SYDNEY, March 22--AsiaNet/InfoQuest
STARCK WINS...
NEW YORK: Legendary designer Philippe Starck has many
reasons to smile, and it was not just the kisses he received
from the reigning Miss America and Miss Universe at the recent
International Star Diamond Awards in Berlin where he accepted a
Lifetime Achievement Award. Starck announced the formation of a
powerhouse global partnership with Prince Faisal F. Al Saud to
roll out a new global brand,'Starck Hotels' that he says will
make guests "more sexy".
www.f6world.com
www.starck.com
www.stardiamondaward.com
RECORD-BREAKING YEAR...
RIO DE JANEIRO: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce posted net income
of US$ 2.573 billion in 2004, 66.2 per cent higher than its
previous record income of US$1.548 billion, in 2003. Earnings
per share was US$2.23. Return on equity was 34.8 per cent,
exceeding the 31.7 per cent ROE of 2003.
http://www.cvrd.com.br
WORLD-WIDE LICENSE..
MOUNTAIN VIEW: Benitec Ltd. announces that it has granted a
world-wide, non-exclusive commercial license to genOway (Lyon,
France) to develop transgenic animals using DNA-directed RNA
interference (ddRNAi). This agreement grants genOway the
freedom to provide customers with cutting edge in vivo RNAi
technologies to facilitate the drug discovery process from
target validation to safety studies. Benitec will receive an
up-front license fee and on-going royalties, however, specific
financial details were not disclosed.
RIVERSTONE INTRODUCES...
SANTA CLARA: Riverstone Networks, a leading provider of
Carrier Ethernet solutions, announced the availability of
Hierarchical Virtual Private LAN Service (HVPLS) across both
its RS and Riverstone 15000 product lines. The enhancement
creates the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of
HVPLS-enabled carrier Ethernet routers, allowing service
providers to scale either up or down to cost-effectively
deliver more reliable business and triple-play services.
http://www.riverstonenet.com
PHOTRONICS EXPANDS...
BROOKFIELD: Photronics, Inc., a worldwide leader in
supplying innovative imaging technology solutions for the
global electronics industry, announced plans to expand its flat
panel display (FPD) mask capacity through the construction of a
state-of-the-art FPD mask fabrication facility in Taichung,
Taiwan.
http://www.photronics.com/
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP...
ZWICKAU: MSI Technology GmbH and Peppercon AG announced a
strategic partnership in the Server and Server-Management
sector at CeBIT 2005. Peppercon has developed and customized
for MSI a Remote Management daughter card, which MSI is
distributing under MSI's brand name.
http://www.peppercon.com
http://www.raritan.com
GIZMONDO LAUNCH...
LONDON: Gizmondo Europe Ltd, subsidiary of Jacksonville,
Florida-based Tiger Telematics Inc., heralded the weekend's
high street launch of the Gizmondo handheld multi-entertainment
device as a big success, and a positive start to its ongoing
campaign to drive awareness of the host of features and
functionality that the device brings to consumers.
http://www.gizmondo.com
http://www.tigertelematics.com
http://www.gizmondo.com/175regentstreet
CONTRACTS EXTENDED...
FRANKFURT: Fraport AG's supervisory board today approved
contract extensions for the company's executive board chairman
and vice chairman. Dr. Wilhelm Bender's term as chairman of the
executive board will be extended from January 1, 2006, through
to August 31, 2009. Likewise, Prof. Manfred Scholch's contract
as vice chairman of the executive board and executive board
member responsible for infrastructure and legal affairs has
been renewed for the period from January 1, 2006, to June 20,
2007.
http://www.fraport.de
NEW IDENTITY...
LONDON: BP announced that the name of its new olefins and
derivatives subsidiary will be Innovene. Innovene will be
formed as a separate entity within the BP Group in April, with
more than $9 billion in assets and $15 billion in third-party
sales globally. The new company will be headquartered in
Chicago and have more than 8,500 employees at 26 principal
sites around the world.
www.innovene.com/innovene/images/innovene_logo_jpeg.zip
RATING UPGRADED...
SAO PAULO: Moody's, a leading international rating agency,
has upgraded Banco Itau's financial strength rating from C- to
C, with a stable outlook. Moody's states that this upgrade
reflects the Bank's consistently strong financial performance.
Of the 23 banks that operate in Brazil and are evaluated by
Moody's in this rating category, Itau is the best classified,
being the only one to receive a C rating.
http://www.itau.com
PRE-PAY ORDERS...
SYDNEY: SkyNetGlobal Ltd, listed on ASX in Sydney and on AIM
in London, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, W Home
Automation Pty Ltd, secured two binding pre-pay orders from the
Australian subsidiary of a Russia-Ukraine trading company,
Techno Import Pty Ltd, for US$23 million (A$29 million) worth
of home automation products.
http://www.skynetglobal.com
HIGHER STAKE:
CLEVELAND: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc announced that it has
acquired a total relevant interest in approximately 48.4
million Portman shares representing approximately 27.6 per cent
of Portman's issued share capital. The offer for Portman is due
to close at 7:00pm (Perth time), which is 6:00am (New York
time), today, March 22, 2005.
http://www.cleveland-cliffs.com
http://www.Portman.com.au
INCREASED PROTECTION...
HIGH POINT: Banner Pharmacaps Soflet Gelcaps can serve as a
redundant safeguard with Radio Frequency Identification Devices
to help prevent counterfeiting of many susceptible tablet
products. Soflet Gelcaps, a consumer-preferred dosage form, is
a unique, patented enrobing technology that provides
tamper-evident security for valuable brand franchises at a cost
of only pennies per tablet.
http://www.banpharm.com
LICENSING AGREEMENTS...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Performance management software vendor
Integrated Research announced that ARUP, The Boeing Company,
and Cendant Corp are among a number of international companies
who have signed licensing agreements to purchase its PROGNOSIS
IP Telephony Manager software.
http://www.ir.com
CURRENCY TRADING...
PLAINVIEW: COESfx, Inc., the developer of the most advanced
and unbiased Electronic Currency Network for foreign exchange,
is expanding into the Chinese market with the launch of COESfx
Asia. COESfx Asia provides a proprietary trading platform to
Asian forex retail traders that enable the direct trading of
foreign currency online.
http://www.coesfxasia.com
MILESTONE REACHED...
PERTH: Ozgene Pty Ltd (Perth, Australia) announced this week
that it has reached a final milestone in one of its drug target
validation projects for NV Organon (The Netherlands). This
milestone marks the successful completion of the first project
out of a series of studies undertaken between Ozgene and
Organon.
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