Category: News

There was a lot of news a few days back when notorious pranksters, Yes Men, set up a fake press conference pretending to be the US Chamber of Commerce, announcing that it had changed its controversial stance on climate change — which had recently driven some large companies, including PG&E and Apple, to leave the CoC. The fake press conference, along with a fake website and fake press release, apparently fooled some in the media — including Reuters — until someone from the real Chamber of Commerce burst into the room and confronted the pranksters. The video is great:

Part of the hoax was a fake website at www.chamber-of-commerce.us, and apparently the real Chamber of Commerce has sent a DMCA takedown on the site. The EFF is responding in support of Yes Men, saying that the site is a parody, which is protected fair use. While I think that the Chamber of Commerce is pretty dumb to issue the takedown — only giving the Yes Men more attention — I’m not sure that the parody defense will stick here. While the site is for the purpose of criticism, the site is most certainly not an obvious parody. It’s designed to look real. Thus, the bigger issue may actually be trademark infringement, not copyright infringement, as the site could certainly confuse users, but there are other ways to deal with such things that don’t involve a DMCA takedown.

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Here’s the First Family portrait, released by the Photo Office this morning:

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Comedian Soupy Sales has passed away at the age of 83, reportedly at a Hospice in New York. 

Provide your condolences at the Famous Dead website — www.FamousDead.com …

The web is abuzz with fond memories and sadness of his death.  The rate at which the Tweets about him are rolling in provide evidence to that.

Soupy Sales is the number one query on Google’s Hot Trends list.

Soupy was known for his children’s television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales, in which he was frequently received a pie in his face, which became his trademark.

The death of Sales is just the latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of celebrity deaths this year.

EverBank Financial Corp., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based financial services firm, has agreed to acquire Tygris Commercial Finance Group, a commercial finance and leasing company. The stock-for-stock transaction is expected to increase EverBank’s capital base by about $470 million. EverBank has raised approximately $100 million in private equity funding from Sageview Capital. Tygris was formed in 2007 with more than $1.75 billion in equity commitments from Aquiline Capital Partners, New Mountain Capital, TPG Capital, Diamond Castle Holdings and Hamilton Lane.

PRESS RELEASE

EverBank Financial Corp®, one of the nation’s largest privately-held financial services firms, announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Tygris Commercial Finance Group, Inc., a commercial finance and leasing company.

The stock-for-stock acquisition will increase EverBank’s capital base by approximately $470 million, and is expected to have a positive impact on earnings.  EverBank’s capital position will be significantly enhanced upon consummation of the acquisition, resulting in expected Tier 1 (core) capital and risk based capital ratios of approximately 11% and 19%, respectively. The acquisition agreement also includes a $65 million pre-acquisition cash investment by Tygris into EverBank designed to provide EverBank with growth capital prior to the consummation of EverBank’s acquisition of Tygris. 

“The Tygris acquisition will provide EverBank with substantial growth capital to continue its successful approach of offering high-credit-quality residential loan and retail deposit products to the “mass affluent” market as well as pursue other strategic acquisition opportunities,” stated Rob Clements, Chairman and CEO of EverBank.  “As a result of EverBank’s deployment last year of approximately $150 million of growth capital, the company has recognized record year-to-date earnings of $26.0 million through the second-quarter of 2009, resulting in earnings growth of 41% over the comparable period in 2008.  We believe that by continuing to pursue attractive lending and deposit opportunities, while offering business leasing products, EverBank can further enhance its financial position and provide competitive lending and banking solutions to customers in the current market environment.”
 

“As a healthy, growing bank, EverBank was fortunate to be able to consider a variety of potential strategic acquisition opportunities before deciding to partner with Tygris,” stated Blake Wilson, President and CFO of EverBank.  “We chose to partner with Tygris based on the quality of its people, leasing products and platform, and the potential future opportunities available to the combined organization.  By bringing Tygris together with our credit, capital and funding infrastructure, our customers will benefit by having another stable lending source available to them.”
 

The acquisition, which is expected to close in late 2009, has been approved by both parties’ boards of directors and remains subject to regulatory approvals, among other customary conditions.  EverBank was advised by the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.  Tygris was advised by the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs & Co. and the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

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cVidya Networks, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of telecom data integrity revenue assurance and dealer management systems, has agreed to acquire ECtel Ltd. (Nasdaq: ECTX), a Rosh Ha’ayin-based provider of provider of integrated revenue management solutions for communications service providers. The deal is valued at just under $21 million in cash. cVidya has raised around $22 million in VC funding, from firms like Battery Ventures, Carmel Ventures, Hyperion, Stage One and Star Ventures.

