Frontier Strategy Group Acquires Ducker Worldwide

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 (Bernama) — Information and advisory services partner, Frontier Strategy Group (FSG) is acquiring Ducker Worldwide, a 56-year-old global business-to-business (B2B) research and consulting firm.

FSG, in a statement, said in the short term, each company would continue to operate under its own brand and a holding company, Ducker FSG Holdings, LLC has been formed to manage the combined firms.

The combined company provides unrivalled market research and executive advisory services based on decades of experience supporting the strategic decisions of more than 700 companies.

“Client executives will benefit from the firm’s broader expertise and geographic reach, more robust cloud-based technology platforms, expanded insight into customer behaviour, and award-winning data and analyst insights spanning the B2B, healthcare, consumer, and private equity industries,” it added.

FSG chief executive officer, Richard Leggett said the acquisition was designed to maximise the potential of the combined company to better serve their clients and accelerate growth.

“The demands of growth and forces of change facing multinational company executives and investment professionals get tougher every year.

By bringing together FSG and Ducker’s highly complementary offerings, areas of expertise and global footprint, we can immediately provide a comprehensive set of solutions that address our clients’ global strategic priorities and growth mandates,” he added.

Under the initiative, the combined company is positioned to accelerate growth for clients by developing groundbreaking new products and services to meet the changing needs of multinational executives and investment professionals.

— BERNAMA

Nasdaq, OPCOM Sign New Market Technology Agreement

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (Bernama) — Nasdaq Inc and Romanian electricity and gas market operator (OPCOM) have signed a new market technology agreement for Nasdaq to deliver new matching engine and clearing technology via the Nasdaq financial framework architecture to Romania’s energy market.

Nasdaq, in a statement, said that OPCOM, which stands for Operatorul Pietei de Energie Electrica si Gaze Naturale, would leverage the modular functionality of the framework to offer additional services to their members and clients.

The agreement marks the next chapter in the technology relationship of the two companies which began in 2005.

Nasdaq’s regional manager of market technology for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), James Martin said by running trading and clearing technology on the Nasdaq financial framework, OPCOM could seamlessly build and expand its business and capabilities to the benefit of its clients, partners and investors.

Meanwhile, OPCOM chief executive officer, Victor Ionescu said the partnership has brought added value into Romania’s energy market and strengthened market participant confidence.

“It also greatly contributed to the implementation of a new important legal framework in the energy domain,” added Ionescu.

— BERNAMA

NTT SECURITY AND THREATQUOTIENT PARTNER TO DELIVER THREAT INTELLIGENCE SERVICES

Collaboration will deliver enhanced threat intelligence capabilities to worldwide managed security clients

TOKYO, Feb 15 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NTT Security, the specialized security company of NTT Group, has announced a partnership with ThreatQuotient to broaden its threat intelligence capabilities. ThreatQuotient’s threat intelligence platform (TIP), ThreatQ, will serve as the cornerstone of NTT Security’s new threat intelligence services offering.

The platform’s flexible architecture for aggregating and correlating threat data will enhance NTT Security capabilities for bringing detailed, relevant threat intelligence to NTT Group clients through managed security services around the world.

NTT Security and NTT Group’s operating companies Dimension Data, NTT Communications and NTT DATA, as well as their clients, provide a wealth of visibility into the methods of malicious actors on the internet. Analysts from NTT Security’s Global Threat Intelligence Centers (GTIC) will be using ThreatQ to process this data and turn it into actionable threat intelligence that can benefit its consulting and managed services clients.

ThreatQ will also fully integrate into NTT Security’s Global Managed Security Services Platform (GMSSP). This will enable NTT Security not only to collect data about attacks on client systems and disseminate the resulting threat intelligence to the Advanced Analytics Engine and expert SOC analysts, but also respond to and proactively stop these attacks in real-time. Many of NTT Group’s enterprise clients also have their own in-house threat intelligence capabilities generating data they are willing to share and collaborate with partners. By integrating internal client data with NTT Security’s intelligence within ThreatQ, NTT Security will have more context to better protect the managed systems.

NTT Security will also be using the ThreatQ platform to enhance its consulting services. Many standard security services, such as risk assessments, forensic and incident response engagements, penetration tests and red team engagements, will benefit from threat intelligence that can be applied to existing security processes in a way that allows the data to be used immediately. Additionally, NTT Security provides reputation threat services to help clients understand the threats they are facing. ThreatQ makes it possible to search for contextual threat intelligence that is relevant to each unique industry and organization, and prioritize that intelligence for improved security operations.

