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Quicksilver Resources is withdrawing its IPO due to the weak prices of natural gas liquids and as it had sold 25 percent of its Barnett Shale holdings to Tokyo Gas Co, writes Reuters. Quicksilver unveiled IPO plans last year, but held back due to weak market conditions.

Reuters – Quicksilver Resources Inc reported a loss for the fifth straight quarter due to weak prices for natural gas liquids, and said it would withdraw the $250 million initial public offering of a master limited partnership (MLP).

The MLP held proved reserves of 430.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent in the Barnett Shale in Texas.

Quicksilver said it was withdrawing the IPO due to the weak prices of natural gas liquids and as it had sold 25 percent of its Barnett Shale holdings to Tokyo Gas Co. ID:nGNXUXSPAa]

Quicksilver unveiled IPO plans for the MLP last year, but held back due to weak market conditions.

Many energy companies have turned to tax-efficient corporate structures called MLPs, which rely on easy access to capital markets to fund growth. Such partnerships are typically made up of assets such as pipelines or long-lived oil and gas fields that generate steady cash flows.

Weak prices for natural gas have weighed on producers for well over a year, prompting them to search for liquids such as propane and crude oil.

However, the prices of oil and natural gas liquids have also dipped in the recent past.

Average realized prices for natural gas liquids, including hedging, fell 36 percent for Quicksilver in the first quarter.

The company’s production fell 5 percent to 357.5 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day (mmcfe/d), led by a sharp drop in its oil and natural gas liquids output. Natural gas production fell slightly.

The company expects second-quarter production to fall further to 282 – 288 mmcfe/d.

Quicksilver said first-quarter production from its operations in the Barnett Shale fell in comparison to the fourth quarter due to decreased capital activity.

Debt-heavy Quicksilver has been looking to rope in outside partners to fund drilling and improve its liquidity position. The oil and gas producer has been looking for other joint venture options in the Barnett Shale as well as in the Horn River basin in British Columbia.

The company said on Tuesday it had amended its credit agreements on April 30, resulting in “a decreased borrowing base, relaxed financial covenants and additional flexibility to support it efforts to reduce leverage.”

The company had $1.6 billion in net debt as of April 30, more than three times its market capitalization of $462.2 million.

Adjusted loss for the first quarter was 4 cents per share. Analysts were expecting the company to post a loss of 1 cent per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net loss was $59.7 million, or 35 cents per share. Net loss in the year-ago period was $212 million, or $1.24 per share. The company said it had restated its results for the year-ago quarter.

Revenue for the quarter fell more than 20 percent to $132.6 million, and missed analysts’ expectations of $147.66 million.

Quicksilver shares, which have fallen 40 percent in the past one year, were down 1 percent on Tuesday at $2.64 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Online food delivery business Foodpanda has raised $20 million to continue expanding its delivery service worldwide. The startup emerged out of Berlin-based accelerator Rocket Internet and this round was led by Investment AB Kinnevik and Phenomen Ventures. Foodpanda is based in Berlin.

VentureBeat – Online food delivery is a competitive space, with numerous startups trying to edge out the competition.

Foodpanda, based in Berlin, has raised $20 million to continue expanding its delivery service around the globe. In the past few months, Foodpanda and its affiliated brand hellofood entered 15 new countries, and it’s now active in 27 different markets. It also released iPhone and Android apps. This funding will fuel that growth and support Foodpanda’s quest to become the dominant global food delivery service.

The company operates like Seamless or GrubHub. Customers enter their city and browse through delivery options in that region. Before ordering, they can check out ratings, estimated delivery time and fees, look through the menu, and then place the order online. The approach is not only convenient for customers, but also helps restaurants increase their sales and distribution.

There is a massive market for the taking here, and Foodpanda is not the only one trying to capitalize on the opportunity. Foodpanda faces competition from fellow food delivery startups Delivery Hero (also based in Berlin) and London-based Just-Eat, which have each raised over $100 million in venture capital. However, these companies are active in 12 and 14 countries respectively, with a focus on Europe. Foodpanda’s focus is on emerging markets in South America, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, and in a statement issued this morning, the company said it is the leading food delivery app in most of these areas.

This financing will support Foodpanda as it adds more restaurants, countries, and customers into its systems. The startup emerged out of Berlin-based accelerator Rocket Internet, and this round was led by Investment AB Kinnevik and Phenomen Ventures. Foodpanda is based in Berlin.

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Apollo Global Management‘s cornerstone investors and two of its founders are selling a slice of their shares, writes Reuters. Cornerstone investors Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which invested a combined $1.2 billion in Apollo in 2007, have each registered to sell stakes currently worth up to $203.4 million, writes Reuters.

Reuters – Apollo Global Management LLC’s (APO.N) cornerstone investors and two of its founders are selling a slice of their shares, demonstrating how going public makes it easier for dealmakers at alternative asset managers to cash out on their holdings.

Cashing out, even in part, can be a sensitive issue among some private equity investors, who pay attention to how much fund managers earn and how they are remunerated because their interests are best aligned when both sides make a lot of money when deals work out. Part of how much fund managers make and their long-term commitment to the firm hinge on their ownership.

Cornerstone investors Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), which invested a combined $1.2 billion in Apollo in 2007, have each registered to sell stakes currently worth up to $203.4 million, a Tuesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed.

Marc Rowan and Joshua Harris, who together with Chief Executive Leon Black founded Apollo in 1990, have registered to sell stakes currently worth up to $120.1 million and $60.1 million respectively, the filing shows.

The stock sales, which in total amount to up to 24.3 million shares or about 6.5 percent of Apollo’s total equity, come as Apollo’s shares ended trading on Tuesday near an all-time high, buoyed by the rising value of its funds and asset sales that have allowed it to boost dividends.

