Category: News

With a day job dedicated to preaching the virtues of education – and how it should improve, I recently felt obliged to get my hands ‘dirty’ once more and enrolled on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to see what all the fuss was about. If Khadijaah Niazi, an 11 year old girl from Lahore could enroll and pass a Udacity Physics course (a Stanford University spin-off), what was I afraid of?

Random control trials and the behaviour of the poor sounded interesting, so without cost or hassle I quickly enrolled on the MOOC: The Challenges of Global Poverty run by the edX consortium of MOOC’s, with ‘celebrity’ professors Duflo and Banerjee (authors of Poor Economics) from the Jameel Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab,  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) leading the course.

Poor Economics by Banerjee and Duflo

With a fairly slow broadband connection at home, I found myself staying up late 1 or 2 evenings a week to read the fascinating online material (e.g. Why do some people starve themselves to buy TVs or not bother to get kids vaccinated?), watch YouTube videos (complete with script) and attempt quizzes that pass for homework in collaboration with 35,000 other students around the globe. Not having to write essays was a big plus, but the multiple choice questions set were searching and the bulletin boards posted showed fellow student’s desperate pleas for help and occasional hints. I presume the moderators stop obvious cheating – I haven’t encountered any answer sharing online!

edX MOOC course: Challenges of Global Poverty

Despite conflicting international travel and some tired early mornings I’m over the hump and should finish in a few weeks. In theory I will have 12 credits to a degree, although this is where the business model will kick-in as the MOOC organizers try to convert mass online activity into profit, for example by charging for accreditation and certificates that accumulate to recognized qualifications.

Will MOOCs revolutionise the delivery of tertiary education in developing countries like Tanzania? This is a question of great interest, can they bypass the financial and bureaucratic challenges faced by poor but capable, intelligent students? I hope so! This is the sort of initiative that DFID may support in the future, internally we’re crystal ball gazing to understand the trends across the whole spectrum of development and ensure we have the necessary ideas, tools and skills to respond to such challenges in the future.

In Tanzania COSTECH the government technology and innovation agency is partnering with the World Bank to launch a MOOC using content from 1 of the major new providers Coursera. It will focus on IT skills and knowledge, seeking to support college students to become employable – a common complaint is that current Tanzanian school and college graduates lack the rounded skill-set that employers seek.

I feel it is likely that there will need to be a lot more adaption of content, delivery models and support mechanism to realize these benefits. Internet access is erratic and expensive, but perhaps more of a barrier will be language and cultural issues for students who may be unaccustomed to student centred, but independent and at the same time collaborative, learning.

Dynamic Yield has secured $2 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Founded in 2012, Dynamic Yield is a developer of yield optimization products for websites.

PRESS RELEASE

Dynamic Yield, a developer of real-time audience personalization software that increases revenue yield and key engagement metrics for online publishers and e-commerce websites, today announced that it has secured $2 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The New York Times Company and investment fund Innovation Endeavors also participated in the round. Self-funded to date, the company plans to use the proceeds to expand its global footprint by opening a New York City office and support the growth of its expanding customer base.
In today’s complex business environment, publishers and e-commerce sites face increased pressure to more effectively monetize their visiting user traffic. Dynamic Yield solves this problem by providing website owners with an automated SaaS solution that measures the revenue impact of each page layout and individual in-page components. Subsequently, its real-time personalization algorithms can be directed to increase overall revenue yield by increasing user engagement, ad clicks, product purchases, social sharing and page-views.
Dynamic Yield also provides a comprehensive Audience module that helps website owners understand who are their most valuable users, why they are valuable and how to increase reach, engagement and revenues from existing and new traffic channels. With an understanding that publishers lack the time and resources to go through complex integration projects, Dynamic Yield has focused on making the product easy to deploy and manage.
Dynamic Yield is currently powering nearly a billion monthly page-views.
“We supposedly live in an era of dynamic, personalized web experiences, yet data loads and algorithmic capacity have kept the vast majority of websites largely static,” said Liad Agmon, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Yield. “We have shown in the past twelve months that our low-touch SaaS solution has significant and far reaching effect on our clients’ bottom-lines.”
“There are a lot of tools and services in the market to optimize discreet components of a website,” said Adam Fisher of Bessemer, “but nothing that takes a holistic view of how to maximize revenue across revenue sources and yet improve user engagement and satisfaction at the same time. With its big data approach, Dynamic Yield helps website owners achieve this difficult balance, while still allowing for editorial control. We are excited for the opportunity to support Liad, a former Bessemer EIR, and believe that Dynamic Yield has come up with an innovative solution to a global market challenge.”
About Dynamic Yield
Founded in 2012, Dynamic Yield is a developer of yield optimization products for websites. Its algorithmic tools help website owners measure revenue yield and serve personalized user experiences, boosting engagement, ad clicks, product purchases and overall user value. The company has offices in Tel-Aviv.

