EMMEN, Netherlands - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

    New European hub for contact lens business opens in Emmen, NL
    Strikingly transparent 4,675m2 facility with superior environmental performance
    Opening marks successful integration of NKL with Menicon

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A new multipurpose hub for the European business of contact lens manufacturer Menicon Co., Ltd. (head office: Nagoya, Japan; CEO Hidenari Tanaka) has begun its first full year of operations at Emmen, NL (140 km. NE of Amsterdam), following a Dec. 9, 2013 grand opening attended by dignitaries from the Netherlands and Japan.

The new facility now crafts and distributes made-to-order lenses to customers across the continent and beyond. Combining in a single 4,675 square-meter structure the production, distribution, R&D, marketing and management functions of business units Menicon Holding BV (MHBV) and NKL Contactlenzen, the fac ... Read more »

PARIS - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE) Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) will hold a conference call on April 17, 2014 to discuss the results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2014.

The conference call is scheduled to begin at 8:00 am (US Eastern Time) – 2:00 pm (Paris time). A press release regarding the results will be released prior to the call that same day.

To access the conference call, listeners should contact the Conference Call Operator at +1-866-269-9609 within North America or +1-612-332-0923 outside of North America approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call, and ask for the "Schlumberger Earnings Conference Call.”

A webcast of the conference call will be broadcast simultaneously at www.slb.com/irwebcast on a listen-only basis. Listeners should log in 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to test their browsers and register for the webcast. Following the end of the conference call, a replay will be ... Read more »

6 Programs to Receive Seed Money to Expand Impact

DAVOS, Switzerland - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE) The Coca-Cola Company today announced the winners of Coca-Cola’s Shaping A Better Future Grant Challenge – a grant challenge exclusively for members of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community. Global Shapers are young leaders between 20 and 30 years old who are organized into a network of more than 300 city-based hubs. The challenge, announced at the Forum’s 2013 Annual Meeting, empowered Global Shapers to launch programs that address the world’s most challenging societal issues including youth employment, education, community security as well as protecting the environment, with the opportunity to win seed money to sustain and expand their initiatives.

"Powering Education,” a joint project from Hubs in Rome and Nairobi, received the $50,000 grand prize. The funding will accelerate the Global Shapers’ efforts to bring safe, c ... Read more »

New plant will convert 60 tons-per-day of recyclable and non-recyclable plastic into higher value energy products.

MILWAUKEE - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE) Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) has won a $15 million engineering, procurement, construction and management contract from Vadxx Energy LLC for its first commercial-scale, plastic waste-to-synthetic crude energy facility in Akron, Ohio.

The new plant will transform end-of-life plastics into higher value energy products, recycling nearly 60 tons of waste daily, diverting it from landfill disposal. The solution includes the PlantPAx Process Automation System suite, utilizing Rockwell Automation’s multi-discipline control platform to deliver an integrated smart plant for Vadxx.

Liberation Capital, a global private equity firm, signed an agreement with Vadxx to fund the first unit and additional commercial units.

"Vadxx is focused on successfully establishing our first comm ... Read more »

Updated website consolidates multiple sites under one brand, one URL

DENVE - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE )-- Johns Manville (JM), a Berkshire Hathaway company and global building and specialty products manufacturer, today announced that it has launched a redesigned corporate website that consolidates the multiple websites it previously used to present information to the public and its customers. The updated, solution-driven website, available at www.jm.com, utilizes responsive design for more adaptability with tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices.

Historically, users could obtain JM information via a number of websites, including www.jm.com, www.jmeurope.com, www.specjm.com and www.jmhomeowner.com. The various websites were designed to meet the unique needs of specific audiences, including contractors, manufacturers, building professionals, homeowners, and prospective employees. With the updated website, users receive an impro ... Read more »

• 6% growth in sales for 2013 (previous year: 4%) • Satisfactory results


LUDWIGSBURG, Germany - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE) MANN+HUMMEL (www.mann-hummel.com) performed strongly in 2013 despite the varying economic conditions. According to preliminary financial results, sales for 2013 rose by around 6% from 2.62 (2012) to 2.77 billion euros. The number of employees increased to 15,100 in the previous financial year. The biggest increase in employees occurred in the North American and Chinese growth markets. The company will issue further details of its results (EBIT) at its financial press conference in April.