PRESS RELEASE
ECtel Ltd. (NASDAQ: ECTX) (”ECtel”), a leading provider of Integrated Revenue Management(TM) (IRM(R)) solutions for communications service providers, announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement for the acquisition of the Company by cVidya Networks Inc. (”cVidya”), a global leader in telecom revenue management, risk management, and dealer management solutions, in a cash transaction valued at $21 million (less transaction expenses of approximately $430,000).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010807/FLTU015LOGO )

Under the terms of the agreement, ECtel shareholders will receive approximately $1.26 per share in cash upon the closing of the transaction, representing a premium of approximately 58% over ECtel’s average closing share price over the 90 trading days ended October 21, 2009. There is no financing condition to the obligations of cVidya to consummate the transaction. The definitive agreement contains customary representations and warranties, covenants, closing conditions, termination provisions, exclusivity requirements and arrangements to handle superior proposals.

The Board of Directors of ECtel unanimously approved the agreement and recommend that ECtel’s shareholders vote in favor of the transaction. The closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of ECtel’s shareholders, certain regulatory approvals and notifications and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. It is currently anticipated that the transaction will be consummated following the satisfaction of all closing conditions which is anticipated to occur by the end of 2009. Upon the closing of the transaction, ECtel’s ordinary shares will be delisted from NASDAQ.

Each of Koor Industries and Clal Electronic Industries, the owners of an aggregate of approximately 38% of ECtel’s outstanding ordinary shares, has entered into a voting undertaking with cVidya under which it has agreed to vote all of its shares in favor of the proposed transaction, subject to customary terms and conditions. The voting undertaking will terminate upon termination of the merger agreement in accordance with its terms.

Yair Cohen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ECtel, commented on the transaction: “Our focus, as a Board, has always been to maximize long term shareholder value. At the Board we evaluated our strategy going forward and, while evaluating the opportunities, we also recognize the challenges of continuing the path as an independent public company operating in a competitive and consolidating market that is limited in its size. After careful and thorough analysis, and with the completion of extensive negotiations with the buyers, the Board of Directors has decided to endorse this transaction as being in the best interest of our shareholders and recommends that it be approved by the shareholders.”

Itzik Weinstein, President and CEO of ECtel added: “This merger, which brings together two key players in the industry, enables us, as part of a unified group, by leveraging inherent synergies, to further expand our product offering, customer base and geographic breadth. Furthermore, it grants us the necessary tools to further strengthen and grow our standing in the global marketplace. As demand for revenue assurance and fraud management products rises, solutions such as ECtel’s become ever more critical by offering both tangible benefits and a competitive edge to communications service providers. This transaction presents substantial opportunities for our customers, employees and partners, and we will work towards completing the transaction in a swift and efficient manner. Our success is driven by the hard work, commitment and dedication of our capable employees around the world and I thank them for their invaluable contribution.”

Alon Aginsky, President, CEO and Founder of cVidya Network, concluded: “We look forward to having the ECtel team join us. ECtel is a great company, with an impressive talent pool, top notch customer base and leading quality products. This strategic acquisition marks another significant milestone in our growth strategy of expanding our foothold in the communication, media and entertainment markets, by creating the largest and most innovative company in the world offering revenue management, fraud management, dealer management and clearinghouse services. We are excited about the many and varied opportunities presented by this move, and believe it will lead to accelerated growth and profitability.”

About ECtel

ECtel (NASDAQ:ECTX) is a leading global provider of Integrated Revenue Management(TM) (IRM(R)) solutions for communications service providers. A pioneering market leader for nearly 20 years, ECtel offers carrier-grade solutions that enable wireline, wireless, converged and next generation operators to fully manage their revenue and cost processes. ECtel serves prominent Tier One operators, and has more than 100 implementations in over 50 countries worldwide. Established in 1990, ECtel maintains offices and has a presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.ectel.com.

About cVidya

cVidya Networks is a global leader in telecom Revenue Management, Risk Management, and Dealer Management solutions. Based on highly-advanced revenue assurance technologies, full compliance with industry standards, and market proven methodologies, cVidya`s MoneyMap platform has already helped to reduce costs and reclaim hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues for leading fixed, mobile and triple-play communication service providers. cVidya’s customers include British Telecom, Telefonica, Vodafone, Swisscom, Telecom Italia, Cable & Wireless, and more. cVidya received the Best Revenue Assurance and Management Project Award at the World BSS Awards 2008. For more information, visit http://www.cvidya.com

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OMG. When I asked our Japanese readers to send in a pic of the Burger King Windows 7 burger, I was half hoping that it really didn’t exist. But nope, here it is. You probably shouldn’t look at this before breakfast, btw.

It blows my mind that some marketing guru would think that slapping the Windows 7 name onto a seven patty burger would improve the Windows image. Of course it took an equally moronic Burger King suit to agree to sell out and show the world that Burger King is willing to create the world’s most unhealthy foods. Look at that thing. It’s a tower of cardiac arrest. The meal better come with a voucher for a buy one bypass, get one free. Gross. Just gross.

