Univar Chooses Rimini Street for Global SAP Support

Significant Cost Savings Enable Leading Distributor to Fund Critical Business Initiatives

ORLANDO, Fla. - Wednesday, June 4th 2014 [ME NewsWire]

SAPPHIRE NOW 2014

(BUSINESS WIRE) SAPPHIRE NOW 2014 Conference – Rimini Street, Inc., the leading independent provider of enterprise software support for SAP AG’s (NYSE: SAP) Business Suite and BusinessObjects software and Oracle Corporation’s (NYSE: ORCL) Siebel, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, E-Business Suite, Oracle Database, Oracle Middleware, Hyperion and Oracle Retail software, today announced that it has been selected by Univar to support the company’s global SAP ECC 5.0 and 6.0 systems. Choosing Rimini Street will generate significant savings from its annual support costs and enable Univar to fund critical customer engagement initiatives. Like Univar, many companies with large SAP footprints around the world have switched to Rimini Street to take control of their ERP software roadmap, significantly reduce total support costs, and fund innovative projects that drive competitive edge, while gaining improved, premium service features, including support for customizations at no additional cost.

“As a global company, we are constantly trying to achieve more value from every dollar we spend. To me, this means regaining control of our ERP software roadmap and optimizing our SAP software investment, especially since we saw no need to upgrade on the vendor’s desired timetable,” said Erik Viens, Chief Information Officer, Univar. “Rimini Street helps us remain on our timetable, while also cutting our annual maintenance fees in half, delivering much higher levels of service and enabling Univar to achieve far higher levels of efficiency with our IT budget.”

Univar: One of Our Top Operational Expenses Cut in Half by Rimini Street

Univar is one of the largest chemical distributors globally, with reported sales of $9.7 billion and facilities in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, and additional operations in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In an effort to improve capital and operational efficiency, the company evaluated several options to cut one of the company’s largest IT expenses – growing software maintenance costs for its SAP ECC 5.0 and ECC 6.0 instances – and ultimately made the decision to switch to Rimini Street for annual software support. In addition to avoiding vendor-forced upgrades, Rimini Street also helps drive further significant reductions in related support and maintenance costs by providing support for customizations, interoperability and performance at no additional fee. Furthermore, Rimini Street offers clients a 24X7X365 premium-level service model with an assigned Primary Support Engineer (PSE) that eliminates the need for extra maintenance resources and headcount associated with inefficient, burdensome vendor support processes and policies.

Part of Univar’s standard support program with Rimini Street includes support for U.S. payroll using Rimini Street’s Tax Engine for SAP Payroll (RSITE). RSITE provides an ISO 9001:2008-certified tax, legal and regulatory service that keeps organizations in legal and financial compliance.

Viens added, “Univar explored other independent software support options in the market and quickly concluded that Rimini Street was the only company that could meet our support and regulatory and compliance needs. Their existing credibility in the industry and ability to put me in touch with other CIOs to talk about their experiences gave me the confidence to make the switch to independent support. Since we switched from SAP to Rimini Street, our support service has greatly improved and my team has benefitted from the meaningful, fast and competent response from our PSE. More importantly, I am able to reinvest our substantial savings directly into projects that are important to our business. Not many vendors can deliver on their promises like this, and I am happy to say that Rimini Street has exceeded our expectations.”

Univar Drives Customer-Facing Initiatives with Savings from Rimini Street

Univar is currently focused on improving how the company engages with its customers and streamlining the customer transaction experience. Using savings delivered from its switch to Rimini Street for SAP Support, Univar is aggressively investing in development of customer relationship management, business intelligence and e-Commerce platforms.

“Every day, more SAP and Oracle licensees like Univar unlock significant additional value from their software maintenance dollars by switching to Rimini Street for annual support services,” said Seth Ravin, CEO, Rimini Street. “To date, more than 800 organizations around the world, including 86 Fortune 500 and 16 Global 100 clients, have successfully leveraged a switch to Rimini Street support to fund other critical business needs and benefitted from Rimini Street’s more responsive, premium-level support offering.”

About Univar, Inc.

Univar is one of the world’s leading distributors of industrial and specialty chemicals. Univar represents over 3,500 chemical producers and provides its customer base, made up of 115,000 customers, with a full portfolio of products. Univar operates a network of more than 260 distribution facilities throughout North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America, with additional sales offices located in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2013, Univar reported sales of $10.3 billion. For more information, visit: www.univar.com.

