.

Cooper said Blinken would advocate for “building a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery,” including an equitable global tax system with a minimum corporate tax rate.

Global minimum tax

Finance ministers from G-7 nations, all of which are part of the G-20, agreed in principle in early June to the creation of a global minimum tax on corporations that would force companies that shift profits to subsidiaries in low- or no-tax jurisdictions to pay as much as 15% in taxes on that income to the country where they are headquartered.   

Tuesday’s meetings are also set to consider economic development issues in Africa, including gender equity and opportunities for young people, as well as humanitarian efforts and human rights.

“The United States will partner with African governments, multilateral organizations and the private sector to substantially increase two-way trade and investment with African countries in order to drive democratic, sustainable, climate-friendly and equitable growth, and to create quality jobs for people in Africa and the United States,” the State Department said.

The U.S. foreign policy agency also said America “will continue to engage with G-20 and other international partners to address humanitarian and human rights challenges in Africa, especially the conflict-induced famine and ongoing abuses and atrocities in Ethiopia.”

Italy is the last stop on a European trip for Blinken that included a conference on Libya in Germany, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Fight against Islamic State

On Monday, he was in Rome, where ministers from a global coalition to fight Islamic State terrorists said 8 million people have been freed from the militants’ control in Iraq and Syria, but that the threat from IS fighters remains there and in Africa.

The ministers pledged to maintain a watch against a resurgence of the insurgents.

The resumption in ISIS “activities and its ability to rebuild its networks and capabilities to target security forces and civilians in areas in Iraq and Syria where the coalition is not active requires strong vigilance and coordinated action,” the diplomats said in a concluding communique.

The coalition said it needed “both to address the drivers that make communities vulnerable to recruitment by Daesh/ISIS and related violent ideological groups, as well as to provide support to liberated areas to safeguard our collective security interests.”

The group “noted with grave concern that Daesh/ISIS affiliates and networks in sub-Saharan Africa threaten security and stability, namely in the Sahel region and in East Africa/Mozambique.” The coalition said it would work with any country that requested help in fighting ISIS.

Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

“We’ve made great progress because we’ve been working together, so we hope you’ll keep an eye on the fight, keep up the fight against this terrorist organization until it is decisively defeated,” Blinken said at the start of the meeting.

Blinken noted that 10,000 IS militants are being detained by Syrian Democratic Forces, calling the situation “simply untenable” and calling on governments to repatriate their citizens for rehabilitation or prosecution.

The top U.S. diplomat announced $436 million in additional humanitarian aid for Syrians and communities in surrounding countries that have been hosting Syrian refugees. He said the money would go toward providing food, water, shelter, health care, education and protection.

The United States launched a coalition effort, now involving 83 members, aimed at defeating IS in 2014 after the militants seized control of a large area across northern Syria and Iraq. In 2019, the U.S. declared the militants had been ousted from their last remaining territory.  

Syria

Another meeting Monday in Italy focused specifically on Syria, where in addition to issues related to IS, Blinken, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi De Maio and other ministers called for renewed efforts to bring an end to the decadelong conflict that began in 2011.  

Humanitarian access, in particular the ability for the United Nations to deliver cross-border aid, were among the issues that Blinken highlighted, the State Department said.  

He also expressed U.S. support for an immediate cease-fire in Syria.

Source: Voice of America

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World Awaits Clarity on Tigray Cease-fire

A day after the Ethiopian federal government abruptly suspended nearly eight months of military operations against rebels in its Tigray region, communications with the country’s northern region remained sketchy at best, and humanitarians were hopeful the truce would hold so aid could reach the hundreds of thousands of people struggling in famine-like conditions.

“The consequences and impact of the immediate cease-fire remain unclear,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday.

He said the organization’s aid operations have been constrained in recent days because of the fighting but would resume pending a security and access assessment.

“We are looking at supply routes into Tigray in consultation with our security colleagues and logistic experts,” Dujarric said, adding that land routes and the airport in Tigray’s capital, Mekelle, are closed.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has also temporarily limited its movements outside Mekelle and is monitoring developments closely.

“The situation in the region is very volatile, but Mekelle looks quiet now,” ICRC regional spokesperson Alyona Synenko said from Nairobi, where she has been in contact with ICRC staff on the ground. “Shops are open, we see people in the street. Communication networks are down, internet is not working.”

The United Nations says some 350,000 Tigrayans are coping with famine-like conditions because of the fighting. On Tuesday, USAID official Sarah Charles put the number closer to 1 million in testimony to the U.S. Congress.

“Of the 6 million people that live in Tigray, we estimate that 3.5 million to 4.5 million are in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance,” she said. “Of these, 700,000 to 900,000 people are already experiencing catastrophic conditions.” Without scaled up aid deliveries, she said, “we will likely see widespread famine in Ethiopia this year.”

Humanitarian pause

On Monday, the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed unexpectedly announced it was pausing military activities against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front to “help ensure better humanitarian access and strengthen the effort to rehabilitate and rebuild the Tigray region,” which it was bombing as recently as one week ago.