[thanks for the pics, Christoph]

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) has agreed to acquire SunEdison LLC, a Beltsville, Md.-based solar energy services provider. The deal is valued at $200 million, which would be paid 70% in cash and 30% in MEMC stock. SunEdison has raised over $140 million in private equity funding, plus more than $30 million in debt financing. Backers include Greylock Partners, HSH Nordbank AG, Applied Ventures, Black River Commodity Clean Energy Investment Fund, MissionPoint Capital Partner and Allco Renewable Energy Ltd.

PRESS RELEASE
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), a leading provider of silicon wafers to the semiconductor and solar industries, has reached a definitive agreement to acquire privately held SunEdison LLC, a developer of solar power projects and North America’s largest solar energy services provider. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2009, subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals.

The agreement calls for $200 million to be paid at closing to SunEdison security holders, which will be paid 70% in cash and 30% in MEMC stock. The agreement also includes an earn-out provision, should SunEdison meet certain performance targets in 2010, of up to an additional $89 million, consisting of cash and stock. In addition, the agreement calls for employee retention payments of $17 million in cash at closing, plus up to $34 million in stock which is subject to SunEdison meeting certain performance criteria and time vesting, the payment of certain transaction expenses and the assumption of net debt.

“This acquisition will provide a third engine of growth for MEMC,” said Ahmad Chatila, Chief Executive Officer of MEMC. “MEMC will now participate in the actual development of solar power plants and commercialization of clean energy, in addition to supplying the solar and semiconductor industries with our traditional silicon wafer products.”

“SunEdison has successfully built about 300 solar power plants representing approximately 80 MW of generating capacity on the rooftops and grounds of customers in the United States, Canada and Europe,” said Carlos Domenech, Chief Operating Officer of SunEdison. “Our business is highly scalable and will be able to grow substantially, capitalizing on our more than 1.5 GW of pipeline, backlog and leads with a financially strong, technically sophisticated partner like MEMC, which also has a competitive cost structure in upstream materials. This combination will greatly accelerate our goal of making solar energy cost competitive with grid prices.”

SunEdison is based in Beltsville, Maryland and employs approximately 300 people worldwide. It “simplifies solar” by managing the development, financing, operation and monitoring of solar power plants for commercial customers, including many national retail outlets, government agencies, and utilities. In a typical structure SunEdison arranges third-party, non-recourse financing for the facility and the customer has no up-front capital outlay.

With one of the strongest brands in solar, SunEdison will continue to operate with the SunEdison name, as a subsidiary of MEMC. Carlos Domenech will continue to lead SunEdison. After the acquisition is complete, he is expected to be named as Executive Vice President of MEMC and President of SunEdison, reporting to Ahmad Chatila.

“By making solar power more affordable and easy to obtain, we expect to tap into a large pent-up demand,” added Mr. Chatila. “We believe this strategy will drive revenue growth for our wafer business while producing a recurring revenue stream from solar-generated electricity. This will also allow us to directly benefit from the technological and cost advances that we are helping to create in the solar industry.”

Mr. Chatila concluded, “In short, we believe MEMC and SunEdison make a powerful combination, and we are excited about having their talented employees around the world join the MEMC team.”

MEMC expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings, subject to purchase accounting adjustments, by the second half of 2010.

Conference Call

MEMC will host a conference call today, October 22, at 5:30 p.m. ET to discuss the company’s third quarter financial results, as well as the agreement to acquire SunEdison. A live webcast will be available on the company’s web site at www.memc.com. Please go to the web site at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

A replay of the conference call will be available from 7:30 p.m. ET today until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 29. To access the replay, please dial (320) 365-3844 at any time during that period, using pass code 118827. A replay will also be available until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 29 on the company’s web site at www.memc.com.

About MEMC

MEMC is a global leader in the manufacture and sale of wafers and related intermediate products to the semiconductor and solar industries. MEMC has been a pioneer in the design and development of wafer technologies over the past 50 years. With R&D and manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, MEMC enables the next generation of high performance semiconductor devices and solar cells. MEMC’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “WFR” and is included in the S&P 500 Index. For more information about MEMC, please visit www.memc.com.

About SunEdison

SunEdison is North America’s largest solar energy services provider. The company finances, installs and operates distributed power plants using proven photovoltaic technologies, delivering fully managed, predictably priced solar energy services for its commercial, government and utility customers. In 2008, SunEdison delivered more kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy than any other solar services provider in North America. For more information about SunEdison, please visit www.sunedison.com.

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Are you one of those annoying people who constantly have a Bluetooth earpiece in your ear? Does it make you sad inside that the battery on your mobile device runs out so quickly? Well it looks like Texas Instrument may be looking to change things. TI recentley demoed its “Bluetooth low energy open standard” in Munich, and when they say “low powered” they mean low powered. The technology, based on the CC2540 single-mode system-on-chip, can operate a Bluetooth radio for “over a year” on a single button cell battery; similar to the ones used in watches and hearing aids. While TI insists this will open the doors for Bluetooth enabled kitchen tables, can-openers, and sofas, we’re more excited about the mobile implications. Would this low power option make you use Bluetooth more often?

