International Business Machines Corp. is exploring a potential sale of its IBM Watson Health business, according to people familiar with the matter, as the technology giant’s new chief executive moves to streamline the company and become more competitive in cloud computing.
IBM is studying alternatives for the unit that could include a sale to a private-equity firm or industry player or a merger with a blank-check company, the people said. The unit, which employs artificial intelligence to help hospitals, insurers and drugmakers manage their data, has roughly $1 billion in annual revenue and isn’t currently profitable, the people said.
Its brands include Merge Healthcare, which analyzes mammograms and MRIs; Phytel, which assists with patient communications; and Truven Health Analytics, which analyzes complex healthcare data.
It isn’t clear how much the business might fetch in a sale, and there may not be one.
IBM, with a market value of $108 billion, has been left behind as cloud-computing rivals Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. soar to valuations more than 10 times greater. The Armonk, N.Y., company has said it’s focused on boosting its hybrid-cloud operations while exiting some unrelated businesses.
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Water rights activists on Saturday decried the potential sale of bottled water brand Poland Spring, saying the buyer identified in news reports represents a new threat to the state’s resources.
A crowd that organizers estimated reached about 100 gathered for the rally sponsored by Community Water Justice to express their worries.
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Nickie Sekera, co-founder of the group, said she is worried that a private equity firm could be less responsive than Nestle, relieving the company of any accountability it promised to Maine communities.
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Nestle has not been a good neighbor, “but at least a corporation like Nestle to a degree will be sensitive to bad public image,” she said.
Nestle announced in June that it was considering selling its bottled water brands in North America. In Maine, Nestle more than a half-dozen water sources and two bottling plants, employing 860 people.
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Rally participants are worried about news reports suggesting the Swiss company was negotiating the potential sale with One Rock Capital Partners LLC, a New York-based private-equity firm.
Nestle declined to comment on negotiations. A spokesperson for One Rock didn’t return a message.
The brands to be sold include Deer Park, Ozarka, Ice Mountain, Zephyrhills and Arrowhead, in addition to Poland Spring.
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Maulian Dana, Penobscot Nation tribal ambassador, said the Penobscot people “know how precious and life-giving water is for our tribal communities and the whole state.”
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“We stand in opposition to the proposed action by Nestle and One Rock Capital Partners — and remind our friends and neighbors that water is life,” she said in a statement.
(Bloomberg) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. drew robust orders for a $5 billion bond sale, demonstrating investor confidence in the e-commerce giant’s long-term prospects amid easing tensions with Chinese regulators.
The four-tranche offer received more than $38 billion in orders at the peak, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The notes comprising 10-year, 20-year, 30-year and 40-year maturities were priced at 30 basis points to 40 basis points lower than initial guidance, as measured in yields above comparable Treasuries, said the people, who aren’t authorized to speak publicly.
The new dollar debt sale is the biggest in Asia since a $6 billion issuance by rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. in May. It comes amid growing expectations that Jack Ma’s tech empire may have avoided the worst-case scenarios — which had ranged from a government-led takeover to a break-up of his companies — after the billionaire entrepreneur briefly returned to public sight last month and as Ant Group Co. began its lengthy overhaul process. Washington’s decision to drop deliberations of an investment ban on the firm and Alibaba’s consensus-beating quarterly sales performance also helped ease concerns about its future amid a regulatory crackdown.
“Alibaba bonds have been well received in the market, with pricing having tightened significantly from its initial guidance. Approval of Ant’s restructuring plan has reduced uncertainty over the regulatory environment, which contributed to greater appetite for Alibaba’s new issuance,” said Chang Wei Liang, a macro strategist at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore.
Alibaba’s existing dollar notes and its shares rose Thursday after Bloomberg News reported that affiliate Ant Group and Chinese regulators agreed on a restructuring plan that will turn Jack Ma’s fintech giant into a financial holding company. While this would make Ant subject to capital requirements similar to those for banks, analysts say the agreement suggests it’s now less likely to have to spin off portions of its businesses. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Ant may hive off its consumer data operations, a concession to regulators that may enable the company to revive plans for an initial public offering that had been abruptly halted in November.
Alibaba owns roughly a third of of Ant and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang told analysts on Tuesday that the company was unable to assess the impact of the company’s ongoing restructuring on its business, though he added that only “a very small percentage” of Ant’s credit plans are used to make payments on its market places. The online retailer, which is facing its own antitrust investigation, has set up a special taskforce to conduct internal reviews and is actively communicating with antitrust regulators on complying with their requirements, Zhang said.
The company on Tuesday reported a stronger-than-expected 37% increase in quarterly sales, adding that it plans to continue investing for long-term growth in areas like cloud and artificial intelligence. “Alibaba has multiple growth drivers in the years ahead,” Jefferies analyst Thomas Chong wrote in a note after the earnings.
Alibaba was originally aiming to raise at least $5 billion via a debt sale that could’ve been increased to $8 billion depending on the reception, Bloomberg reported in early January. Investors had wondered then whether the company could pull off the deal as founder Ma hadn’t been seen in public since his Internet empire was hit with growing antitrust scrutiny. He’s since made an appearance in a live-streamed video chat.