About Rimini Street, Inc.

Rimini Street is the leading independent provider of enterprise software support services. The company is redefining enterprise support services with an innovative, award-winning program that enables Oracle and SAP licensees to save up to 90 percent on total support costs over a decade, including saving 50 percent on their annual support fees. Clients can remain on their current software release without any required upgrades or migrations for at least 15 years after switching to Rimini Street. Hundreds of clients, including global, Fortune 500, midmarket, and public sector organizations from across a broad range of industries have selected Rimini Street as their trusted, independent support provider. To learn more, please visit www.riministreet.com or call within the USA 888-870-9692 or internationally +1 702-839-9671.

Rimini Street and the Rimini Street logo are trademarks of Rimini Street, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved.

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Contacts

Rimini Street, Inc.

Alma Park, +1 323-229-7282

apark@riministreet.com









Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/11202/en

Tele2 Russia selects Mformation for Device and Over-the-Air SIM Management

EDISON, N.J. - Thursday, June 5th 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Mformation® Software Technologies LLC, the leading global provider of solutions for managing wirelessly connected devices, is extending its carrier network to Russia through partnership with Tele2 Russia.

Tele2 Russia has selected Mformation to provide mission critical network components that will enable automated device detection using SS7 and LTE standards, device configuration for data services, and over-the-air SIM management. The Tele2 Russia instance of the highly scalable, multi-tenanted Mformation device management platform will be localized and customized to support the unique needs of Tele2 Russia and its customers.

“Tele2 Russia has clearly made a commitment to mobile service development,” says David Shimoni, President of Mformation. “We are honoured to have been selected as one of their infrastructure partners. We look forward to supporting Tele2 Russia and enabling them to offer modern mobile services as they continue to grow their subscriber base and their business.”

The award winning device management platform selected by Tele2 Russia is an evolutionary Mobile Service Enablement Platform that supports next generation applications like data off-load management and machine-to-machine enablement. It also supports Smart Customer Interaction through call center diagnostic tools and consumer self service applications. Mformation supports all of these offerings with other value added service like MIDAS device certification and subscriber focused analytics. “We are glad to be working with Tele2 Russia now, as they evolve their product offerings into new areas, and as they continue their phenomenal commitment to customer value creation,” says Luca Ferrari, VP of Sales for Mformation in EMEA.

The Mformation platform will be deployed at Tele2 Russia in October 2014.

About Mformation

Mformation Software Technologies LLC is the pioneer and leading global provider of management solutions for wirelessly connected devices. A private company, Mformation is owned by Clearlake Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. Since 1999, Mformation’s solutions have been deployed by the largest mobile operators and managed service providers worldwide. With over 500 million devices under management, Mformation enables operators, service providers and enterprises to manage and secure wirelessly connected devices and the applications and services on them, over any wireless network. Mformation's award-winning technology provides solutions for mobile service enablement, smart customer interaction, machine-to-machine device management, automatic device detection and configuration, and enterprise mobility management for operators, managed service providers and enterprises. For more information visit www.mformation.com.

About Tele2 Russia

Tele2 is a mobile operator that launched operations in Russia in 2003 and currently offers its services to over 23.7 mn subscribers in 42 Russian regions. Following integration with Rostelecom’s mobile assets, the new federal operator will increase the number of penetrated regions to 60 with a subscriber base of over 38 mn. The Tele2 portfolio includes products for individuals, small and medium-size enterprises. The company provides its private and corporate clients with low prices and high quality of services, simplicity in connections and use, European level of service.

Contacts
Mformation
Christine Bolles, +1-732-692-0090
VP Marketing and Product Management
pr@mformation.com









Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/11217/en

SunEdison Semiconductor Limited Selects Heritage Global Partners to Manage Disposition of its State-of-the-Industry Polysilicon Production Plant in Merano, Italy

Heritage Global Partners to Participate in the Intersolar Europe Conference in Munich, Germany on June 4-6

SAN DIEGO & MUNICH & MERANO, Italy - Tuesday, June 3rd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

Intersolar Europe 2014

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Heritage Global Partners (“HGP”), a global leader in asset advisory and auction services and a subsidiary of Heritage Global Inc. (OTCQB:HGBL and CSE:HGP), today announced that it has been retained by MEMC Electronic Materials SpA, a SunEdison Semiconductor Limited company, to secure an enterprise buyer for the entirety of its proven polysilicon production processes in Merano, Italy. SunEdison Semiconductor Limited develops, manufactures, and sells silicon wafers to the semiconductor industry.