"Our hard-working, resourceful and motivated employees around the world have brought MANN+HUMMEL success through their commitment and passion," says a delighted Alfred Weber, Chairman of the Management Board. "The improvement in results increased rapidly in the second half of the year, giving us a satisfactory end to the 201 ... Read more »

New commitment aims to help young people achieve their full potential and close the youth unemployment gap

DAVOS-KLOSTERS, Switzerland - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today at the 2014 World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, Hilton Worldwide announced a global commitment that aims to impact at least one million young people by 2019 by helping them to reach their full potential. This new initiative will open doors for young people in three ways:

    Connecting them to the world of travel by enabling them to experience new cultures, contributing to the improvement of the sustainability of the industry and shaping their future with opportunities in Hilton Worldwide’s expansive supply chain;
    Preparing them for success in the world of work, travel and beyond by supporting their basic needs and developing their life and professional skills with mentorships, apprenticeships and Hilton Worldwide’s innovativ ... Read more »

ME Newswire / Business Wire

DAVOS, Switzerland - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014

World Economic Forum 2014

Today Oliver Wyman, the leading international management consulting firm, launches its 17th annual State of the Financial Services industry report at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. This year’s report focuses squarely on the growth challenge for the industry and identifies several "blind spots” that could impede the industry’s recovery and growth.

The report examines the factors that drove healthy growth in financial services before the crisis and argues that few of them will drive similar growth in the future. Both credit expansion and greater uptake of financial products will continue, but will be bounded by leverage limits and conduct rules. They will be skewed across regions and only emerging markets will experience high growth. Aging in the developed world also poses challenges for the industry. Globalization is in reverse an ... Read more »

OCZ Storage Solutions - a Toshiba Group Company - Will Serve the Solid-State Storage Industry with Both Client and Enterprise SSD Solutions and Software

TOKYO - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502), a global technology leader and manufacturer of NAND flash memory, today announced that the Company has finalized the purchase of substantially all assets of OCZ Technology Group, making it a wholly owned subsidiary and Toshiba Group Company. Effective immediately, the Group company will operate independently as OCZ Storage Solutions, a leading provider of high-performance solid state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems.

The acquisition provides Toshiba with OCZ’s enterprise and client SSD businesses and enables the established OCZ brand to continue in full force with a current product portfolio that includes SATA and PCIe consumer drives for high-performance and mainstream applications, and SATA, SAS a ... Read more »

PARIS - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

WIN 2014 Symposium

 (BUSINESS WIRE)-- The WIN Consortium (www.winconsortium.org) today proudly announces that Scott P. Serota, President and CEO of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), will deliver the opening address of the WIN 2014 Symposium. The WIN 2014 Symposium (www.winsymposium.org), to be held June 23-24 in Paris, is the first event worldwide entirely dedicated to innovation in combined therapeutic approaches in cancer care.

WIN Symposia are an initiative of the WIN Consortium, a non-profit global collaboration of academic, industry, health plan, and advocacy organizations dedicated to bringing the most promising advances in personalized cancer medicine to patients worldwide. BCBSA joined the WIN Consortium as a member in 2013.

"We are delighted that Scott Serota will open the WIN 2014 Symposium,” said Dr. Vladimir Lazar, Chief Operating Officer of the WIN Consortium. "Mr. Serota ... Read more »

ME Newswire / Businesswire

AMSTERDAM - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014

Regulatory News:

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, has supplied its UpTeq Multi-tenant SIM embedded software and product to Kyivstar, the leading Ukranian mobile operator, supporting the country’s first ever contactless payment via a mobile phone. Working in conjunction with Kyivstar, Alfa Bank’s pilot paves the way for a full commercial launch of NFC mobile payments across Ukraine. Kyivstar is the Ukrainian business unit of VimpelCom Ltd, with a total customer base of over 25 million subscribers.

This first introduction of mobile payments in the country will put new standards of convenience within reach of millions of Kyivstar subscribers. Gemalto’s proven UpTeq Multi-tenant SIMwill enable payment for a host of goods and services with nothing more than the tap of a smartphone. The UpTeq SIM design incorporates a unique multi-tenant architecture that ... Read more »