“NTT Security’s global managed security services and channel program is exactly the type of model that we strive to be part of as we work to reach more organizations that need deeper support to get a threat intelligence program off the ground, or get more value out of existing strategies,” said Matt McCormick, SVP Business and Corporate Development, ThreatQuotient. “ThreatQuotient is proud to partner with NTT Security to enable more clients to realize the benefits and potential of threat intelligence to accelerate security operations.”

ThreatQ uses the standard STIX/TAXII¹ protocols for communicating threat data to other security devices, which will allow NTT Group’s clients to consume threat intelligence generated by the GTIC. This capability can be used to provide data to a client’s own in-house threat intelligence teams via its own TIP or send it directly to security infrastructure, including Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platforms, ticketing systems, network security devices and endpoints.

Steven Bullitt, Global VP Threat Intelligence and Incident Response at NTT Security, commented: “Our partnership with ThreatQuotient is designed to help NTT Group clients proactively protect themselves based on the real-world threats they face every day. ThreatQ’s built-in integration with many of the leading threat intelligence sources as well as NTT’s own detecting and collecting threat intelligence will also enable us and these clients to get the data we need. Meanwhile, the flexible deployment options for ThreatQ will also help clients who want to build out their own capabilities.”

Having accurate and timely threat intelligence is increasingly important to protect enterprise organizations from sophisticated attackers, but effective threat intelligence is a matter of quality data over sheer quantity. NTT Security’s combination of ThreatQ as an industry-leading TIP, with the extensive experience of the human analysis in the GTIC and the machine learning capabilities of the Advanced Analytics Engine in GMSSP, provides a cutting-edge solution for getting the right information where it needs to be, at the right time.

Notes for editors:

¹ STIX (Structured Threat Information Expression) / TAXII (Trusted Automated Exchange of Indicator Information)

About NTT Security

NTT Security is the specialized security company and the center of excellence in security for NTT Group.  With embedded security we enable NTT Group companies (Dimension Data, NTT Communications and NTT DATA) to deliver resilient business solutions for clients’ digital transformation needs.  NTT Security has multiple SOCs, seven R&D centers, over 1,500 security experts and handles hundreds of thousands of security incidents annually across six continents.

NTT Security ensures that resources are used effectively by delivering the right mix of Managed Security Services, Security Consulting Services and Security Technology for NTT Group companies – making best use of local resources and leveraging our global capabilities.  NTT Security is part of the NTT Group (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), one of the largest ICT companies in the world.  Visit nttsecurity.com to learn more about NTT Security or visit www.ntt.co.jp/index_e.html to learn more about NTT Group.

For sales enquiries, please visit dimensiondata.com, www.ntt.com/en/index.html, www.nttdata.com/global/en/ or speak to your NTT account representative for more information.

About ThreatQuotient

ThreatQuotient™ understands that the foundation of intelligence-driven security is people. The company’s open and extensible threat intelligence platform, ThreatQ™, empowers security teams with the context, prioritization and automation needed to make better decisions, accelerate detection and response and advance team collaboration. Leading global companies use ThreatQ as the cornerstone of their threat operations and management system, increasing security effectiveness and efficiency. ThreatQuotient is headquartered in Northern Virginia with European operations based out of the UK and France. For more information, visit https://threatquotient.com.

For more information, please contact:

NTT Security
Origin Communications
t. +44 (0)20 3814 2940
e. nttsecurity@origincomms.com

ThreatQuotient
Taylor Hadley
t. +1 (0)978-877-2113
e. taylor@golaunchtech.com

SOURCE : NTT Security (UK) Ltd

 

Credit Ratings Of Peak Reinsurance, Subsidiary Remain Unchanged

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (Bernama) — A.M. Best has maintained the credit ratings of Peak Reinsurance Co Ltd (Peak Re) Hong Kong and its reinsurance subsidiary, Peak Reinsurance AG (Peak Re AG) Switzerland.

This followed the announcement that a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial Inc (PFI), New Jersey, has signed definitive agreements to purchase a 13.1 per cent stake in Peak Reinsurance Holdings Ltd (Peak Re Holdings) Bermuda, the sole and direct holding company of Peak Re, via the issuance of new shares.

Subsequent to signing the definitive agreements in connection with the transaction, Fosun International Ltd (Fosun) had indirectly acquired the entire stake in Peak Re Holdings held by International Finance Corp.

While the final consideration is subject to closing adjustments, A.M. Best expects the transaction to increase Peak Re Holding’s total capital.

