The Quadrant View

Mars, Incorporated, has declared that it has a new mission in mind. The company has strengthened its commitment to accomplish a state of net zero GHG emissions spanning its overall value chain, by the year 2050. Mars’ mission aligns with the prestigious Paris Agreement, one of the most ambitious climate change action plans, that aims to limit global temperature rises up until 1.5 °C. Grant F. Reid, Chief Executive Officer, Mars, has some real-time insights into the present climate change situation. He has been quoted to state that faster initiatives must be taken at this point of time, since climate change is already well on its way to affecting people and to eliminate this threat, net zero targets must be implemented seamlessly, across whole distribution networks and the results must be depicted soon enough, instead of having to waiting for ages. Reid acknowledges the fact that a lot of loopholes exist in some net zero commitments that reduce their credibility and at large, the cli...

Energy and climate solutions leader Munters has reportedly signed a turnkey project agreement entailing the construction of a laboratory in Scandinavia. As per sources, the company plans to design and build a lithium battery laboratory in the Scandinavian region, strengthening its position as a major supplier to lithium battery producers. Munters’ step ahead may be an action initiated in favor of climate change that is increasing the demand for lithium batteries the world over. Munters’ ability to build the unit and its competence to ensure appropriate execution of the construction was a major requirement by the client. As per terms and conditions, the company will deliver the project over the forthcoming six months. The project valuation adds up to around MSEK 83.5. Klas Forsström, President and Chief Executive Officer, Munters, has been quoted to state that with increasing focus being given on minimizing carbon emissions, there’s a strong megatrend of sustainability in the market...

SMArtX, the company specializing in unified managed accounts (UMA), has reportedly declared that it has expanded its turnkey asset management platform. Automation has expanded by leaps and bounds since it has been a game changer in the industrial sector. Numerous companies that are profound players across this market have been consistently on the run, working to develop vital automated solutions to be used across a spate of industries. To that end, the mention of SMArtX Advisory Solutions seems vital, given that the company is a major innovator in the UMA technology space. SMArtX Advisory Solutions is more reputed for having brought to life the SMArtX turnkey asset management platform (‘TAMP’). In what may be construed as a major follow-up, the firm has announced its intention to expand the platform with 19 new strategies. The available number of strategies in total, for September, now stands at over 890. As per sources, the innovator’s consistent growth curve can be attributed to ...

Dutch omnichannel communications platform, Trengo, has reportedly made it to the headlines for having raised USD 36 million in a Series A funding round. A private equity company based out of New York and venture capital firms Peak and Insight Partners led the Series A for Trengo. The amount raised is targeted toward expanding the company’s operations beyond international borders. Additionally, the firm plans to use the funds to expand its talent pool and fuel further development. Patrick Meutzner, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Trengo, has been quoted to state that the company aims to disrupt the business communications platform market. With this funding from the Series A round, Trengo has many more capabilities to fast-track its growth and innovation to help businesses, he says, adding that the Trengo platform raises the standard for team collaboration and excellent consumer service worldwide. As per reliable sources, last year, the technology-driven omnichannel communicatio...

Affirm’s shares rose by 40% after it declared its partnership with Amazon. The deal will help Amazon consumers to split buying costs over $50 into smaller chunks. Following the precedent set by many companies in the e-commerce sector, Amazon is now moving forward to consolidate its position in the ‘buy now, pay later’ space. The company has inked a major partnership deal with platform provider Affirm to officially penetrate the delayed pay arena. As per reports, shares of Affirm soared over 40% post its announcement of a deal with retail giant Amazon. Sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter claim that the e-commerce company’s ‘pay-over-time’ option will be made operational at the time of checkout. This essentially enables consumers of Amazon to split the buying costs of USD 50 or more, into smaller installments on a monthly basis, spread over a longer time period. An official statement by Affirm says that the total buying cost will always be displayed, and customers w...

South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Solutions has reportedly made it to the headlines for having inked a vital contract with the renowned Texas-based company Sunbridge Energy Services. The energy and petrochemical company has announced that Hanwha Cimarron, the tank manufacturer that it recently acquired last year, has signed an important supply contract with Sunbridge Energy Services, aimed at providing storage tanks for CNG (compressed natural gas). The deal has been signed for a price of USD 260 million over a 10-year period, and is targeted at delivering tube trailers comprising numerous vessels for storing CNG as well as hydrogen and other pressurized gases. The trailers are 42 to 45 feet long and retain the capacity to carry 18 Jupiter Tanks manufactured by Hanwha Cimarron. As per reports, each of the Jupiter Tank has a maximum storage capacity of 485 kilograms, while a single tube trailer is able to deliver close to 9 tons of CNG at a time. Jupiter Tank is basically a Type IV co...