Apollo went public in March 2011, following stock market flotations by peers Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) in 2007 and KKR & Co LP (KKR.N) in 2010. Although its founders face restrictions on when they can sell shares, the initial public offering has made it easier for them to cash out should they wish to do so.

Rowan, 51, and Harris, 48, took $114.5 million apiece in 2012 dividends thanks to their individual 15.8 percent stakes in Apollo.

If their ownership is reduced significantly, they will get less of the profits when deals work out for their investors, though this is not immediately on the horizon as their planned share sales will only reduce their stakes marginally to as low as 14.6 percent and 15.2 percent respectively.

Rowan, Harris, Black and other Apollo employees have committed a combined $1 billion of their own money to the company from its inception through the end of last year.

An Apollo spokesman declined to comment on behalf of Rowan, Harris and the firm.

Still the sales may focus the minds of investors on future share sales. The registration of shares for sale on Tuesday was possible because a two-year lock-up on Apollo’s partners for selling up to 7.5 percent of their equity expired in March 2013. Rowan registered on Tuesday to sell all of the equity he was allowed to do so while Harris used about half of his allowance.

The next lock-up, that applies to 15 percent of the equity, expires in March 2014. Following the expiration of two more lock-ups, Apollo’s dealmakers will be allowed to sell all their stakes by March 2017. Black, who is Apollo’s largest shareholder with a 24.9 percent stake, did not register to sell any of his shares on Tuesday. Nine other Apollo partners and one Apollo director did.

A lock-up also applies to the stakes of ADIA and CalPERS. On Tuesday they each registered to sell up to a quarter of their 8 percent stakes in Apollo. Following the expiration of two more lock-ups by March 2017 they will also be allowed to sell all of their stakes.

Apollo had $114.3 billion of assets under management as of the end of March. Its assets include corporate loans and bonds, private equity investments and real estate holdings.

Rowan and Harris each had an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion as of the end of March, according to Forbes. Black was worth $4.3 billion.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Goldman, Sachs & Co and Morgan Stanley & Co LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. The co-managers for the offering are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital Inc, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc, UBS Securities LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Apollo Global Securities LLC.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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China Mengniu to pay $410 mln for stake in KKR’s Modern Dairy
China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd‘s deal to buy a $410 million stake in China’s largest unpasteurised milk producer is a strategic move to rebuild trust after a series of scandals left local brands’ reputations in tatters, writes Reuters. Mengniu said on Wednesday it would buy 26.92 percent of China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd from private equity firms KKR & Co LP and CDH Investments.

Reuters – China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd’s deal to buy a $410 million stake in China’s largest unpasteurised milk producer is a strategic move to rebuild trust after a series of scandals left local brands’ reputations in tatters.

Mengniu, twice hit by accusations it sold tainted milk, said on Wednesday it would buy 26.92 percent of China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd from private equity firms KKR & Co LP and CDH Investments. The deal will lift Mengniu’s stake in China Modern to about 28 percent.

For Mengniu, whose liquid milk products rank first in China by sales volume, the purchase is an attempt to ensure control over its milk supplies and win confidence among consumers in a market that is growing at about 20 percent a year.

For KKR, the storied New York private equity firm, the deal is another lucrative transaction following its relatively late arrival in Asia in 2007. After Modern Dairy’s 2010 IPO and the current deal, KKR will have almost tripled its original investment, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

“It is a deal which benefits all parties, of which the private equity funds are seen to be the biggest winner,” Sunwah Kingsway Group Research analyst Steve Chow said.

“Chinese dairy products makers are racing to secure reliable and high-quality raw milk sources, in particular from overseas.”

Mengniu’s main competitor, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, has gone overseas to secure quality milk. It was granted approval to build an infant milk formula plant in New Zealand last month.

DISCOUNT MILK

Headquartered in China’s eastern province of Anhui, Modern Dairy sells almost all its raw milk products to Mengniu.

The HK$2.45 per share purchase price is a 12.1 percent discount to Modern Dairy’s previous closing price – a rarity in M&A where acquisitions usually come with a roughly 25 percent premium.

Modern Dairy’s share price has soared since the end of last year, from HK$2 to HK$2.79 at Tuesday’s close. Speculation about talks between Mengniu and Modern Dairy first surfaced in last August.

“The increase of Mengniu’s stake in Modern Dairy is to secure both quality and quantity of raw milk sources,” Sun Yiping, chief executive officer of Mengniu said in a press release.

Shares in Modern Dairy fell nearly 12 percent to HK$2.46 on Wednesday, while Mengniu Dairy’s stock rose 1.6 percent. The Hang Seng index was 0.62 percent higher in intra-day trade.

Standard Chartered said in a research note that part of KKR’s rationale for accepting a discount was to build a long-term relationship with COFCO, the state-owned enterprise which is the top shareholder in China Mengniu.

In addition, KKR has already earned a “quite reasonable” return on its investment, the bank added.

KKR and China-focused private equity firm CDH bought stakes in Modern Dairy after the country’s milk industry was battered by a 2008 scandal involving chemical-laced products. KKR paid $150 million in cash for a 34.5 percent stake, which it sold down to 24 percent after Mengniu’s 2010 IPO. CDH paid $50 million for its holding.

Mengniu was one of about 20 companies implicated in that scandal, when the lacing of milk with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 people. The company now says that enhancing the quality of its milk supplies is a key focus for management.

Mengniu teamed up with Danish-Swedish dairy group Arla Foods in June last year to develop dairy products in China, in another bid to regain consumer confidence.

But late last year Mengniu apologised after a government quality watchdog found that some of its products contained aflatoxin, a substance produced by food fungus that can cause severe liver damage, including liver cancer.

It is not alone in facing quality-control problems. China’s Bright Dairy & Food Co Ltd recalled batches of sour milk in September last year after it received hundreds of customer complaints, while Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group recalled baby formula tainted with “unusual” levels of mercury in June.