About Bessemer Venture Partners
With $4.0 billion under management, Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) (www.bvp.com) is a global venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Mass., New York, Mumbai, Bangalore and Herzliya, Israel. BVP delivers a broad platform in venture capital spanning industries, geographies, and stages of company growth. From Staples to Skype, VeriSign to Yelp, LinkedIn to Pinterest, BVP has helped incubate and support companies that have anchored significant shifts in the economy. More than 100 BVP-funded companies have gone public on exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia.

Contact Information
Media Contact:
For press inquiries, contact
Dynamic Yield
Email Contact

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Rare Element Resources has appointed Lowell A. Shonk, a financial professional with more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry, to its board of directors. He will also serve as the board’s audit committee chair. Shonk is the vice chairman of Cupric Canyon Capital, a private equity company in partnership with Barclays Capital focused on investing in early stage copper projects worldwide.

PRESS RELEASE

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (NYSE Amex:REE)(NYSE MKT:REE)(TSX:RES) (the “Company”) announced today that Lowell A. Shonk, a financial professional with more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry, has joined its Board of Directors as of April 23, 2013 and will serve as the Board’s Audit Committee Chair. At the same time, Paul H. Zink, a director since early 2012, has tendered his resignation in order to devote his time to his new position as Chief Executive Officer of Americas Bullion Royalty Corp.
Mr. Shonk has held numerous financial-related positions in the last 30 years in companies in the copper, molybdenum, gold, coal, iron ore, industrial minerals and lithium extractive and processing industries, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Shonk served as Vice President of Financial Operations and Analysis at Phelps Dodge Corporation and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold from 1999 through 2009. Prior to that, he spent 20 years in finance roles, including Controller/Chief Financial Officer for various divisions of Cyprus Amax and its predecessor mining companies. Mr. Shonk is the Vice Chairman of Cupric Canyon Capital LP/LLC (“Cupric”), a private equity company in partnership with Barclays Capital focused on investing in early-stage copper projects worldwide. He served as CEO in 2012 and early 2013 and serves as a director for Hana Mining Co. Ltd., a formerly TSX-listed company that Cupric acquired in 2013. He also serves as Chairman of Eiseb Exploration and Mining, Ltd., a privately owned company 55% owned by Cupric, conducting copper and silver exploration in Namibia. Mr. Shonk has a Masters degree from Colorado School of Mines in Mineral Economics and an MBA from the University of Colorado in Finance and Accounting. He is currently the chairman of the audit committee of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME).
“Lowell is the definition of the modern miner – well versed in geology but, equally important, possessing the financial background to understand what it takes to develop and operate a profitable mine,” said Donald E. Ranta, Rare Element’s Chairman of the Board. “With his high-level executive mining experience, especially in financing, strategic planning and valuation, we believe he is an excellent addition to the team as we bring the Bear Lodge rare earth project into production.”
Mr. Zink tendered his resignation to the Board on April 23, 2013 in order to focus his attention on developing Americas Bullion Royalty Corp., the mining industry’s newest royalty company. “We are excited for Paul and the opportunity before him. He has been a valuable contributor to the Board in the past year, and we expect that Americas Bullion will benefit as we did from his experience and insights,” concluded Mr. Ranta.
Rare Element Resources Ltd. is a publicly traded mineral resource company focused on exploration and development of rare-earth elements (REEs), with a significant distribution of critical rare earths (CREEs). In addition to the REE exploration and evaluation efforts, the Company controls the Sundance gold project, which is located on the same property in Wyoming.
Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact Information
Rare Element Resources Ltd.
Robbin Lee
720-278-2462

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State Street Corporation has appointed Dr. Markus Steiner as head of State Street Global Services’ business in Switzerland. Dr. Steiner will assume his new role on July 1, 2013.

PRESS RELEASE

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) today announced the appointment of Dr. Markus Steiner to head of State Street Global Services’ business in Switzerland.

Dr. Steiner will assume his new role on July 1, 2013. To ensure a seamless transition and as part of a planned succession, a handover phase with current managing director René Charrière, will take place between now and July. Following the transition, Mr. Charrière will assume a senior relationship management role for select Swiss-based accounts.
Dr. Steiner has more than 22 years of professional experience in the asset management and investment fund industry, and he has held leading positions in fund management and product development in the Swiss and European fund markets. He also possesses extensive regulatory expertise from his active participation in the Swiss regulatory landscape. Most recently, he served as head of UBS Fund Management Switzerland AG for more than 13 years.
Commenting on the appointment, Jörg Ambrosius, senior vice president of State Street said, “We’re privileged to welcome Markus Steiner to State Street’s management team in Zurich as he brings a wealth of experience to the role. We look forward to working with him. With Dr. Steiner’s appointment and René Charrière taking on a key relationship management role, we are well positioned to further expand our business in Switzerland.”
About State Street Corporation
State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $25.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.2 trillion in assets under management at March 31, 2013, State Street operates in more than 100 geographic markets worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For more information, visit State Street’s web site at www.statestreet.com.