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GenNx360 Capital Partners has agreed to buy GVI Security Solutions Inc. (OTC BB: GVSS), a Carrolton, Texas-based provider of video security surveillance solutions. The deal is valued at approximately $11.6 million, or $0.38 per GVI share.

PRESS RELEASE

GVI Security Solutions, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: GVSS), a leading provider of video security surveillance solutions featuring the complete Samsung Electronics line of products, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired and taken private by investment funds managed by GenNx360 Capital Partners, a leading global private equity firm focusing on middle market opportunities.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, an affiliate of GenNx360 will commence a tender offer to purchase for cash all of the outstanding shares of GVI common stock at a price of $0.38 per share, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes, for a total equity value of approximately $11.6 million. The tender offer is expected to commence on or before November 4, 2009 and to expire on the 20th business day following and including the commencement date, unless extended in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Following completion of the tender offer, the parties will complete a second-step merger in which any remaining shares of GVI common stock will be converted into the right to receive the same price per share paid in the tender offer. Stockholders representing approximately 22% of GVI’s outstanding shares have entered into tender and support agreements with GenNx360 in connection with the transaction.

Steven Walin, Chairman of GVI, said, “After careful consideration of our strategic alternatives, we are pleased to have reached this agreement with GenNx360, which creates substantial value for our stockholders. This transaction represents a premium of 22.6% over GVI’s closing share price on October 21, 2009, the last trading day before the merger agreement was signed. GenNx360’s desire to add GVI to its portfolio underscores our solid business model, the talent of our people and the significant progress we have made in transforming GVI into an important market player.”

Lloyd Trotter, a Founder and Managing Partner at GenNx360, said, “We are excited about the opportunity for GenNx360 to enter the security industry supporting the strong GVI platform. The security industry presents attractive growth opportunities and we are looking forward to working with the experienced GVI management team to expand the company’s presence in the marketplace.”

The Board of Directors of GVI has unanimously approved the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, based upon, among other factors, the approval and recommendation of a Special Committee of the Board of Directors, and has resolved to recommend that GVI’s stockholders tender their shares of GVI common stock in connection with the tender offer contemplated by the merger agreement. The transactions are subject to customary closing conditions, but are not subject to any financing condition.

Imperial Capital, LLC is acting as financial advisor to GVI and has delivered a fairness opinion to the GVI Board of Directors and Special Committee. Cooley Godward Kronish LLP is legal counsel to GVI and Nixon Peabody LLP is legal counsel to GenNx360 Capital Partners.

About GVI Security Solutions, Inc.

GVI Security Solutions, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GVSS) is a leading provider of video surveillance and security solutions, with sales and service representation throughout North, Central and South America. The company provides Samsung Electronics and GVI branded products, software and services to the Homeland Security and Commercial markets. Customers include governments, major retail chains, leading financial institutions and public and private school systems.

www.samsung-security.com

GenNx360 Capital Partners

New York-based GenNx360 Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on industrial business-to-business companies. Our partners have 100+ years of combined global operating experience with a strong, proven track record in creating true enterprise value through operating excellence and strong leadership. We acquire companies with proven and sustainable business models in expanding industries and implement the required operating efficiencies to accelerate growth and generate strong financial returns.

www.gennx360.com

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Maurice Allen and Michael Goetz have agreed to join law firm Ropes & Gray, after serving as co-heads of the banking and capital markets practice groups of White & Case. The pair will help Ropes & Gray open a London office in January, which will focus on the private equity and debt markets.

PRESS RELEASE

Ropes & Gray LLP announced that leading finance lawyers Maurice Allen and Michael Goetz will join the firm and spearhead the launch of its London office in January 2010. Allen and Goetz will enhance the firm’s ability to serve its sophisticated private equity, private investment fund, and finance-sector clients in the United Kingdom and Europe. Senior U.S. partners Newcomb Stillwell and David Chapin will be helping their new colleagues launch and grow the London office, demonstrating Ropes & Gray’s commitment to establishing a world-class service center in an important market.

“We are delighted that Maurice and Mike have decided to join Ropes & Gray, but our clients are the real beneficiaries,” said Brad Malt, the chairman of Ropes & Gray. “Our expansion into the United Kingdom gives us coverage to execute on our clients’ global mandates, and Maurice and Mike have the experience, service orientation, and business acumen to provide the cutting-edge advice for which our private equity and debt practices are renowned.”

Ropes & Gray has globally recognized private equity and debt practices, offering an ideal platform for the experienced London practitioners. The firm’s Private Equity practice group is consistently rated among the top PE practices and in 2009 garnered the Chambers Award for Excellence in the category of “Investment Funds.” The firm’s clients include 11 of the 25 so-called “mega fund” firms and more than 20 “mid-market” firms that routinely do transactions in the $100 million to $1 billion range. In the past 12 months, the firm represented private equity sponsors in a third of major North American buyouts.