China’s dairy market is still relatively young, with consumption of dairy products growing at an annual compound rate of 20 percent, a stark contrast to U.S. and European markets where demand has been shrinking in the past decade.

STOCKSM&AMARKETSMUTUAL FUND CENTERET

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Octopus has led a 2 million pound ($3.1 million) investment round into TrialReach, an online platform that is transforming clinical trials by connecting patients with healthcare companies and research organisations to make new treatments available more quickly and efficiently. Octopus is investing alongside existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, which first invested in TrialReach in 2011.

PRESS RELEASE

Octopus today announced that it has led a £2 million investment round into TrialReach, an online platform that is transforming clinical trials by connecting patients with healthcare companies and research organisations to make new treatments available more quickly and efficiently. Octopus is investing alongside existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, which first invested in TrialReach in 2011.

Founded in 2010, TrialReach has successfully developed its ground-breaking platform and already helped thousands of patients access new treatments worldwide.

TrialReach’s platform provides details of over 70,000 clinical trials that are currently authorised and regulated by health authorities. Information on each clinical trial is provided in a clear and simple way to enable patients and their families to explore and compare all available options and make informed decisions.

Alliott Cole, a Principal on the Ventures team at Octopus, said: “We are really excited to be partnering TrialReach at this stage of its development. The team has created a unique platform that has the ability to improve the efficiency of medical research, by making it easier for people to explore, understand and access the latest clinical trials. Data shows that finding the required number of patients delays the vast majority of clinical trials. TrialReach offers a fantastic solution to a problem that the pharmaceutical industry is only going to find more challenging as it looks to recruit patients for clinical trials to support drug development.

“We look forward to working with the team as they develop the business to address what is a global market opportunity.”

Working closely with clinical trial organisations, TrialReach’s unique approach combines proprietary search technology, new and exclusive content and communication channels between patients and physicians to make clinical trials easy to find, easy to understand and easy to access.

Commenting on the successful fundraising, Pablo Graiver, CEO of TrialReach, said: “It’s a huge endorsement of our technology and vision to secure this investment from Octopus and we are delighted to have them on board, alongside the continuing support of Amadeus. Together, Octopus and Amadeus bring valuable experience of growing technology companies combined with sector knowledge to help us achieve our ambitious business goals. The funding will help us develop our products further and launch new solutions that we have in the pipeline, all with the consistent view of helping patients and medical organisations make clinical research more efficient. The industry is crying out for innovation and effective solutions to support a growing research market.

“We are especially pleased that we have managed to secure this investment at a time when funding is hard to obtain and reserved only for the best technology companies. The work now really starts, as we look to radically improve information, access and efficiencies in the clinical trials industry, worldwide.”

-Ends-
For further information, please contact:

Georgina Turner, PR, Octopus Rachel Turner, PR, TrialReach
0207 776 7968 07985 805805
[email protected] [email protected]

About the ventures team at Octopus Investments
The ventures team at Octopus are straight talking human investors that back talented people rather than specific sectors. We focus on identifying fast growth businesses which can scale explosively to create, transform or dominate an industry. We can invest from £250,000 to £5 million and prefer to partner teams based in the UK.

The work of our ventures team is supported by access to the Octopus Venture Partners, a network of approximately 100 outstanding business leaders, entrepreneurs and private investors providing an invaluable wealth of expertise and resource for our portfolio companies, as well as investing on a deal-by-deal basis alongside Octopus venture funds. This blend of knowledge and skill has allowed us to help many great companies across several sectors thrive in recent years including Zoopla; Graze.com; SwiftKey; and, Secret Escapes.

About Octopus Investments
Founded in 2000, Octopus is one of the UK’s fastest growing investment management companies. We currently manage £3 billion assets on behalf of 50,000 customers. We offer a straight-talking approach to investments, exceptional customer service and a range of products that do what they say they will.

Working closely with over 3,000 financial advisers and wealth managers, often via strategic partnerships, we provide tax efficient investment solutions and discretionary fund management services to retail investors. Our core products include a range of venture capital trusts, enterprise investment schemes, inheritance tax services and a discretionary fund management solution.

We focus on areas of the market that are inefficient and where we believe hard work pays off for our customers. Our four areas of investment expertise are: ventures; specialist finance; smaller companies; and multi manager. We have dominant or high-growth positions in all of these markets, and invest into some of the UK’s most dynamic smaller companies, providing a wide range of funding options for exceptional businesses.

Over the last decade, Octopus has won a number of awards for its customer-driven product design and services. We’ve twice been voted one of the best 100 SMEs to work for, we’re one of only two investment firms to have ever been rated AAA for service by Citywire, and in November 2012 we were awarded the Financial Adviser 5 Star Award for quality service from investment product providers.

For more information visit www.octopusinvestments.com

About TrialReach
TrialReach is an online platform that is transforming clinical trials by connecting patients with research organisations to make new treatments available quicker and more efficiently. For patients, TrialReach provides clear, simple information and its extensive database gives people access to the latest trials available, worldwide, to make informed choices and compare options. For research organisations TrialReach provides an innovative way to reach patients more efficiently, tools to action referrals and monitor enrolment, and real-time data to improve trial design. Launched in 2010 and based in London, UK, TrialReach is fast-growing. The company has secured funding of nearly £2.9 million.

About Amadeus
Amadeus Capital Partners is one of Europe’s leading technology investors. Since its inception in 1997, the firm has raised over £500m for investment and backed more than 85 companies in communications and networking hardware and software, cleantech, medtech, computer hardware and software, media, and e-commerce. Major businesses built by Amadeus include CSR plc (LSE:CSR), the leading producer of single chip bluetooth radios for short range connections, Solexa Ltd, the developer of next generation genetic analysis systems, merged into Illumina, Inc. (ILMN) to create the world-leader in gene-sequencing technology and Transmode, a networking solutions business, which had an over-subscribed IPO on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm in 2011.