Heritage Global Partners is now accepting offers for SunEdison’s facility. For more detailed information, interested buyers are invited to visit Heritage Global Partners at the Intersolar Europe Conference in Munich, Germany June 4-6 at the Messe München (Hall: A1 / Booth: 611A). Prospective buyers may also learn more about this unique opportunity by visitingwww.hgpauction.com or by contacting David Barkoff of Heritage Global Partners (contact information below).

“Polysilicon is rapidly growing again and we are seeing sharp increases in overall demand as the semiconductor industry starts its rebound and the volume of PV installations begins to rise globally. Someone in the PV world is eventually going to emerge as a serious player and the availability of a turnkey, high quality production facility such as SunEdison’s can only be an advantage to forward thinkers in this industry,” stated David Barkoff, Director of Sales at Heritage Global Partners.

Led by auction industry pioneers Ross and Kirk Dove, Heritage Global Partners is one of the leading worldwide asset advisory and auction services firms, assisting companies with buying and selling assets. HGP specializes in asset brokerage, inspection, and valuations, industrial equipment, real estate auctions, and much more. HGP is a subsidiary of publicly tradedHeritage Global Inc.

Contacts

Heritage Global Partners

David Barkoff, 650-649-0147

dbarkoff@hgpauction.com



JCIR

Jennifer Neuman, 212-835-8500

HGP@jcir.com







Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/11198/en

Scout Investments Launches UCITS Umbrella to Expand Global Distribution

ME NewsWire/Business Wire

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tuesday, June 3rd 2014

Scout Investments, Inc. (Scout) recently launched a UCITS fund umbrella structure to further expand distribution of its strategies to non-U.S. investors.

Our UCITS Fund will mirror Scout’s Unconstrained Bond Strategy and is currently registered in Luxembourg and Singapore, with plans to expand distribution into additional countries.

The Strategy is managed by lead portfolio manager Mark Egan and a seasoned team of fixed income investment professionals, including Tom Fink, Todd Thompson and Steve Vincent. The team has managed unconstrained fixed income accounts for more than 16 years and was among the first in the industry to do so.

“The cross-border distribution of Scout’s Unconstrained Bond Strategy allows us to offer non-U.S. investors a fixed income portfolio diversifier with a proven track record,” said Andy Iseman, chief executive officer of Scout Investments. “We plan to offer additional funds via the UCITS fund umbrella structure to continue to expand our global footprint.”

The objective of the strategy is to maximize total return consistent with the preservation of capital. Scout’s Unconstrained Bond Strategy seeks to maximize total return by systematically identifying and evaluating relative value opportunities throughout all sectors of the fixed income market.

The team may use derivative instruments, such as futures, options and credit default swaps, to manage risk and gain exposure. Given its objective, the strategy is not managed against a benchmark.

A UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) is an investment vehicle that enables fund managers to distribute their products to non-U.S. investors.

For more information about Scout and the portfolio management team, visit scoutinv.com.

About Scout Investments

Scout Investments, Inc., a global asset manager headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., manages more than $32 billion in equity and fixed income investment strategies for institutions and individual investors. Scout is the investment subsidiary of UMB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: UMBF). Please visit scoutinv.com for more information on our firm and our products.

SCOUT, SCOUT INVESTMENTS, the Scout design and the Ribbon design – Reg. U.S. Tm. Off.

NOT FDIC INSURED – NO BANK GUARANTEE – MAY LOSE VALUE

This message is for informational purposes only and this does not constitute an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment, financial instrument or service in any jurisdiction where such a solicitation of an offer is unlawful. The Fund is only available for investment by non-U.S. persons who are not residents of the United States. The Fund is not offered for sale or sold in the United States, its territories or possessions. Investors should carefully read the prospectus, more specifically its section on risk factors, the Key Investor Information Document (“KIID”) and all other relevant documentation before investing in the Fund. This Fund and Lemanik Asset Management S.A. are authorized in Luxembourg and regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier.