“Ropes & Gray is an elite firm with an extraordinary platform in the global equity and debt marketplace,” said Allen. “Drawing on our familiarity with the sophisticated London finance market, Mike and I will bring our wealth of experience to bear on behalf of the firm’s clients. This is a terrific fit for us and the firm.”

“With their background in private equity and debt, as well as their proven track record in the competitive London market, Maurice and Mike are uniquely qualified to lead our expansion into the United Kingdom,” said David Chapin, a private equity and M&A partner. “To help our new partners launch and expand the London office, Newcomb Stillwell, a former head of Ropes & Gray’s Private Equity Practice Group, and I will devote a significant amount of time to our London office.”

Allen and Goetz are well-suited to lead Ropes & Gray’s private equity and debt-focused London office, which will open in January 2010. The two lawyers were co-heads of the banking and capital markets practice groups of White & Case, leading that firm’s London office as it grew from 65 to 400 fee earners.

The opening of a London office marks Ropes & Gray’s fourth move into key geographic markets in the past two years, following openings in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Chicago. With a new office in London, Ropes & Gray will be in a better position to serve its existing clients, as well as the clients of the firm’s new partners.

“This is a marvelous opportunity for Maurice and me,” said Goetz. “Ropes & Gray has demonstrated its commitment to growth in markets like London, that are a center of existing and prospective clients. We, in turn, are committed to helping the firm continue its upward trajectory.”

Allen has practiced law for more than 25 years in the London finance market, focusing on complex transactions and cross-border financings. He has advised extensively on matters such as acquisition finance, telecom financings, restructurings and workouts. Goetz, one of the City’s most prominent lawyers, represents clients in leveraged lending and acquisition finance matters, among other complex transactions. He also brings considerable experience in bankruptcies and business reorganizations.

Ropes & Gray is a full-service, global law firm that works with clients across a wide variety of industries to successfully address their greatest legal challenges and achieve their business goals. With more than 1,000 professionals located in leading centers of finance, technology and government, we bring an unparalleled passion for excellence, new ideas and a true team spirit to every project.

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By Tom Foremski
siliconvalleywatcher.com

Hat tip to Danny Sullivan for pointing out the above panel at Web 2.0 Summit, which featured Robert Thomson, Wall Street Journal chief, and Marrissa Mayer head of search products at Google, plus Martin Nisenholtz, The New York Times Company, and Eric Hippeau from the Huffington Post, moderated by John Battelle. Title: “Whither Journalism.”

Video – Web 2.0 Summit 09: “Discussion: Whither Journalism?”

The reason this discussion is interesting is because Mr Thomson is a close confidant of Rupert Murdoch, the head of News Corp and one of the leaders in trying to create new business models for online journalism. One of those ways is to create a paywall – to charge for content.

This has been criticized by many online pundits who believe content should be free and that Mr Murdoch, and others that want to charge for content won’t succeed.

This is a ridiculous argument because it doesn’t address the issue of how content is created and the costs in creating content. An army of citizen journalists won’t be able to fill the gap caused by fewer professional journalists. We have to figure out a way to pay for professional journalism.

At the beginning of the discussion Mr Thomson gets to the point right away, when he makes the distinction between content creators and content aggregators and point out that the cost burden is being shouldered by the content creators. . .

. . . Producing original content is very expensive. Trawling web sites and taking the headline and top paragraph of a story is dirt cheap. The difference between costs for content creators and content aggregators is very large indeed.

The Huffington Post gets a ton of content for free. The New York Times has more people moderating its comments than The Huff Post has journalists on its masthead. Yet the Huff Post couldn’t exist without the content creators. Clearly there is a large mismatch here.

The tragedy is that on either side of the equation there isn’t enough money to pay for the content creation. . . READ FULL STORY

Officially New Mercedes S600 2010 Driving

The Urban Institute: Age Rating Under Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Household Financial Burdens – The authors of this study brief compare the “financial implications of the premium rating policy,” as outlined in the House Tri-Committee proposal (H.R. 3200), across households of different ages, incomes, and sizes. “While subsidies provided by the federal government to those with incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty level ameliorate the lion’s share of premium differences due to the choice of rating, rating differences will significantly alter health care financing burdens for the youngest and oldest adults and families with higher incomes,” according to the authors. “In order to make combined premium and out-of-pocket health care burdens affordable by conventional standards for this older middle income population, premium subsidies could be extended to higher incomes than are currently being considered or the variance in age-rating bands could be limited to a maximum of 2:1, perhaps with a plan to phase down further over time” (Blumberg, Buettgens and Garrett, Oct. 2009).

Commonwealth Fund: Supporting Culture Change: Working Toward Smarter State Nursing Home Regulation – This brief examines the growing interest at the state and federal levels to transition away from a traditional regulatory model of nursing homes. The authors of the brief discuss the importance of a model that “strike[s] a balance between the traditional regulatory approach to weed out substandard facilities and a partnership model aimed at promoting high performance” as well as the need to train health providers and regulatory staff in preparation for such changes, according to a Commonwealth Fund description of the brief (Stone, Bryant and Barbarotta, Oct. 2009). An accompanying podcast examines the changing culture of nursing home regulation (Housman, 10/8).