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MaRS Discovery District has appointed Salim Teja as managing director of its ICE sector programs. Teja will provide strategic direction and leadership for the ICE practice, where over 60 seasoned volunteer advisors guide and mentor more than 370 early stage ventures.

PRESS RELEASE

MaRS Discovery District is pleased to announce the appointment of Salim Teja as Managing Director of its ICE sector programs.

“Salim Teja is highly respected and the ideal leader to take MaRS’ growing ICE practice to the next level,” said Ilse Treurnicht, CEO, MaRS Discovery District. “With his unique, extensive experience as an entrepreneur and investor, and as an executive leading sales, business development and operations in high-growth tech businesses, Salim will help accelerate the impressive gains of our startup clients in Canada and around the world.”

Teja will provide strategic direction and leadership for the ICE practice, where over 60 seasoned volunteer advisors guide and mentor more than 370 early-stage ventures. In this role, Teja will also be responsible for the MaRS Commons, a 5,500-square-foot co-working space for entrepreneurs in the ICE sector, which will expand in the coming months. He will provide direction to MaRS’ JOLT accelerator for high-growth Canadian web and mobile companies, and oversee entrepreneurship initiatives with academic partners and MaRS Innovation in the ICE arena. He will lead corporate and venture capital engagement, as well as oversee MaRS’ expanding international collaborations in the ICE sector.

“I am very excited to join the MaRS team and contribute to the growth strategy for one of the world’s leading urban innovation hubs,” said Teja. “I am looking forward to working closely with talented entrepreneurs and the MaRS community to help drive innovation and build market-leading companies.”

ICE is one of four practice areas in which MaRS supports high-growth startups. Over the past three years, these startups have collectively raised over $500 million in capital, earned nearly $300 million in revenue and created over 2,600 new knowledge economy jobs.

Salim Teja

Salim Teja is an experienced entrepreneur and active early-stage technology investor, with deep industry expertise in software and digital media. He joins MaRS from Indigo Books & Music, where, as Vice President of Corporate Development, he drove the formation of the company’s Digital Innovation Lab. Prior to Indigo, Teja held the position of Chief Operating Officer at CX Digital, a leading online ad network.

He has also held roles as COO of b5media and Partner with early-stage VC firm Brightspark Ventures, where he was the driving force behind investments, including Radian6 (recently acquired by Salesforce.com). Teja was also Co-Founder and Vice President of Sales and Business Development for San Francisco-based MobShop Inc., a pioneer in online group-buying funded by GE Capital, Visa International, Mayfield Fund and Marc Andreessen. He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business.

About MaRS
 MaRS Discovery District (@MaRSDD) is a mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto. MaRS works with partners to catalyze, accelerate and amplify innovation. MaRS supports entrepreneurs building Canada’s next generation of growth companies. In 2013, MaRS will open its Phase 2 building, which will more than double the size of its current facilities to over 1.5 million square feet.

SOURCE MaRS Discovery District

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Ashford Hospitality Trust has signed an agreement to acquire the 142-room Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa in Key West, Florida, for a total consideration of $90 million in cash. Ashford intends to fund the entire purchase price with cash on hand.

PRESS RELEASE

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the 142-room Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa in Key West, Florida, for total consideration of $90 million in cash ($634,000 per key). Ashford intends to fund the entire purchase price with cash on hand. The acquisition is expected to close within the next 15 days.

The purchase price of $90 million represents a trailing 12-month cap rate of 6.2% on net operating income and an EBITDA yield of 7.0%. On a forward 12-month basis, the purchase price represents a cap rate of 7.6% on net operating income and an EBITDA yield of 8.5%, which equates to an 11.8x forward EBITDA multiple. In 2012, the hotel achieved RevPAR of $275, with occupancy of 83% and an Average Daily Rate of $333.

At the closing of the acquisition, Ashford intends to replace the property manager with Remington Lodging. Remington currently manages three hotels in Key West. These include the Southernmost House, Inn at Key West and the Crowne Plaza La Concha Hotel which is also owned by Ashford Hospitality Trust.

“We are very pleased to announce this acquisition of a very high quality hotel in a great market like Key West,” said Monty J. Bennett, Ashford’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Aside from being the nation’s 2nd highest RevPAR market, Key West has not seen any new competitive supply in the last 17 years given that the Rate of Growth Ordinance “ROGO,” presently sets extremely high barriers to any new hotel development in Monroe County. In particular, the Pier House Resort offered us a very unique opportunity, given its recent renovation, its prime location in Key West, and the significant operational synergies with Remington’s existing presence in that market.”

The Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa was built in 1968. It has 142 rooms including 119 guest rooms and 23 suites. The hotel has 40 waterfront facing rooms and suites, and standard guestrooms average 325 square feet, while the 23 suites average 710 square feet. Additionally, the hotel offers 2,600 square feet of meeting space, a 10,000 square foot spa with 10 treatment rooms, three food and beverage outlets including al fresco dining at HarborView Cafe and the renowned Chartroom bar, a full-service fitness facility and private dock for charter pick-ups. The hotel is located at the northern end of Duval Street in the heart of Key West on a 6-acre compound with a private beach and immediate access to the Gulf of Mexico. Ashford expects to incur minimal expenses related to capital improvements given a $12 million dollar renovation recently completed at the property.

Ashford is a self-administered real estate investment trust focused on investing in the hospitality industry across all segments and at all levels of the capital structure.

Certain statements and assumptions in this press release contain or are based upon “forward-looking” information and are being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. When we use the words “will likely result,” “may,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “should,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” or similar expressions, we intend to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the timing for closing, the impact of the transaction on our business and future financial condition, our business and investment strategy, our understanding of our competition and current market trends and opportunities and projected capital expenditures. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside Ashford’s control.