Contacts

For Scout Investments

Kristin Kovach, 816-423-6131

kkovach@barkleyus.com









Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/11196/en

Toshiba Brings Suit for NAND Flash Memory Patent Infringement in Taiwan

-Suit names Taiwan’s Powerchip Technology Corporation and three other companies-

TOKYO - Tuesday, June 3rd 2014 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced that it has filed a suit in the Intellectual Property Court in Taiwan against Taiwan’s Powerchip Technology Corporation and three companies, Powerflash Technology Corporation, Zentel Electronics Corporation, and C.T.C. Co., Ltd., together, for infringement of Toshiba’s Taiwan patents for NAND flash memory Nos. 154717 and I238412. Toshiba is asking the court to enjoin the manufacture and sale of infringing NAND flash memory products, including part No. A5U2GA31BTS-BC, etc., and for compensation for damages.
Powerchip Technology and three other companies offer NAND flash memories without a license to use technologies covered by Toshiba patents. Toshiba has issued notices to Powerchip Technology, all of which have been ignored, leaving no recourse other than legal action.
Toshiba invented NAND flash memory in 1987 and has subsequently directed resources to maintaining technology leadership. The company has also supported NAND flash memory market development. Toshiba will protect its investment and respond resolutely to unauthorized use of its patented technology, in order to maintain the advanced technical competence that is the source of its competitive strength.
About Toshiba
Toshiba is a world-leading diversified manufacturer, solutions provider and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products and systems. Toshiba Group brings innovation to a wide range of businesses: digital products, including LCD TVs, notebook PCs, retail solutions and MFPs; electronic devices, including semiconductors, storage products and materials; industrial and social infrastructure systems, including power generation systems, smart community solutions, medical systems and escalators & elevators; and home appliances.
Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 590 consolidated companies, with 206,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing 5.8 trillion yen (US$61 billion). Visit Toshiba's web site at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm
Contacts
Toshiba Corporation
Semiconductor & Storage Products Company
Megumi Genchi / Kota Yamaji, +81-3-3457-3576
Communication IR Promotion Group
Business Planning Division
semicon-NR-mailbox@ml.toshiba.co.jp




Permalink: http://me-newswire.net/news/11194/en

Lionic Offers Anti-Virus Solution on Smart Gateways for the Home

— Lionic Antivirus Software to Safeguard Today’s Connected Home From Online Threats —

HSINCHU, Taiwan. - Tuesday, June 3rd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2014

(BUSINESS WIRE) Lionic Corporation, a worldwide supplier of innovative network security solutions, today announced an intelligent anti-virus solution for gateways in the connected home.

Hackers consistently pose a threat, developing viruses that can compromise systems and identities. The threat of viruses can come from anywhere from bogus anti-virus software that contains a hidden virus to websites that pose as respected institutions requesting users’ personal information as part of an identity theft scam. In short, the Internet is not a secure place by any means, and even those that consider themselves to be tech savvy have unknowingly allowed viruses to access the devices they use on-the-go as well as the home.

The Lionic Anti-Virus Solution will now be offered in home gateways based on Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.’s, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, Qualcomm® Internet Processor (IPQ) to provide enhanced target throughput performance to detect millions of known viruses. The solution works in real-time across multiple operating systems monitoring for potential threats all while offering the lowest footprint.

The Lionic Anti-Virus Solution provides new key features and benefits:

    Protection of both mobile and in-home devices, such as IP-based set-top boxes and streaming media players.
    Protection of more devices due to the performance improvements in gateways based on the Qualcomm® Internet Processor (IPQ).
    Enterprise-grade antivirus solution for the home. Brought by the certified technology from several industrial leading virus-test companies, such as AV-TEST, the enterprise-level antivirus protection provides an up-to-date virus database to enable higher virus detection rate.

“The Innovative Lionic Anti-virus software has been supported by DPI technology, which is being patented as a product that addresses the highest performance with the lowest footprint,” said Eric Lu, president of Lionic Corporation. “Lionic is eager to bring these enhancements to our solution to respond to the growing threat of viruses infecting devices.”

A live showcase of the integrated Lionic Anti-Virus solution will be demonstrated in Lionic's suite at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Room 1039, during Computex Taipei 2014, Taiwan, June 3-7, 2014. This technology enables service providers to deliver real-time, smart and enterprise-grade security for users, and has protection with near-zero configuration. The Lionic solution has been tested by major infrastructure vendors throughout the past several years, resulting in a superior level of interoperability and product maturity. Connect with Lionic at daniel.hsieh@lionic.com or mkt.lionic@lionic.com for time reservations at Computex Taipei 2014.

Qualcomm is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries, used with permission.