This AUM includes the assets of the SPDR Gold Trust (approx. $62.7 billion as of March 31, 2013), for which State Street Global Markets, LLC, an affiliate of State Street Global Advisors, serves as the marketing agent.

Lydia Cambata
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Account Manager
Phone | 020 7282 1082 | 07939 153 721
E-Mail | [email protected]
Address | 3 London Wall Buildings | London Wall | EC2M 5SY
www.citigatedewerogerson.co.uk

Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ltd is registered in England NO 2184041. Registered office is 15-17 Huntsworth Mews, London, NW1 6DD.

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LKQ Corporation has agreed to acquire Sator Beheer, a distributor of auto parts, tools and equipment headquartered in Schiedam, the Netherlands, for approximately $268 million. Baird acted as the sole financial advisor to LKQ on the deal, which is still subject to customary closing conditions. The sellers were H2 Equity Partners, a private equity firm, and Sator management.

PRESS RELEASE

Today’s announcement that LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ: LKQX) has agreed to acquire Sator Beheer BV (“Sator”), a leading distributor of auto parts, tools and equipment headquartered in Schiedam, the Netherlands, for approximately $268 million marks another successful transatlantic M&A deal for Baird, an employee-owned, international financial services firm. Baird acted as the sole financial advisor to LKQ on the deal, which is still subject to customary closing conditions. The sellers were H2 Equity Partners, a private equity firm, and Sator management.

The transaction underscores Baird’s expertise in the automotive aftermarket parts distribution space and the global reach of its M&A platform. In late 2011, Baird acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Euro Car Parts Limited, the leading U.K. aftermarket distributor of parts for cars and light commercial vehicles, in its sale to LKQ for up to $435 million. Today’s deal also marks the 14th Baird-advised M&A transaction involving a Netherlands-based firm.

Baird’s fully-integrated, international deal team was led by David Silver, Head of European Investment Banking, and Adam Czaia, Director.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with LKQ on this acquisition,” said Czaia. “Baird’s Investment Banking group has worked with the company several times over the past few years in different capacities, and we are delighted to have provided a great outcome.

Silver added, “This transaction illustrates what we believe to be the early stages of European consolidation in the automotive aftermarket parts distribution sector. The deal builds nicely on LKQ’s 2011 acquisition of Euro Car Parts.”

Established in 1998, LKQ Corporation is the largest North American source for quality recycled auto parts and the largest U.S. distributor of alternative collision replacement auto parts, with 2012 sales of more than $4.1 billion. Sator is the market-leading distributor of spare parts for the automotive aftermarket industry in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Northern France, and the parent company of eight operating subsidiaries. H2 Equity Partners is an independent private equity firm founded in 1991, with offices in Amsterdam, Cologne and London. H2 Equity Partners and Management acquired Sator in July 2009.

###

About Baird’s Investment Banking group
Recognized as the 2011 “Investment Banking Firm of the Year” by The M&A Advisor, Baird is a leading global investment bank focused on the middle market. Approximately 230 investment banking professionals in the U.S., Europe and Asia provide corporations, private equity and venture capital firms with in-depth market knowledge and extensive experience in merger and acquisition and equity financing transactions. Since 2008, Baird has advised on nearly 250 M&A transactions representing approximately $50 billion in transaction value and has served as lead or co-manager on 335 equity offerings raising approximately $98 billion. Baird has received “Deal of the Year” recognitions from The M&A Advisor for eight years running, demonstrating commitment to attaining great outcomes for clients.

About Baird
Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has approximately 2,800 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird had more than $99 billion in client assets on Dec. 31, 2012. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked No. 14 on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2013 – its tenth consecutive year on the list. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s investment banking and private equity operations.

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And lo, the Verizon-Vodafone rumor mill rumbles on. Just weeks after Verizon scotched rumors that it was planning a $245 billion takeover of its British counterpart, we have a new report, coming out of Reuters, that suggests Verizon is now preparing to buy out Voda’s share in their joint venture, Verizon Wireless.

Verizon owns 55 percent of the cellular enterprise, and – according to Reuters’s unnamed sources – it now thinks it can pick up the rest for $100 billion, half of which would come from bank financing and half of which would take the form of Verizon’s own shares. The U.S. firm apparently wants amicable discussions with Vodafone over this, but is willing to “take a bid public” if Voda doesn’t play ball.

I’ve asked Voda for comment on this latest notion, and am interested to see how any potential acceptance of the potential offer would overcome the hurdles faced in the past. The problem there, as another unnamed Vodafone investor previously explained, is that a sale of its share would hit Voda with an enormous capital gains tax bill – which is why a merger seemed more attractive.

As those in the U.K. know all too well, Vodafone is allergic to big tax bills, so let’s see how this latest outbreak of whispering pans out in reality.

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