These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation: general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of our common stock; changes in our business or investment strategy; availability, terms and deployment of capital; availability of qualified personnel; changes in our industry and the market in which we operate, interest rates or the general economy; and the degree and nature of our competition. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in Ashford’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. EBITDA is defined as net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA yield is defined as trailing twelve month EBITDA divided by the purchase price. EBITDA multiple is defined as the purchase price divided by the annual EBITDA. A capitalization rate is determined by dividing the property’s annual net operating income by the purchase price. Net operating income is the property’s funds from operations minus a capital expense reserve of either 4% or 5% of gross revenues. Funds from operations (“FFO”), as defined by the White Paper on FFO approved by the Board of Governors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) in April 2002, represents net income (loss) computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), excluding gains (or losses) from sales of properties and extraordinary items as defined by GAAP, plus depreciation and amortization of real estate assets, and net of adjustments for the portion of these items related to unconsolidated entities and joint ventures.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only made as of the date of this press release. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances, changes in expectations or otherwise.

SOURCE Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.

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Atlas Pipeline has closed on its previously announced purchase of TEAK Midstream, a private midstream company. Final cash consideration for TEAK totaled $1.0 billion, subject to working capital and other adjustments contemplated by the purchase and sale agreement.

PRESS RELEASE

Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: APL) (“APL”, “Atlas Pipeline”, or the “Partnership”) announced today that the Partnership has closed on its previously announced purchase of TEAK Midstream, L.L.C. (“TEAK Midstream” or “TEAK”), a private midstream company. The effective date of the acquisition was April 1, 2013. Final cash consideration for TEAK totaled $1.0 billion, subject to working capital and other adjustments contemplated by the Purchase and Sale Agreement.

Eugene Dubay, Chief Executive Officer of the Partnership, commented, “As I mentioned in the initial announcement, we are very excited about this acquisition of TEAK Midstream. This is the right entry point into the Eagle Ford with the right infrastructure and with tremendous future growth potential. After successfully executing organic growth across all of our legacy systems, we look forward to doing the same with our new Eagle Ford assets.”

Upon the closing of this transaction, the Partnership will own 100% of the following TEAK assets:

200 MMcfd of cryogenic processing capacity (“Silver Oak I”);
A second 200 MMcfd cryogenic processing facility to be in service in the first quarter of 2014 (“Silver Oak II”);
265 miles of primarily 20″ to 24″ gathering and residue lines with 750 MMcfd of throughput capacity; and
275 miles of low pressure gathering lines
Additionally, the Partnership has acquired a 50%-75% interest in various joint venture agreements that currently exist between TEAK and TexStar Midstream Services, L.P. The Partnership will be the operator of the joint venture assets following the transaction, which include:

235 miles of pipeline, including rich gas gathering, header, and residue pipelines;
3 miles of NGL pipeline; and
A Co-Gen facility, which will produce power for the Silver Oak complex as well as the ability to sell power to third-parties and back to the grid during peak season
The Silver Oak processing complex is expected to expand in early 2014 by installing a new 200 MMcfd facility, the Silver Oak II plant, and potentially expand further thereafter by adding an additional 200 MMcfd facility. Any expansions will be 100% owned and operated by Atlas Pipeline.

This acquisition was funded with proceeds from the Partnership’s recent issuance of 11,845,000 common limited partner units as well as a $400 million issuance of Class D convertible preferred units, with the remainder financed through the Partnership’s revolving credit facility. The Partnership intends to issue long term senior unsecured notes which will be utilized to reduce the level of borrowings under the revolving credit facility as part of the Teak Midstream transaction.

Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: APL) is active in the gathering and processing segments of the midstream natural gas industry. APL owns and operates 14 active gas processing plants, 18 gas treating facilities, as well as approximately 10,600 miles of active intrastate gas gathering pipeline in its core focus areas, which include the Mississippi Lime play in Oklahoma and southern Kansas, the Woodford Shale in southeastern Oklahoma, the Permian Basin in western Texas, Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas, as well as gathering operations in the Barnett Shale in east Texas and Chattanooga Shale in Tennessee,. APL also has a 20% interest in West Texas LPG Pipeline Limited Partnership, which is operated by Chevron Corporation. For more information, visit the Partnership’s website at www.atlaspipeline.com or contact [email protected].

Atlas Energy, L.P. (NYSE: ATLS) is a master limited partnership which owns and operates the general partner of its midstream oil & gas subsidiary, Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P., through all of the general partner interest, all the incentive distribution rights and an approximate 9% limited partner interest. Additionally, Atlas Energy owns all of the general partner Class A units and incentive distribution rights and an approximate 43% limited partner interest in its upstream oil & gas subsidiary, Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. For more information, please visit the Partnership’s website at www.atlasenergy.com, or contact Investor Relations at [email protected].

Certain matters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statements. Although Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Atlas Pipeline does not undertake any duty to update any statements contained herein (including any forward-looking statements), except as required by law. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include general industry considerations, regulatory changes, changes in commodity process and local or national economic conditions and other risks detailed from time to time in Atlas Pipeline’s reports filed with the SEC, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and annual reports on Form 10-K.

Contact: Matthew Skelly Vice President Investor Relations 1845 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (877) 950-7473 (215) 561-5692 (facsimile)

SOURCE Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P.

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Alacrita, a life sciences consulting firm, has aggregated the life science practices of two consulting firms and appointed Simon Turner as partner. Alacrita is taking on the business of Canopus, a specialist life science consulting firm founded by Dr. Turner, which recently acquired the life sciences consulting business of Transentia, which focussed on the commercialisation of early-stage technology.

PRESS RELEASE

Alacrita, the transatlantic life sciences consulting firm, has aggregated the life science practices of two consulting firms and appointed Simon Turner PhD FRSC as Partner. Alacrita is taking on the business of Canopus, a specialist life science consulting firm founded by Dr. Turner, which recently acquired the life sciences consulting business of Transentia, which focussed on the commercialisation of early-stage technology.