Aly Verjee, a London-based researcher for the U.S. Institute of Peace who specializes in East Africa, said that there are two theories as to why Abiy chose this moment to declare a cease-fire, and that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

“One is that the ferocity of the [Tigrayan] forces’ actions has prompted the federal government to resort to a cease-fire,” said Verjee. “The second is that the federal government had been planning this, recognizing the humanitarian situation is deteriorating and something needed to be done.”

Abiy has been under intense Western pressure to end the fighting. The U.S. restricted economic and security assistance to Ethiopia because of the fighting and imposed visa restrictions on some Ethiopian officials. The European Union has also warned that it is “ready to activate all its foreign policy tools.”

What lies ahead?

A senior State Department official warned Tuesday that the country is at an inflection point, and what the parties do now will determine its future.

“If the government’s announcement of a cessation of hostilities does not result in improvements, and the situation continues to worsen, Ethiopia and Eritrea should anticipate further actions,” Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Robert Godec told a congressional hearing on the situation. “We will not stand by in the face of horrors in Tigray.”

Eritrean troops have been fighting the Tigrayan rebels on the side of the Ethiopian military. It is not yet clear whether they have also pulled back or departed.

But the halt in the federal government’s offensive does not mean the danger has passed for Ethiopia or the Horn of Africa region.

Cameron Hudson, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, said there are concerns that the country could still break apart along ethnic lines, much as Yugoslavia did in the early 1990s.

“The idea that the Tigrayans are now fully in control of their territory suggests that they are very unlikely to seek a new kind of political union with Ethiopia and will in fact do their best to exert greater autonomy over the region,” Hudson said.

He noted simmering ethnic tensions in several other parts of the country, which has a population of 113 million.

“What lesson will they draw from the Tigrayans possibly beating back the government’s military, and then exerting greater autonomy for themselves in their region?” Hudson asked.

Source: Voice of America

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Ex-South African President Zuma Sentenced to 15 Months in Jail

Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been ordered to spend 15 months in jail after failing to appear before an inquiry looking into the numerous corruption scandals during his presidency.

The country’s Constitutional Court handed down the sentence Tuesday after finding him guilty of contempt of court. The high court ordered Zuma to surrender to police within five days.

The court ordered the 79-year-old Zuma earlier this year to appear before a special inquiry investigating wide-ranging allegations of looting of state-owned businesses and government departments during his nine-year tenure between 2009 and 2018. Many of the allegations involve the brothers Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta, who were close with Zuma.

Zuma has denied the charges and has steadfastly refused to cooperate with the inquiry, accusing deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the head of the inquiry, of harboring a personal grudge against him. He is also facing several charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering in connection with the purchase of warplanes, naval vessels and other military gear from European arms manufacturers.

The investigations of Zuma are part of current President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive to root out festering corruption in South Africa’s government and the ruling African National Congress. But President Ramaphosa’s efforts have been met with considerable resistance by a faction of A.N.C. officials who remain loyal to Zuma.

Ramaphosa served as Zuma’s deputy until forcing him out of the party’s leadership and eventually the presidency.

Source: Voice of America

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Report: Africa’s Online Sector Could Grow with More Support

NAIROBI – A global development organization says women run more online businesses in Africa, but face greater challenges than online firms led by men.

The International Financial Corporation, which is the arm of the World Bank that helps the private sector and Jumia, the largest online business platform in Africa, said in a new report that the pandemic has hurt sales for women’s online businesses by 39%. In comparison, male-led businesses saw sales drop only 28%.

Charlotte Ntim analyzes disruptive technologies for the IFC’s gender and economic inclusion group. She says there are more women in high-competition fields like beauty products, where it is hard for individuals to distinguish themselves.

“When you think of selling for example in beauty, just beyond high levels of competition, when you think about with the pandemic and the closure of borders having to get products in from different parts of the world to sell online that presents a whole other challenge,” Ntim said. “A lot of the challenges are impacted by the spaces in which we find women.”

Jumia, Checkers, Sixty60, Konga, and Kilimall platforms have made Africa’s online shopping flourish.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says African online shopping has increased by 18% since 2014, compared to a 12% increase globally.

But the COVID-19 pandemic hit women’s businesses especially hard.

The World Bank and Facebook “Data for Good” survey released in June 2020 found that 43% of female-owned firms were temporarily closed, compared to 34% of male-owned businesses.

In South Africa, 52% of female-owned businesses closed. In Nigeria, the number was 44%. In Ghana, 37%.

Ntim says digital and financial gaps continue to hold businesswomen back.

“There is a huge financing gap globally, it’s about a trillion dollars, and you think the fact as well that regardless where you are in the world, women do use the internet less than men and that’s is fundamentally related to the cost of access,” Ntim said. “Sometimes depending on where they are in the world, there are social norms prevent their use or ownership of even mobile phones for the use of different purposes.”

Wacu Mureithi sells hair products online. She has been in the business for four years but she struggled to understand the online behavior of Kenyan buyers.

“The learning curve is very long it takes a while to understand how things work,” Mureithi said. “It took me two years to figure it out. You know how people talk about Google voice being the future, how people search for things, how they type? That mentality is a little bit deeper than what you learn in marketing class online is the other way around you have to put yourself in their shoes.”

The IFC is urging women not to be afraid of taking out loans and other forms of financing to help them operate their businesses. The financial organization is calling on online platforms to provide training for women-led businesses.

Source: Voice of America