VANCOUVER: Global Care Capital Corp. has announced the appointment of James Foster, a founder of ViraxClear’s joint venture partner Shanghai Biotechnology Devices Inc., to the advisory board. Foster has been a China focused investment, sales and distribution expert in the medical device and pharmaceutical sector over the past 10 years. He founded Natural Source Group…
Global smartphone shipments decline 17 percent in Q1 2020
BOSTON: According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments fell 17 percent annually to reach 275 million units in the first quarter of 2020. This is the smartphone industry’s worst quarterly performance of all time. Samsung maintained first position with 21 percent global smartphone market share, Huawei held steady at 18 percent,…
Origin Energy establishes strategic partnership with Octopus Energy to transform retail business
SINGAPORE: Origin Energy Limited has established a strategic partnership with fast-growing United Kingdom retailer and emerging technology business Octopus Energy to transform its retail operations delivering a radical improvement in customer experience, a material reduction in costs, and opening up future growth opportunities. Origin will acquire a 20 per cent interest in Octopus and a…
Moderna and Lonza announce strategic collaboration to manufacture vaccine against Novel Coronavirus
BASEL, SWITZERLAND: Moderna Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, and Lonza Ltd. have announced a 10-year strategic collaboration agreement to enable larger scale manufacture of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273) against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and additional Moderna products in the future. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to establish manufacturing suites at…
Iberia and Vueling sign syndicated loan agreements
LONDON: International Airlines Group (IAG) announces that IBERIA LÍNEAS AÉREAS DE ESPAÑA S.A. OPERADORA, SOCIEDAD UNIPERSONAL (“Iberia”) and VUELING AIRLINES, S.A. (“Vueling”) have signed syndicated financing agreements for €750 million and €260 million respectively. The banks involved in the syndicated agreement will ask the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) to grant guarantees for these loans…
genedrive plc achieves manufacturing milestones for SARS-CoV-2 test
LONDON: genedrive plc (LON:GDR), the near patient molecular diagnostics company, has completed the last significant manufacturing milestone in the co-development of the Genedrive 96 SARS-CoV-2 kit with Cytiva. The PCR-based test has completed its pilot manufacturing runs and yielded high performing multiplexed assays for COVID-19 testing. The overall project plan currently remains on track and…
Walmart hires 200,000 associates and pays $180 million in early associate bonuses
BENTONVILLE: Donna Morris, Chief People Officer at Walmart made the following announcement: “We’ve seen firsthand our associates’ unwavering focus to take care of customers and members while providing a vital service to communities. In this unprecedented period of time, we have made several commitments focused on our associates and wanted to provide an update on…
Donges Group successfully completes the acquisition of Ruukki Building Systems
MUNICH: Donges Group, a 100% owned portfolio company of the Munich-based turnaround- investor Mutares, has completed the acquisition of Ruukki Building Systems, the Building Systems division of the Finnish Ruukki Construction, a subsidiary of SSAB Group. The transaction was signed in July 2019 and following the approval of the Finnish competition authorities, the transaction was…
Protector Forsikring’s rating revised from stable to negative outlook
OSLO: AM Best has revised the outlook for Protector Forsikring’s Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long Term ICR) of BBB+ from stable to negative. The negative outlook on the Long-Term ICR reflects according to AM Best the deteriorating trend in risk-adjusted capitalisation seen over recent years and the potential for further decline in 2020 due to…
CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp. commences trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
TORONTO: CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp. (formerly KYC Technology Inc.) has commenced trading on the Deutsche Börse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) in Frankfurt, Germany. The Deutsche Börse is the 9th largest stock market in the world, with a market capitalization of $2,339 billion. Last year, it facilitated 1.947 million contracts (as reported in the 2019 Deutsche Börse…
Choom receives retail cannabis licensing for its Olympic Village location in British Columbia
VANCOUVER: Choom, an elevated cannabis company, who has one of the largest national retail networks in Canada, has received the Approved In Principle (AIP) retail cannabis licensing for its Olympic Village location in Vancouver, BC. Corey Gillon, CEO states, “Choom is extremely proud to have secured an AIP retail cannabis license through the BC Liquor…
12 Exploration Inc. agrees to acquire 79North Ltd
TORONTO: 12 Exploration Inc. has signed a binding letter agreement with 79North Ltd. to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of 79North. The Letter Agreement was negotiated at arm’s length and is effective as of April 29, 2020. 12 Exploration Inc. operates as a mineral exploration company. The Company focuses on the acquisition,…