The move consolidates Alacrita’s position as a leading life science consulting firm and expands the firm’s partnership to more effectively serve its growing roster of transatlantic clients. Simon has over two decades of experience managing and advising on strategic and product development issues in the life science industry. Over the past ten years, Simon has focused on commercialisation of life science technologies as entrepreneur, executive, venture capital investor and advisor. In 2000, Simon became Chief Executive of Biotica Technology, a venture-capital backed drug-discovery company, which he led for five years. He has since been involved as investor and advisor to biotechnology companies in two investment firms and more recently through Canopus. He gained extensive strategic management consulting experience in life sciences whilst working at Arthur D Little and Andersen Consulting.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Simon Turner said “I am delighted to be joining Alacrita at an exciting stage in its evolution. There are tremendous synergies between our two businesses, in particular, Alacrita’s focus on expertise-based consulting through its network of senior consultants with deep expertise and many years of industry experience. Alacrita has consistently demonstrated its ability to deliver real value to sophisticated life science companies and investors who have needed to supplement their internal capability. I look forward to serving the firm’s expanding base of clients and building the business into a top tier consulting firm.”

Rob Johnson, Partner at Alacrita, said: “We are delighted to welcome Simon to the Alacrita partnership. He is a very experienced management consultant and his strategic insight is rooted in reality, having first-hand experience of leading a biotech company as CEO of Biotica. He has deep and broad technological knowledge of the life science industry and a sound understanding of the challenges faced by senior management. His appointment represents an exciting development for our business and underlines our commitment to providing exceptionally high quality advice to the industry.”

Anthony Walker, Partner at Alacrita, added: “Alacrita’s consulting practice has been growing on both sides of the Atlantic, and Simon joining the partnership reinforces our capacity to grow further. On a personal note, I have known and worked with Simon at various times over many years, and it is a real pleasure to welcome him to Alacrita.”

Notes to Editors

About Alacrita

Alacrita is a rapidly growing management consulting firm providing expertise-based services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life science sectors. The firm is supported by an unrivalled network of experts who operate across the spectrum of life sciences. They combine extensive international industry experience (strategic, technical and commercial), broad functional capabilities and a track record of success across the industry.

Since inception, Alacrita has completed successful consulting projects for big pharma, biotech companies, life science investors, academia and government bodies. Alacrita operates out of offices in London UK and Cambridge MA, USA.

Alacrita UK: London BioScience Innovation Centre 2 Royal College Street London, NW1 0NH Tel: +44-207-691-4915 http://www.alacritaconsulting.com

Alacrita US: One Broadway, 14th floor Kendall Square Cambridge, MA 02142 Tel: +1-617-758-4119

For further information, please contact:

Rob Johnson or Anthony Walker at Alacrita +1-781-249-3324 or +44-771-3402-771

SOURCE Alacrita

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Takeda is to acquire Inviragen for an upfront payment of US$35 million, and future payments of up to US$215 million linked to the progress of clinical development and achievement of key commercial milestones. Headquartered in Fort Collins, CO, with facilities in Madison, WI and Singapore, Inviragen is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company specializing in research and development of innovative vaccines for emerging infectious diseases, including dengue and hand, foot and mouth disease.

PRESS RELEASE

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) and Inviragen, Inc. (“Inviragen”) jointly announced today that Takeda, its wholly owned subsidiary Takeda America Holdings, Inc., and Inviragen, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement for Takeda to acquire Inviragen for an upfront payment of US$35 million, and future payments of up to US$215 million linked to the progress of clinical development and achievement of key commercial milestones. Headquartered in Fort Collins, CO, with facilities in Madison, WI and Singapore, Inviragen is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company specializing in research and development of innovative vaccines for emerging infectious diseases, including dengue and hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

“Takeda has taken another major step toward its goal of establishing a world-class global vaccine business by acquiring Inviragen and its advanced vaccine candidate against dengue, a serious mosquito-borne illness that threatens nearly half of the world’s population,” said Rajeev Venkayya, M.D., executive vice president and head of Takeda’s Vaccine Business Division. “Today’s announcement reinforces Takeda’s commitment to develop innovative vaccines to fight some of the world’s most important infectious diseases.”

Inviragen has created innovative products using its expertise in viral vaccines. The company’s lead candidate, DENVax, is a four-strain recombinant viral vaccine for the prevention of dengue infection. An administration schedule of two doses of DENVax over 90 days is currently being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical trials. In addition to DENVax, Inviragen’s pipeline contains a vaccine candidate to protect against hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71), which has completed Phase 1 clinical testing. Inviragen has also developed a recombinant vaccine candidate to protect against chikungunya, currently in preclinical development.

“The acquisition of Inviragen supports Takeda’s overall research and development programs, long-term growth strategy and commitment to improve health through innovation and new technology,” said Tadataka Yamada, M.D., Takeda’s chief medical and scientific officer and member of the Takeda board of directors. “Coming less than a year after the acquisition of LigoCyte with the world’s leading norovirus vaccine candidate, this illustrates Takeda’s commitment to its global vaccine business and global public health.”

Dengue is the most important mosquito-borne viral illness in the world, and is one of four World Health Organization (WHO) future vaccine priorities. It is estimated that about 400 million people worldwide are infected by the dengue virus each year, of which nearly 100 million develop clinical illness. Approximately 500,000 people are hospitalized and 20,000, mostly children, die from severe complications such as hemorrhagic fever. Currently there are only symptomatic treatments available for dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever, and the only means of prevention is through mosquito control. The number of reported symptomatic dengue infections has increased 30-fold in the past 50 years, and the global footprint of dengue is expanding. HFMD epidemics occur annually throughout the Asia Pacific region, with millions of cases reported yearly since 2010. Chikungunya, which is a mosquito-transmitted virus, has produced epidemics in Africa, India, Asia and Europe. There are no specific treatments or cures for dengue, HFMD or chikungunya. Takeda will work with governments and international organizations to ensure that these vaccines reach the populations that need them around the world.