The firm raised cash partly for general corporate purposes, including working capital needs, repayment of offshore debt, and potential acquisitions of or investments in complementary businesses, according to the people familiar with the deal. The 20-year tranche of Alibaba’s new offering is its first sustainability bond.
Alibaba’s dollar bonds have enjoyed a strong rebound since a selloff in China’s offshore investment grade notes at the beginning of the year. Spreads on the firm’s 3.4% note due 2027 were indicated at about 78.7 basis points over Treasuries on Thursday, some 57 basis points tighter than its January high, the latest Bloomberg-compiled data show.
(Updates with chart and bond levels in last paragraph)
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UPDATE 3.20pm UK: Argos has responded to reports its latest stock allocation was sniped by scalpers. Speaking to Eurogamer this afternoon, a spokesperson confirmed the chain was aware of today’s issues but had currently sold out.
Eurogamer understands the exploit used by the scalping group to buy stock before it was placed on sale has now been addressed and future attempts to use this method will not be successful.
“It’s clear our customers are excited for the new PlayStation,” an Argos spokesperson said. “We released a small amount of additional stock and have seen huge numbers of customers trying to place their orders with us and we have now sold out.”
ORIGINAL STORY 2.20pm UK: Another day of new PlayStation 5 stock, another day of scalpers. This time, UK retailer Argos is in the spotlight for having stock scooped up before it was officially placed on sale.
IGN reports that today’s planned stock refresh was impacted by the fact many consoles were pounced on yesterday by an organised scalping group.
This group, which we won’t name here, claims to have been able to find and access checkout URLs on Argos’ website before they were publicly available.
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Unconfirmed reports from anonymous Argos staff members posted on social media last night suggested managers at the chain were made aware of the early sales, and that those orders were being cancelled.
But, this morning, members of the paid-for scalping ring posted photos of themselves walking down to Argos to pick up their click and collect orders. We’ve contacted Argos for comment.
Other chains have also been hit by scalpers once again, too.
Another subscriber to the same scalping ring boasted on social media he had used the service last night to pick up seven consoles from four different outlets.
“A PS5 for every room in the house, even the bog,” he wrote.
The group itself, meanwhile, celebrated being named in media coverage of its actions – something it hoped would attract more paying customers to its services.
Last week, fellow UK retailer GAME played down another scalping group’s report it has secured 2000 PS5 consoles in just one day, saying that these orders were only pre-sales it still needed to verify.
And while these scalping groups do have some success – as today’s photos show – it’s also worth remembering why they like to have such big mouths on social media: because they’re constantly trying to attract new customers of their own. These scalping groups are run as businesses for their owners, with access to members gated behind high monthly subscription fees.
Last month, a group of Scottish MPs suggested UK legislation was needed to stop the rise in scalping for items such as games consoles, especially as the practice is already outlawed for event tickets.
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Someone has gotten their hands on a database full of Facebook users’ phone numbers, and is now selling that data using a Telegram bot, according to a report by Motherboard. The security researcher who found this vulnerability, Alon Gal, says that the person who runs the bot claims to have the information of 533 million users, which came from a Facebook vulnerability that was patched in 2019.
With many databases, some amount of technical skill is required to find any useful data. And there often has to be an interaction between the person with the database and the person trying to get information out of it, as the database’s “owner” isn’t going to just give someone else all that valuable data. Making a Telegram bot, however, solves both of these issues.
Few days ago a user created a Telegram bot allowing users to query the database for a low fee, enabling people to find the phone numbers linked to a very large portion of Facebook accounts.
This obviously has a huge impact on privacy. pic.twitter.com/lM1omndDET
— Alon Gal (Under the Breach) (@UnderTheBreach) January 14, 2021
The bot allows someone to do two things: if they have a person’s Facebook user ID, they can find that person’s phone number, and if they have a person’s phone number they can find their Facebook user ID. Though, of course, actually getting access to the information you’re looking for costs money — unlocking a piece of information, like a phone number or Facebook ID, costs one credit, which the person behind the bot is selling for $20. There’s also bulk pricing available, with 10,000 credits selling for $5,000, according to the Motherboard report.
The bot has been running since at least January 12, 2021, according to screenshots posted by Gal, but the data it provides access to is from 2019. That’s relatively old, but people don’t change phone numbers that often. It’s especially embarrassing for Facebook as it historically collected phone numbers from people including users who were turning on two-factor authentication.
At the moment it’s unknown if Motherboard or security researchers have contacted Telegram to try to get the bot taken down, but hopefully it’s something that can be clamped down on soon. That’s not to paint too rosy a picture, though — the data is still out there on the web, and it’s resurfaced a couple of times since it was initially scraped in 2019. I’m just hoping that the easy access will be cut off.
(Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is in early-stage talks to sell its premium smartphone brands P and Mate, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said, a move that could see the company eventually exit from the high-end smartphone-making business.
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is seen at the IFA consumer technology fair, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Berlin, Germany September 3, 2020. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi
The talks between the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker and a consortium led by Shanghai government-backed investment firms have been going on for months, the people said, declining to be identified as the discussions were confidential.