Once these occur, Fosun and PFI will indirectly hold 86.9 per cent and 13.1 per cent of the shares in Peak Re, via Peak Re Holdings, respectively.

A.M. Best would further assess the impact on the rating fundamentals and strategic direction of Peak Re and its subsidiaries following the closing of the transaction, the company said in a statement issued in Hong Kong today.

— BERNAMA

​NEW CFO JOINS GLOBECOMM EXECUTIVE TEAM

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Feb 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Globecomm today announced Mr. Jeff Garte has joined their executive team as Chief Financial Officer, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Jason D. Juranek.

In this role, Mr. Garte will lead Globecomm’s financial aspects of the company, including accounting, tax, financial planning and analysis, treasury and IT, required to support continued growth. He will also assist the executive team in executing on existing and supporting new growth strategies.

Mr. Garte has more than fifteen years of financial and operational experience in public and private companies. Prior to joining Globecomm, he served at Hibernia Networks for nearly four years as the senior vice president of corporate development, managing corporate development, FP&A, and procurement.

Before Hibernia, Mr. Garte was VP of FP&A at Sterling Infosystems, where he built a high-performing centralized FP&A team. He also served as VP of finance at AboveNet, where his responsibilities included corporate development, FP&A, investor relations, project cost management and procurement.

“Adding Jeff builds on our strong revenue growth momentum and significantly strengthens our financial team as well as our executive team, where he will share in executing Globecomm’s business plan and strategic initiatives,” said Globecomm CEO Jason Juranek.  “His broad financial experience and business acumen will provide the kind of skilled leadership that makes him a perfect fit for our company.”

Mr. Garte earned his MBA from Columbia University in New York City and also holds a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College based in Clinton, NY.
 
About Globecomm
Globecomm is a trusted global connectivity partner that designs, manages, and distributes voice, video and data solutions to the most remote locations on Earth and under the most treacherous conditions.  The company’s multi-network Satellite, Fiber, and Cellular Infrastructure is the backbone of mission-critical RF and IP communications for Government, Maritime, Media, Enterprise, and Oil and Gas customers in over 100 countries.  In addition to operating managed network and hosted switch services, Globecomm designs and integrates best-of-breed broadcast and OTT media solutions, complete enterprise communications and data management systems including Internet of Things applications, and on-premise and cloud-based enterprise video platforms.  We proudly serve the U.S. government and NGOs around the world with Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) services, and assist with enterprise and government disaster relief efforts.

Headquartered in Hauppauge, NY, Globecomm has locations in Texas, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Afghanistan. http://www.globecomm.com

Contact Information:
Peggy Stalhut; peggy.stalhut@globecomm.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fc63927f-0120-4f87-bfca-b49837978051

Source : GLOBECOMM SYSTEMS

OAG Appoints Vipul Nakum As Chief Product Officer

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) — Flight information leader, OAG has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of Vipul Nakum as chief product officer.

OAG, in a statement, said the appointment represents another significant investment by the company in product strategy, innovation and growth.

Consolidation, technology disruption and rapidly-changing traveller expectations have created an unprecedented period of opportunity and change in the global aviation and travel market.

The addition of Vipul as an incredibly talented and successful technology and business leader, enables us to capitalise on this opportunity even further.

His entrepreneurial approach has delivered industry-leading results across a number of information businesses and underlines our focus on adding new capabilities that increase the value we provide to our customers and partners, said chief executive officer of OAG, Phil Callow.

Nakum has over 25 years of experience creating value for business-to-business (B2B) information, analytics and media businesses. He advised private and private equity-backed companies on their product, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

As the new CPO, Nakum will oversee product strategy, vision and innovation. He is also responsible for new solution development and continuous improvement to OAG’s existing product lines.

— BERNAMA

“HOT SPA & SNOW PLAY” — LIAONING SENDS ITS NEW YEAR INVITATION TO THE WORLD

SHENYANG, China, Feb. 13, 2018 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/ —

Market Shopping, food tasting, wishes of good fortune, couplets… On February the 6th, the coach full of Liaoning University’s international students from Russia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Benin, Kenya as well as local medias travelled to Fushun and Yingkou. From Manchu culture to Liaohe folk custom, everyone experienced the charm of Chinese traditions, also welcomed the traditional Chinese Year of the Dog with locals together.

In the ancient city of Hetu Ala of Fushun, our foreign students witnessed the folk performance of Manchu traditions, combined with historical stories from Hetu Ala to experience the vicissitudes of time. At Yingkou’s Red Flag Festival, foreign students took part in the Chinese traditional event of “catch up with the market”, writing Spring Festival couplets and Fu characters with local artists to experience the Chinese traditional Spring Festival customs.