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: The Effect Of Reimbursement On Medical Decision Making: Do Physicians Alter Treatment In Response To A Managed Care Incentive? – An analysis of survey data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) finds physicians spend less time with capitated patients, or those for whom a physician “receive[s] a set fee … that is meant to reflect the actuarial cost of care the patient is expected to require,” compared to noncapitated patients. The article, published in the Journal of Health Economics, reveals the effects of capitation on medical practice (Melichar, Oct. 2009).

Kaiser Family Foundation: The Uninsured: A Primer – “This primer, updated with 2008 data, reviews the basic profile of the uninsured population, how they receive care, the latest trends in health insurance coverage, key issues in increasing coverage and basic statistics on the uninsured,” according to a Kaiser Family Foundation description of the report (Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 10/13).

Commonwealth Fund: Incremental Cost Estimates For The Patient-Centered Medical Home – “Despite wide and growing interest in the medical home approach, little is known about the costs it entails,” write the authors of this paper, which analyzes data from 35 practices to determine “the relationship, if any, between costs and medical home activities.” The authors report they “do not find evidence of additional costs associated with higher levels of ‘medical homeness,’ with the exception of information technology costs, which show a modest but statistically significant increase with medical home intensity” (Zuckerman et al., Oct. 2009).

UCLA Center for Health Policy Research: African Americans In Commercial HMOs More Likely To Delay Prescription Drugs And Use The Emergency Room – An analysis of data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) finds that African Americans enrolled in commercial HMOs in California are more likely to use the emergency room and delay obtaining medications than other racial/ethnic groups in comparable HMO plans. “In light of the existence of potential barriers to accessing appropriate medical care for African Americans with HMO coverage, greater effort is needed to identify ways to encourage African Americans to obtain needed prescription drugs in a timely manner and avoid ER use if adequate primary or specialty care is available in their community at a reasonable cost,” the authors write (Roby, Nicholson and Kominski, Oct. 2009).

RAND Health: Health and Health Care Among District of Columbia Youth – A study of 100,000 youth living in Washington, D.C., finds that “[d]espite high rates of health insurance coverage among children … [their] access to health care is inadequate and poses a significant health problem for the city’s young residents, particularly those who are publicly insured,” according to a RAND description of the report. Among other things, the researchers recommend the development of strategies to increase children’s access to primary and specialty care, interventions for children with particular health needs and increased efforts to continuously and comprehensively monitor children’s health (Chandra et.al, 10/8).

UCLA Center for Health Policy Research: Migration & Health: The Children Of Mexican Immigrants In The United States – This report examines the barriers the more than 6 million children of Mexican immigrants face in accessing health care in the U.S., compared to native born white children, African American children, and the children of immigrants from other countries. Although most of the children born to Mexican immigrants are U.S. citizens because they were born in the U.S., the study found, among other things, “[t]hey are about three times more likely than other children in the U.S. to be uninsured (19.4 percent vs. 6.8 percent)” and “three times more likely than children of U.S. born whites to have no usual place to obtain regular medical care (13.8 percent versus 3.9 percent),” according to a UCLA Center for Health Policy Research description of the study (Wallace, Leite, Castaneda and Schenken, 10/5).

Ensphere Solutions, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of semiconductor products for various optical interfaces, has raised $4 million from Egyptian venture capital fund Ideavelopers.

PRESS RELEASE

Ensphere Solutions, an emerging leader in advanced communications semiconductor ICs, received a $4 million investment from Ideavelopers in August of 2009. Ideavelopers is a pioneer in high-technology investment in Middle East and manages Egypt’s first technology venture capital fund “The Technology Development Fund”.

“We are extremely excited about our partnership with Ideavelopers” said Hessam Mohajeri, Chief Executive Officer of Ensphere Solutions. “Ideavelopers’ investment will help us to expedite our product development and rollout plans. In addition to financial backing, we can tremendously benefit from Ideavelopers’ experience and industry contacts”.

“We are proud to be engaged with one of the most promising emerging semiconductor companies addressing the optical market,” said Ahmad Gomaa CEO of Ideavelopers. “Ensphere has aggressive plans to launch a portfolio of exciting optical products including transceivers ICs for Intel’s Light Peak technology. Light Peak will have an enormous market footprint reaching applications such as PCs, peripherals, workstations, displays, mobile handsets, docking stations, and more. Ensphere is well positioned to reap benefits from this exciting market”.

Light Peak is an emerging fiber optics-based interconnect technology architected by Intel Corporation. It has been designed to support data rates up to 10 Gb/s with the potential of reaching 100 Gb/s over the next decade. This technology has shattered size, cost, and power barriers making it the first optical connectivity technology suitable for mainstream applications.