“This acquisition combines Inviragen’s expertise in viral vaccine research and development and our extensive worldwide network of preclinical and clinical collaborators with Takeda’s resources, product development expertise, and global reach. Together we are well-positioned to bring these promising vaccine candidates to the market,” said Dan Stinchcomb, Ph.D., Inviragen’s chief executive officer. “Inviragen is pleased to become a part of a leading pharmaceutical company that is so strongly committed to developing vaccines that can improve public health worldwide.”

Beyond the substantial expansion of Takeda’s vaccine pipeline, this acquisition will enhance Takeda’s core vaccine R&D capabilities with Inviragen’s vaccine development center in Singapore, in one of the regions where Inviragen’s vaccines will have the greatest impact. “Inviragen has made significant progress in developing key vaccines for emerging infectious diseases in Asia and worldwide, with active support from its international investor base,” said Swee–Yeok Chu, CEO & President EDBI, a strategic investment firm headquartered in Singapore and a major Inviragen investor. “Takeda is an excellent partner to bring these important vaccines to the next stage of development.”

To preserve continuity and build upon Inviragen’s success, Takeda will integrate the Inviragen team into Takeda’s Vaccine Business Division. Pending the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to close in the next few weeks.

Key Strategic Benefits

Takeda expects the acquisition of Inviragen will:

Enable Takeda to develop a highly-promising vaccine against dengue, which the World Health Organization calls “the most important mosquito-borne viral disease in the world.”
Grow Takeda’s product pipeline with vaccine candidates that protect against HFMD and chikungunya.
Expand Takeda’s current technical capabilities, which include virus-like particle and cell culture technologies, with Inviragen’s live-virus and inactivated virus vaccine capabilities.
Contribute to Takeda’s overall research and development programs, long-term growth strategy and commitment to improve the health of people and communities everywhere.
Acquisition Summary

Acquiring companies: Takeda America Holdings, Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
Shareholders of Inviragen, Inc.: EDBI, Charter Life Sciences, Venture Investors, and Phillip Private Equity
Payment: Cash
Number of fully diluted common and preferred stock equivalent to common outstanding shares: 39,035,439
Acquisition amount: US$35 million
In addition to this acquisition amount, the deal consideration includes with future contingent consideration based on the progress of development projects and commercial milestones up to US$215 million.
Planned date of completion: Pending the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to close within 14 days.
Legal advisor to Takeda: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Financial advisor to Inviragen: Torreya Partners LLC
Legal advisor to Inviragen: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Profile of Inviragen Inc.:

Corporate Name: Inviragen, Inc.
Headquarters: Fort Collins, CO, U.S.A.
Wholly owned subsidiary: Inviragen (Singapore) Pte.Ltd., Singapore
Representative: Dr. Dan Stinchcomb, Co-founder and CEO
Year of establishment: 2005
Common Stock Equity: US$777
Additional Paid-in Capital: US$1,979,995
Shares: Non-listed
Number of employees: Approximately 50 employees.
Relationship with Takeda: No matters to report regarding capital, personal and transactional relationship between Takeda and Inviragen.
The impact from this acquisition on Takeda’s consolidated financial statements of fiscal 2013 is expected to be minimal.

About Dengue Fever Nearly half of the world’s population live in countries that have frequent dengue outbreaks. The four dengue viruses (DEN‐1, DEN‐2, DEN‐3 and DEN‐4) are spread by the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which is found throughout tropical and subtropical regions. Recent estimates suggest that dengue viruses cause approximately 100 million cases of clinical illness and over 2 million cases of severe dengue disease leading to more than 20,000 deaths every year. For more information on dengue fever, please refer to the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dengue Vaccine Initiative (DVI) web sites.

About Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) Hand, foot and mouth disease is a disease common in children throughout the world and is endemic in the Asia Pacific region where its incidence has been increasing steadily over the past two decades. Although the disease is typically of short duration, there has been an increase in severe HFMD cases associated with EV71. HFMD epidemics have been reported in most Asian countries, particularly Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China.

About Chikungunya and the CHIKV Virus Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) is transmitted via mosquito and can cause fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, rash and joint pain in those infected. Approximately 30% of patients showing clinical signs experience incapacitating joint pain, or arthritis that may persist for weeks, months, or in some cases years. On rare occasions, CHIKV infection may lead to neurologic and hepatic disease with high illness and mortality rates. CHIKV is considered endemic in 34 countries in Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa.

About Inviragen, Inc. Inviragen is focused on developing vaccines to protect against infectious diseases worldwide. Inviragen’s vaccine to protect against dengue fever is in Phase 2 clinical testing. A vaccine designed to protect children from hand, foot and mouth disease has completed Phase 1 clinical testing. Vaccines to protect against chikungunya and Japanese encephalitis, which affect millions of individuals in Asia, are in development. Vaccines in preclinical research stages include vaccines to protect against new forms of influenza and a combination plague/smallpox vaccine for biodefense. Founded in 2005 with offices in Colorado, Wisconsin and Singapore, Inviragen’s investors include EDBI (through Bio*One Capital, Singapore), Charter Life Sciences (Sunnyvale, CA), Venture Investors (Madison, WI), and Phillip Private Equity (Singapore). See www.inviragen.com for more details.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to strive towards better health for patients worldwide through leading innovation in medicine. Additional information about Takeda is available through its corporate website, www.takeda.com.

Takeda’s Vaccine Business Division Takeda has a proven track record of manufacturing and supplying vaccines in Japan for more than sixty years. Takeda’s global vaccine business division was launched in January 2012 to build upon this success, and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. The company acquired LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals and its norovirus vaccine candidate, as well as its proprietary virus-like particle vaccine platform and several preclinical vaccine candidates in October 2012.