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., has reportedly declared that one of its mainstream arms, Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. has signed a supply agreement with Wacker Chemie AG. The long-term deal entails Wacker to supply over 70,000 tons of polysilicon to Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., from September 2021 to December 2026. An official press release claims that Wacker will retain the decided polysilicon capacity for Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., and will supply the same from its units in the United States and Germany. According to sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter, the purchase price is likely to be based on the market price. Mr. Kangping Chen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., said that Wacker, being one of the principal leaders in the global polysilicon market, has always been manufacturing highly superior quality products. Having signed this long-term polysilicon supply deal with Wacker, JinkoSolar has not only ensured that its products will be manufactured from a completel...

Renowned Rhode Island based private equity firm Nautic Partners, LLC has made it to the headlines for its announcement regarding the acquisition of Aurora Plastics, in partnership with management. According to reliable sources, McDermott Will & Emery LLP represented Nautic in the acquisition deal and Carlyle Global Credit and Antares Capital LP led the financing for the same. On the other hand, Reed Smith LLP and William Blair & Company LLC were the advisors for Aurora. Chris Pierce, one of the Managing Directors at Nautic, has been quoted to state that Aurora has a well-experienced management team that has helped to fast-track the company’s growth trajectory since the last many years. Nautic is thrilled to join hands with the firm to lend support to their next growth and innovation phase, he says, adding that it will aim for more acquisitions in Aurora’s fragmented market. Elaborating further, Chris Pierce also said that Nautic is delighted about adding yet another investme...

Nanotech Energy, one of the globally renowned graphene manufacturers, has made it to the headlines for its announcement of a successful Series D funding round. The sole manufacturer of non-flammable, graphene batteries, Nanotech has declared that it has come up with USD 64 million in a Series D funding round at a post-Series D amount of USD 550 million. As per reports, the funding round was led by the biggest financial services firm based in Taiwan, Fubon Financial Holding Co. This round apparently brings the total funding amount raised by Nanotech Energy, to USD 94.9 million so far. The company plans to deploy the funds for expanding their international presence, one of the acts of which includes the launch of its European headquarters in Amsterdam. In addition, Nanotech also plans to use the funds to build a high-volume graphene battery manufacturing unit in Reno, Nevada, slated to be operational in late 2022 and lead to an influx of jobs in Greater Reno market. The company will al...

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...

In a deal worth $550 million, ride sharing firm, Lyft announces sale of its self-driving car unit, Level 5 to Toyota’s subsidiary, Woven Planet. Holdings Inc. As per sources familiar with the matter, Lyft and Toyota, under the deal, will work collaboratively on enhancement of automated driving technology. The deal will reportedly initiate with a payout of $200 million followed by additional payments of $350 million over five years. John Zimmer, Co-founder and President, Lyft, cited that the pact would also help in pulling Lyft’s profitability timeline. The company expects that the transaction would save Lyft $100 million of annual non-GAAP operating expenses. Zimmer further added that Lyft is expecting profitability in Q3 on an adjusted EBITDA basis provided that the deal closes under the targeted timeline that is the third quarter and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues. According to reliable sources, the self-driving division of Lyft will continue to operate in Palo Alt...

American content platform and production company, Netflix has reportedly announced the plans to broaden its existing content programming in India. As per a statement by Reed Hastings, co-founder, Netflix, the firm is focused on getting content fit right in India, currently deemed as a more speculative investment than South Korea and Japan by the firm. As per reliable reports, the streaming entertainment service spent close to Rs.3,000 crore on content programming in India over 2019 and 2020. Under its plans to further increase its investments in the country, the firm rolled out its largest programming schedule with over 40 original titles lined up for debut on the platform over the coming year. In a bid to broaden the user base in India, Netflix is also conducting experiments with regards to subscription charges. Greg Peters, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer at Netflix stated that the company is continuously focusing on finding a set of plan types with right features a...