In addition to Light Peak transceivers, Ensphere has a diverse product portfolio addressing front-end physical layer chips for various optical and copper interfaces. These products include Limiting Amplifiers (LA), Transimpedance Amplifiers (TIA), Clock/Data Recovery devices, and Laser Drivers for various interfaces with date rates of 1 Gb/s to 40 Gb/s.

About Ensphere Solutions:

Ensphere Solutions, Inc. is a privately held fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Santa Clara, California with a design center in Cairo, Egypt. Ensphere develops and markets semiconductor products for various optical interfaces used in mainstream applications in communication, consumer electronic, and computing markets. In addition to chip-level products, Ensphere has offered design services and intellectual properties (IPs) to its strategic customers.

About Ideavelopers:

Founded in 2001, Ideavelopers, a subsidiary of EFG-Hermes, and fund advisor for The Technology Development Fund, partners with technology entrepreneurs to greatly increase their chance of success. Ideavelopers’ priority is to support entrepreneurs and early-stage business by providing quality venture development services. Ideavelopers has already participated in the funding of 40 technology-driven companies on behalf of its investment partnerships.

Ideavelopers brings together the resources, experience, and strategic relationships needed to build the next generation of leading technology companies. We take companies through the entire business process, from the inception of an idea through to the creation of a business built on a solid foundation. Whether Ideavelopers provides advice on fine-tuning business plans, investment money, intensive guidance, or executive recruiting, Ideavelopers is here to help improve the rate of success.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, is reviewing its business relationship with Apollo Global Management, examining fees, performance and the “relationship as a whole,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing documents outlining the review.

The review was started in May and is still active, the paper reported. Calpers, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, has hired outside adviser Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin to analyze the relationship and to offer “alternative courses of action,” it said.

The Wall Street Journal received access to the documents through a public-records request.

Calpers’ relationship with Apollo has become subject to outside scrutiny since the pension fund said last week that it is probing fees paid by outside money managers to win its business.

The pension fund listed several of Apollo’s funds as having paid fees to ARVCO Financial Ventures, a firm headed by former Calpers board member Al Villalobos. 

Calpers and Apollo could not be immediately reached for comment.

A Calpers spokeswoman told the Journal that the review was part of a larger strategy.

“This is not an effort to end our partnership and we have full confidence in Apollo,” she said. (Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management posted sharply improved investment performance across all of its funds Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported citing a letter sent to investors.

“We were incredibly active during this downturn with respect to new and existing investments, and I am sure that is exactly what you expected of us,” wrote Apollo founder Leon Black in a nine-page letter, the paper said.

The firm’s flagship $10 billion fund, raised in 2006, and a $15 billion fund, raised in 2008, were valued at their March lows at 61 percent and 55 percent of cost, respectively, the paper said. Apollo valued those funds at more than 100 percent of cost and 120 percent of cost, respectively, at the end of September, the paper said.

One of Apollo’s funds, AP Alternative Assets, which is listed on Euronext, said on Thursday that its estimated net asset at the end of September was $1.25 billion, compared to $970 million at the end of the second quarter and $850 million at the end of 2008. (Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – BP Plc (BP.L) has had talks with Ghana’s national oil company about a possible joint bid for Kosmos Energy’s stake in the huge Jubilee oilfield off the coast of the country, Bloomberg said on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

BP has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on the deal, the report said.

Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) agreed to buy the Jubilee stake from Kosmos in early October, Reuters reported, according to three sources close to the matter. Kosmos is backed by private equity groups Blackstone Group (BX.N) and Warburg Pincus.

But state-run Ghana National Petroleum Corp (GNPC) has said the sale is illegal. A GNPC source told Reuters earlier this month that that the firm is interested in buying Kosmos Energy’s stake itself, perhaps selling all or part of that stake later.

Moreover, a leading member of Ghana’s ruling party said last week that the government does not approve of the Exxon deal.

BP declined to comment. Goldman Sachs could not be immediately reached for comment.

Kosmos owns the field with UK-based oil explorer Tullow Oil (TLW.L) and Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum (APC.N). It put its interest in the field on the market earlier this year. (Reporting by Michael Erman; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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The latest developments surrounding health reform’s public option grab a lot of headlines today, including news regarding a version of the plan that allows states to opt not to participate in it.  

Texas Dr. Antonio Falcon: We’re Facing A Catastrophic Situation On The Border
Dr. Antonio Falcon, a physician in the border town of Rio Grande City, Texas, says the current efforts to overhaul the nation’s health system will benefit both the Hispanic community, which has the highest rate of uninsured of any ethnic group; and Texas, which consistently fares among the worst for state health care measures. Still, he worries that lawmakers in Washington are failing to address several important border health issues, including illegal immigrants’ health care (Kaiser Health News). See related KHN story detailing how health reform bills would – and would not – affect illegal immigrants.

Senate Leader Takes Risk Pushing Public Insurance Plan
In pushing to include a government-run health insurance plan in the health care bill, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is taking a calculated gamble that the 60 members of his caucus could support the plan if it included a way for states to opt out (The New York Times).