About EDBI EDBI is a leading strategic investment firm headquartered in Singapore with a worldwide presence investing to drive growth opportunities within the knowledge and innovation-intensive sectors of Biomedical Sciences (through its subsidiary Bio*One Capital), Clean Technologies, Internet & Digital Media, as well as key industries in Singapore. As a value adding investor, EDBI creates sustainable and synergistic partnerships with its portfolio companies, leveraging on its extensive networks and experience to facilitate the companies’ growth in Asia and the world, through their operations in Singapore. Please visit: www.edbi.com.

Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact, including plans, strategies and expectations for the future, statements regarding the expected timing of filings and approvals relating to the transaction, the expected timing of the completion of the transaction, the ability to complete the transaction or to satisfy the various closing conditions, future revenues and profitability from or growth or any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Statements made in the future tense, and words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “project,” “continue,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “pro forma,” “intend,” “potential,” “target,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “seek,” “assume,” “will,” “may,” “should,” and similar expressions are intended to qualify as forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by management that are believed to be reasonable, though they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Investors and security holders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or experience to differ materially from that expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Some of these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: required regulatory approvals for the transaction may not be obtained in a timely manner, if at all; the conditions to closing of the transaction may not be satisfied; the transaction may not be consummated; the anticipated benefits of the transaction may not be realized; the transaction could disrupt relationships with employees, licensees, customers and other business partners or governmental entities; future sales could be adversely affected by competition or other factors; and integration costs may exceed current expectations. In addition, the combined business could be adversely affected by industry, economic or political conditions outside of Inviragen’s or Takeda’s control, including general economic conditions in Japan, the United States and worldwide; competitive pressures and developments; applicable laws and regulations; the success or failure of product development programs; actions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; changes in exchange rates; and claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates in development.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and neither Inviragen nor Takeda undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or circumstances after the date of the forward-looking statement. If one or more of these statements is updated or corrected, investors and others should not conclude that additional updates or corrections will be made.

SOURCE Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

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Swiss cloud-storage browser tool Cyberduck 4.3.1 has been released for Mac and Windows. This open-source tool provides users with a user-friendly means of browsing FTP/SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage and Rackspace Cloud Files servers.

Version 4.3.1 builds on the recent 4.3 major update – the program’s first in around 18 months, which improved support for OS X Lion and Mountain Lion, plus expanded support for various services, including S3 and Google Storage. However, support for Dropbox and Google Drive have been dropped alongside Microsoft’s Azure Blob Storage connections.

The Mac build of Cyberduck 4.3.1 gains significant improvements: it adds OS X Mountain Lion Gatekeeper and Notification Center support, enables Application Sandboxing in OS X Lion and Mountain Lion, and extends support to Retina displays.

Two new Bucket locations have been added for S3 servers, namely Sao Paulo (South America) and Sydney (Asia Pacific). Users also gain the ability to set up Qloudstat analytics with a single click across all supported storage providers.

Interoperability with Openstack’s HP Cloud and S3’s Lunacloud Storage has also been implemented alongside website configuration support for Google Storage and Cloudfiles. S3 users gain multi-object delete capabilities, and Cloudfiles users can now edit container metadata. Those connecting to FTP/TLS connections also gain the ability to reuse the Session key on data connection.

A major disappointment, and one which may limit Cyberduck’s appeal to personal users, is the loss of support for both Dropbox and Google Drive storage, presumably due to changes in how each service is accessed.

Version 4.3 also fixed a number of major bugs, including one that caused Cyberduck to hang while editing files in an external editor in OS X 10.8.2. Moving folders no longer deletes the folder in Cloudfiles, while users can now choose Save on Close knowing the changes will be uploaded. Version 4.3.1 added further bug fixes — primarily for Windows users, including one which saw modification dates all being labelled 01.01.1970.

Cyberduck 4.3.1 is available now as a free, open-source download for Windows and Mac. Users are encouraged to donate to the continued development of the software, or can alternatively purchase it for $23.99 through the Mac App Store.

Photo Credit: Dora Zett/Shutterstock

USB keys are compact, highly portable and a very convenient way to store and transfer information.

Unfortunately, they also make it extremely easy for others to copy files from a PC without your knowledge. And they can act as carriers for some very nasty viruses. So if you’d like to restrict their use on your system, you might be interested in the new Ratool.

Launch the program and a simple interface presents you with three main options.

Select “Allow Read Only”, for instance, and users will no longer be able to copy files to a USB key. (Try to do so in Explorer and you’ll be told the drive is “write-protected”).

Or, if you don’t want the system to recognize USB drives at all, then you should select “Disable USB Disks Detection”. Plug in a USB key now and it won’t appear in Explorer, or be accessible to your applications.

And the third option is to “Allow Read & Write”: select this if you want to restore normal operations.

If this is all sounding a little familiar, then you’re right, there are plenty of tools around which do more or less the same thing. But, these tend to work by simply applying a few Registry tweaks, and so it’s not difficult to reverse their effects. All another PC user has to do is download a similar “USB manager” themselves, and they’ll be able to turn off your protection in seconds.

Ratool, meanwhile, will by default “lock” its changes, making them much more difficult to remove. We tried this, and sure enough, once Ratool had set our USB access preferences, three similar tools weren’t able to change them back.

If you really want to be secure, there’s even an option to password-protect the program, preventing other users of your system from launching Ratool and restoring their USB access.

And bonus tools include options to disable autorun, show hidden files on your drive, or safely remove it. Which isn’t bad for a single 363KB executable, with no adware or other marketing annoyances.

On balance, then, Ratool really does deliver something more than the usual USB access control freeware. Try it, see for yourself.

Photo Credit: chien321/Shutterstock