Huawei started to internally explore the possibility of selling the brands as early as last September, according to one of the sources. The two sources were not privy to the valuation placed on the brands by Huawei.
Shipments of Mate and P Series phones were worth $39.7 billion between Q3 2019 and Q3 2020, according to consultancy IDC.
However, Huawei has yet to make a final decision on the sale and the talks might not conclude successfully, according to the two sources, as the company is still trying to manufacture at home its in-house designed high-end Kirin chips which power its smartphones.
“Huawei has learned there are unsubstantiated rumours circulating regarding the possible sale of our flagship smartphone brands,” a Huawei spokesman said. “There is no merit to these rumours whatsoever. Huawei has no such plan.”
The Shanghai government said it was not aware of the situation and declined to comment further.
The potential sale of Huawei’s premium smartphone lines suggests the company has little hope that the new Biden administration will have a change of heart towards the supply chain restrictions placed on Huawei since May 2019, the two people said.
The Shanghai government-backed investment firms may form a consortium with Huawei’s dealers to take over the P and Mate brands, according to the second person, a similar model to the Honor deal. Huawei is also likely to keep its existing P& Mate management team for the new entity, if the deal goes through, the two people said.
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Huawei, the world’s biggest telecoms equipment vendor and No.2 smartphone maker, last November announced the sale of its budget phone brand Honor to a consortium of 30 dealers led by a company backed by the Shenzhen government.
The second source said the all-cash sale fetched more than 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion). Honor declined to comment.
The Honor sale was aimed at keeping the budget brand alive, as sanctions slapped on Huawei by the United States had hampered the unit’s supply chain and cut off the company’s access to key hardware like chips and software such as Alphabet Inc’s Google Mobile Services.
Huawei may have a similar objective in pursuing the sale of the mobile brands. The two sources said that Huawei’s latest plans for the two high-end brands were motivated by insufficient chip supplies.
Washington says that Huawei is a national security threat, which Huawei has repeatedly denied.
On Friday, Honor indicated that the goal of the spin-off had been reached by announcing it had formed partnerships with chip makers such as Intel and Qualcomm and launched a new phone.
Last year, the company’s Consumer Business Group Chief Executive Richard Yu said U.S. restrictions meant Huawei would soon stop making Kirin chips. Analysts expect its stockpile of the chips to run out this year.
Huawei’s HiSilicon division relies on software from U.S. companies such as Cadence Design Systems Inc or Synopsys Inc to design its chips and it outsources the production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which uses equipment from U.S. companies.
The P and Mate phone series are among the top players in the higher-end smartphone market in China and compete with Apple’s iPhone, Xiaomi Corp’s Mi and Mix series and OPPO’s Find series.
The two brands contributed nearly 40% to Huawei’s total sales over the third quarter of 2020, according to market research firm Counterpoint.
Analysts have already noted recent insufficient supplies of the flagship P40 and Mate40 series due to a severe components shortage.
“We expect a continuous decline in sales of P and Mate series smartphones through Q1 2021,” said Flora Tang, an analyst at Counterpoint.
Reporting by Julie Zhu, Yingzhi Yang and David Kirton, Additional reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee & Shri Navaratnam
Buick has unveiled the second-generation of its China-made Envision compact SUV.
The 2021 Envision is already on sale at a base price of $32,995. The all-new vehicle features a design that is both sleeker and more muscular than the previous edition, and can now be ordered in Buick’s high-end Avenir trim, which starts at $43,195.
The five-passenger utility vehicle is powered by a 228 hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and offered in front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions.
It comes standard with a package of driver aids with automatic emergency brakes and lane-keeping assist, while adaptive cruise control a head-up display and a computer-controlled active suspension system are available.
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The Envision gets Buick’s latest infotainment system, with a 10.2-inch display and Alexa, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.
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Premium features offered across the lineup include a wireless charging pad, 360-degree parking camera and a heated driver seat with a massage function.
The Buick Enclave is being updated for 2022. (Buick)
Buick has also previewed the 2022 Enclave with exterior images of the updated three-row SUV, but won’t be releasing details until closer to when it goes on sale later this year.
Capcom just held its Resident Evil showcase celebrating 25 years of the series, and while there was sadly nothing on display for Switch fans, over on the eShop you can still get your fix – as most of the RE back catalogue is on sale in the US.
This covers both the Switch and 3DS – with games like Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil 4 reduced down to $14.99. Then there’s the Revelation series, along with The Mercenaries 3D on 3DS. Here’s the full line-up via GoNintendo:
Resident Evil 5 – Current Price:$14.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil 6 – Current Price:$14.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil 0 – Current Price:$12.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil 4 – Current Price:$14.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil – Current Price:$12.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil Revelations – Current Price:$7.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil Revelations 2 – Current Price:$7.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil Revelations (3DS) – Current Price:$7.99 (Regular Price:$19.99) Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D – Current Price:$4.99 (Regular Price:$19.99)
Will you be adding any of these Resident Evil games to your digital library on Switch? Leave a comment below.
