The Quadrant View

Modulaire Group, one of the market leaders across Asia Pacific and Europe specializing in modular services and infrastructure, has reportedly completed the acquisition of Locabox S.r.l., Tecnifor S.p.A, and F.A.E. S.p.A. from shareholders. For the uninitiated, Modulaire Group is a leading business services company across Europe and is reputed to create smart spaces for people to work, learn, and live. The firm has designed its services in a way that’ll help customers find the right space solution for themselves, whatever their requirements. The company operates in close to 25 countries the world over with around 3,400 remote accommodation rooms and 271,000 modular space & portable storage units. Incidentally, Modulaire operates as BUKO Bouw & Winkels, BUKO Bouwsystemen, and BUKO Huisvesting in The Netherlands, Ausco in Australia, Algeco in Europe and Scandinavia, Portacom in New Zealand, Advanté, ProComm, Elliott, and Carter in the United Kingdom, Algeco Chengdong in China, a...

Securitas has acquired Protection One for around MSEK 735 on a debt-free basis. With this deal, Securitas will leverage Protection One’s customized client solutions to better serve its own clientele. Securitas, the globally acclaimed intelligent protective services partner, has made it to the headlines for its proposed interest in acquiring Protection One, the electronic security company based in Germany. As per reports, this takeover is in line with Securitas’s strategy of increasing the scale of its security solutions and electronic security sales to twice the current number, by 2023. The acquisition is also expected to improve the company’s protective services capabilities in Germany. Sources claim that Securitas purchased Protection One for around MSEK 735 (MEUR 72), on a debt-free basis. For the unversed, Protection One is reputed to be a market leader in Germany and deals with electronic security and remote technology-centric security solutions. In 2020, the company’s annual s...

Hyper open cloud provider Rapid.Space has reportedly joined hands with Nexedi KK for its debut in Japan. Incidentally, the company prides itself on holding over 200 points of presence worldwide, including China. With this step, the Europe-based establishment expects to render some of the benefits of its hyper open architecture to Japan. For the unversed, Rapid.Space was created by Amarisoft and Nexedi with the intention of building an open, transparent, and reversible cloud infrastructure transcending international boundaries. The firm aims to be at the top of next-gen cloud computing infrastructure development. Rapid.Space’s hyper open architecture is built from open hardware, open source software, and open services. The company is also reputed to be the member of the Open Compute Project, Euclidia, Gaia-X and EANGTI, and co-founder of the SimpleRAN initiative. Through its new zone in one of most technologically advanced economies worldwide, Rapid.Space plans to offer its flagship ...

Cloud-centric venue management platform iVvy, has reportedly managed to come up with a whopping AUD 7 million (USD 5.4 million) in a pre-IPO investment round. The firm seems to have targeted this amount in a bid to accelerate its growth across Europe and the U.S., in terms of sales and catering software production. iVvy's step for accelerating its growth conveniently comes at a time characteristic of massive change in the hospitality and event management sectors that are focused on finding intuitive ways of progressing in a post-pandemic world. For the unversed, prior to the second quarter of 2022, iVvy also plans to be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. As per sources familiar with the matter, Tony Gandel led Gandel Invest, and Thorney Investment Group, one of the most prestigious private investment groups in Australia, led the pre-IPO round. Both the companies are seemingly rather experienced in lending support to visionary SaaS entrepreneurs and helping them build...

Popular Swiss business unit Syngenta Crop Protection AG has made it to the headlines for confirming its interest in carrying out a proposed transaction with SICIT Group S.p.A., together with Valagro S.p.A.  In accordance, and in consistency with the Letter of Interest that was delivered to the SICIT Group, Valagro and Syngenta have now reportedly obtained access to limited confirmatory due diligence information. If sources are to be believed, both companies are in the process of expediting the review of this information so as to decide whether they plan to go ahead with the proposed tender offer. For the record, the said voluntary tender offer on the SICIT Group is pursuant to Article 102 and 106, fourth paragraph, of the Italian Financial Act. Official reports from the Syngenta Group claim that the firm remains convinced of a potential transaction between Valagro and Syngenta and the SICIT Group. The official press release by the company also claims that the firm will be retain...

Serum Institute of India in its latest statement announced that it was decreasing the cost of its Covishield vaccine to INR 300 per dose. For the record, the vaccine was earlier available to the states at INR 400 per dose. Adar Poonawalla, CEO, SII quoted the move as a philanthropic gesture that will help save the states thousands of crores of funds and will enhance accessibility to the vaccine saving innumerable lives. Serum Institute of India received huge flak last week for the alleged high pricing for its vaccine. The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer responded to the criticism by citing the comparisons between global and country level pricing inaccurate. SII in its explanation cited that the initial global pricing of the vaccine was low as it was based on advanced funding by the countries for at-risk vaccine manufacturing. The pharmaceutical giant also maintained that the initial supply cost of Covishield has been the lowest for all government vaccination programme, includi...

Pfizer’s experimental oral pill to treat COVID-19 may arrive in the market by the end of 2021. Merck signs agreement with 5 Indian generics manufacturers to accelerate the supply of molnupiravir in India and other LMICs. Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, announced the arrival of its experimental oral pill to treat COVID-19 by the end of 2021. Pfizer reportedly began the early-stage clinical trial testing of the new antiviral therapy for coronavirus in March. The drug falls under a class of medicines, protease inhibitors and works by preventing an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate in the human cells. Protease inhibitors are utilized for treatment of other viral pathogens such as hepatitis C and HIV. As per sources familiar with the matter, the drug could be available for distribution across the U.S. by the end of 2021, provided the clinical trials are successful and the FDA approves it. Pfizer is further testing its COVID-19 vaccine in the 6 months to 11-year age group. The pharm...