About Lionic Corporation

Lionic Corporation is a worldwide supplier of innovative network security solutions. Lionic provides technologies and subscription services to service providers, networking equipment manufacturers, and semiconductor companies and offers a complete end-to-end security solution that enables the next generation of advanced firewalls, UTMs, residential gateways and mobile devices. Lionic's technologies includes Layer-7 Deep Pack Inspection (DPI), software scan engine, control software and a widely deployed signature database that addresses antivirus, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), application guard, web guard and URL filtering. Lionic's innovative solutions help protect the world's networks from an ever increasing level of security threats and attacks.

Contacts

Lionic Corporation

Daniel Hsieh, +886988245177

daniel.hsieh@lionic.com



Evelyn Setiawan Lai

evelyn.epin@lionic.com







Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/11205/en

Union Bancaire Privée : Opportunities for active stock-pickers

GENEVA - Tuesday, June 3rd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Japan is the third-largest economy in the world and the outlook for Japanese equities is highly favourable, as they are currently attractively priced, on a relative as well as an absolute basis, thus creating opportunities for active stock-pickers.

The launch of “Abenomics” – which consists of monetary, fiscal and structural reforms to beat deflation and stimulate sustainable growth – has acted as a true catalyst for the Japanese economy and investor sentiment towards Japan is evolving. Thanks to these ambitious reforms, the third arrow of which Prime Minister Abe shot in April with the VAT increase, Japan seems to be recovering from deflation and is steadily shifting towards private sector-led economic growth. After a great year in 2013, Japanese equities have corrected in 2014, underperforming global equity markets – mainly due to short-term players taking profits; but thanks to the success of the reforms, the case for Japanese equities is becoming ever more compelling as valuations remain low. There remains significant mid-term upside potential in the asset class for fundamentals-oriented long-term investors.

Furthermore, as the outlook on Japan’s economy has generally been conservative, domestic and foreign investors alike have been quite sceptical about Abe’s reforms and are only just starting to place their faith in those policies and price in their benefits. The market should therefore continue to rise as more investors acknowledge that the Prime Minister is on the right track, and is supported by his government as well as by most of the Japanese people and companies.

Given the resulting attractive pricing and therefore positive outlook for Japanese equities, UBP decided to partner with SNAM (Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Asset Management), a Tokyo-based fund management firm. Their strategy is based on the conviction that market prices tend to near their intrinsic value over time, although interim discrepancies occur. They thus seek to benefit from those discrepancies through a long-term and disciplined value approach, with no sector or size constraints, capturing either cyclical catalysts such as production and inventory cycles, or one-off catalysts such as restructuring, M&A and share buybacks.

The 11-member team, led by Kenji Ueno, has delivered a strong track record: since its launch in June 2013, the strategy has outperformed the TOPIX by some 8%, and assets under management have increased to USD 485 million.

The information and opinions contained herein were prepared by Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA (hereinafter, “UBP”). The information herein was obtained from various sources and is believed by UBP to be reliable but UBP makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of such information. Opinions, estimates and projections in this document constitute the current judgment of the author as of the date of this document and are subject to change without notice. UBP has no obligation to update, modify or amend this document. This document is provided for information purposes only. It is not to be construed as an offer to buy or sell or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any financial instruments or to participate in any particular trading strategy in any jurisdiction. The financial instruments discussed in this document may not be suitable for all investors and these materials should not be regarded by recipients as a substitute for the exercise of their own judgment. Investors must make their own investment decisions using their own independent advisors as they believe necessary and based upon their specific financial situation and their investment objectives. Investors should be aware that foreign exchange rates may have a negative effect on the price or value of, or the income derived from, an investment denominated in a foreign currency. Furthermore, past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. UBP may make a market in, or may, as principal or agent, buy or sell securities of the companies mentioned in this document or derivatives thereon. UBP may have a financial interest in the companies mentioned in this document, including a long or short position in their securities, and or options, futures or other derivative instruments based thereon.

About Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) UBP is one of Switzerland’s leading private banks, and is among the best-capitalised, with a Tier I ratio of 29%. The Bank is specialised in the field of wealth management for both private and institutional clients. It is based in Geneva and employs about 1,350 people in some twenty locations worldwide; it held CHF 87.7 billion (USD 98.6 billion) in assets under management as at 31 December 2013. www.ubp.com

Contacts

Union Bancaire Privée

Jérôme Koechlin, Tel: +41 58 819 26 40,

Head of Corporate Communications

e-mail: jko@ubp.ch