“It’s very busy here. I see happy people everywhere. I not only experienced the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year, but also tasted a variety of Chinese food. I am very happy to have this opportunity to take part in this special event,” said SUSAN KARIMI NJIRU, the Kenya student from Liaoning University. She declared she is a fun of ‘everything Chinese’. This event had improved her understandings of Chinese culture.

Liaoning has launched the theme of “Hot Spa & Snow Play — come to Liaoning for the Big New Year” event for three consecutive years already, creating and developing a series of special products and routes related to the event, and has attracted many people’s interests and appreciation of folk customs here. The brand effect of winter tourism has begun to work.

“Liaoning has rich resources of winter tourism. It has its unique Chinese traditional folk culture. We are here to invite tourists from the globe to come and spend the Chinese New Year in Liaoning!” Said Wang Xiaojiang, Liaoning Provincial Tourism Commission Deputy Director.

Source: Liaoning Provincial Tourism Commission

Image Attachments Links:
http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=306844

A.M. BEST COMMENTS ON CREDIT RATINGS OF PROVIDENT INSURANCE CORPORATION LIMITED AFTER CO-OP ACQUISITION

SINGAPORE, Feb 9 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — A.M. Best has commented that the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb” of Provident Insurance Corporation Limited (Provident) (New Zealand) remain unchanged. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) remains stable.

This commentary follows Provident acquiring the business assets of Credit Union Insurance Limited (New Zealand) (Co-op), Provident’s current underwriter for motor vehicle insurance. The preliminary stage of the transaction was completed in December 2017. Provident made an initial payment and is underwriting its own motor vehicle policies through Co-op’s systems and personnel. Stage two of the transaction involves the transfer of Co-op’s existing book of policies to Provident, pending regulatory approval that is likely to finalize by the next quarter.

Though the acquisition is funded out of Provident’s existing capital, A.M. Best expects Provident’s risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), to remain, in the near term, at a level that is supportive of the current ratings.

The business transition and acquisition payment is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2018. A.M. Best will continue to monitor the progress of the transaction and evaluate developments for any impact on the ratings.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media – Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and A.M. Best Rating Action Press Releases.

A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2018 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

A.M. Best
Larina Huang, +65 6303 5021
Associate Financial Analyst
larina.huang@ambest.com
or
Jason Shum, +65 6303 5020
Associate Director
jason.shum@ambest.com
or
Christopher Sharkey, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
Manager, Public Relations
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com
or
Jim Peavy, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
Director, Public Relations
james.peavy@ambest.com

Source: A.M. Best

 

B CAPITAL GROUP, A NEW TYPE OF GLOBAL VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM BACKED BY BCG, CLOSES $360 MILLION FUND

B Capital backs groundbreaking entrepreneurs building the next generation of technology companies

LOS ANGELES, Feb 9 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — B Capital Group, a digital technology investment firm that invests in pioneering healthcare, financial services & insurance, industrial, and consumer enablement companies, today announced that it closed B Capital Fund, L.P. at $360 million, substantially exceeding the original target. Founded with the deep-rooted belief that innovation has no borders, B Capital Group’s new fund will continue to enable the firm to invest in innovation, bringing a global-first mentality to investing and partnering with entrepreneurs.

B Capital Group is backed by partners who are both experts and innovators, and together they are reimagining venture capital and connecting emerging technology startups with global market leading corporations. Through its sponsorship from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), B Capital Group provides the right introductions at the right time and partners with new companies to build and scale sustainable businesses. Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal counsel in connection with the fundraise.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31172

VISTAJET PRESENTS EXCEPTIONAL TRAVEL EXPERIENCES FOR THE COLLECTION OF PEGGY AND DAVID ROCKEFELLER

Three highly personalized programs for art lovers to enhance the most significant philanthropic auction ever presented

LONDON, Feb 9 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

VistaJet, the first and only global private aviation company, showcases today three exclusive experiences to enrich the exhibitions and global tour of The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, the most valuable auction of a private collection entirely dedicated to raising funds for philanthropic causes.

Following the unveiling of early highlights in Hong Kong last November, the global public tour will move to London (February 21 – March 8), Paris (March 16 – 21), Beijing (April 6 – 7), Los Angeles (April 6 – 12) and Shanghai (April 10 – 11), ahead of the final exhibition in New York at Christie’s Rockefeller Center from April 28 until the sale on May 7 – 11. With each stop on the pre-sale tour, additional works of art and objects will be revealed.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31163