Lawmakers Warm To The Public Option
House Democrats are coalescing around an $871 billion health-care package that would create a government-run insurance plan to help millions of Americans afford coverage, raise taxes on the nation’s richest families and impose an array of new regulations on private insurers, in part by stripping the industry of its long-standing exemption from federal antitrust laws (The Washington Post).

Offer To Let States Opt Out Of Health Plan Gains Support
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, stepping deeper into the health-care debate, put his weight Thursday behind a proposal that would create a new government-run insurance plan while giving states the option not to participate (The Wall Street Journal).

Reid Leaning Towards Public Option
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is leaning toward putting a public insurance option in the Senate health reform bill — a signal that Reid increasingly believes he can get the votes needed for a plan that would allow states to opt out of the program, senators said Thursday (Politico).

Snowe Rejects Public Option As Democrats Weigh Measure
Senator Olympia Snowe rejected the idea of backing the immediate creation of any government-run insurance program even as top Democrats are leaning toward including such a plan in U.S. health-care legislation (Bloomberg).

Whip Count Shows Democrats Lack Votes On ‘Robust’ Public Option For Healthcare
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) drive for a public option in healthcare reform ran into turbulence Thursday when a survey of her caucus showed she needs more votes to pass such a bill (The Hill).

Healthcare For Christmas: Reid Under Pressure To Go Slow
The healthcare reform debate will be pushed deep into December and possibly beyond by a lengthy floor debate, several senators predicted Thursday (The Hill).

Democrats Push To End Insurers Antitrust Exemption
In the ongoing health care overhaul drama, the Obama administration and the health insurance industry have gone from uneasy allies to bitter adversaries. One result is that health insurers stand to lose a privilege their industry has enjoyed for the past 64 years: They, like Major League Baseball, have been exempt from federal antitrust laws. Congressional Democrats are now pushing to strip the health insurance industry of that exemption (NPR).

WellPoint Attacks Health Legislation
WellPoint Inc., the nation’s largest health insurer by members, is striking out against proposed health-overhaul legislation with new data it presented to members of Congress Thursday (The Wall Street Journal).

In Massachusetts, Obama Won’t Promote State’s Plan
President Obama will travel Friday to Massachusetts, one of only two states to implement a universal health-care program similar to his ambitions for the entire country. But he does not plan to use the trip to make his case for far-reaching reform; he will tout clean energy and raise money for the Democratic governor (The Washington Post).

Accidents Of History Created U.S. Health System
If you want to understand how to fix today’s health insurance system, you’d be smart to look first at how it was born. How did Americans end up with a system in which employers pay for our health insurance? After all, they don’t pay for our groceries or our gas (NPR). 

Sign up to receive this list of First Edition headlines via email. Check out all of Kaiser Health News’ email options including First Edition and Breaking News alerts on our Subscriptions page. 

Earlier this year, a Dutch court issued a default judgment against The Pirate Bay, ordering it to delete certain torrents and block Dutch web surfers from reaching the site. The Pirate Bay’s founders protested the ruling, noting that they had not been properly informed of the case in the first place, and that other items in the lawsuit were highly questionable — including what appeared to be falsified documents submitted by BREIN, the Dutch anti-piracy agency.

The court has now annulled the original default judgment, but the new ruling is basically the same thing. The founders were told to delete torrents and block Dutch surfers from at least part of the site. The court also rejected the claim that the founders do not still own the site, saying they presented no evidence that the site had actually been sold to another entity, or any evidence of who now owned the site. While I still think it’s questionable to force the site to block results of what is really a search engine, there is a point about who owns the site. I recognize why The Pirate Bay has done what it’s done, but it almost feels like they’re trying to be too cute about the ownership issue.

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Kill. Climb. Love. Take down a helicopter from the rooftops. Battle a tank on the streets of a Himalayan village. Get a giant dagger to stab the heart of a millennium-old statue. Climb on a train as it plummets into a crevasse. Save the love of your life from a mass murder. Steal from a Turkish museum. Get betrayed (multiple times). Fight mech-like enemies wielding Gatling guns. Decrypt ancient languages. Solve puzzles. Grab enemies from ledges and throw them in huge, open pits behind you. Take a comrade to safety while under fire. Destroy an armored carrier as it tries to crush you. Sneak around. Fight hordes of enemies. Offer witty remarks on the catastrophical events that happen around you. Carry a man to safety under fire. Jump ahead blind hoping that someone will catch you on the other side. Watch the city unfold around you. Get treasures. Fight evil. Find love.

The above are all things that you can do in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It comes from Naughty Dog, stars the same Nathan Drake and is an action adventure-type game that takes you from Turkey to Borneo and to Himalaya as you search for an ancient treasure, while also fighting a tough opponent.

Sure, the game is completely linear, there are tons of cutscenes that might put some people off and, at certain points, it makes you quickly press Triangle to get s… (read more)