Businesses
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from U.S. and international businesses.
Featured Stories
University of Texas's Southwestern Medical Center: How Legionella Makes Itself at Home
DALLAS, Texas, May 11 (TNSJou) -- The University of Texas's Southwestern Medical Center issued the following news release:
Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a key protein that helps the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease to set up house in the cells of humans and other hosts. The findings, published in Science, could offer insights into how other bacteria are able to survive inside cells, knowledge that could lead to new treatments for a wide variety of infections.
"Many infectious bacteria, from listeria to chlamydia to salmonella, use systems that allow them to dwell within
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DALLAS, Texas, May 11 (TNSJou) -- The University of Texas's Southwestern Medical Center issued the following news release:
Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a key protein that helps the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease to set up house in the cells of humans and other hosts. The findings, published in Science, could offer insights into how other bacteria are able to survive inside cells, knowledge that could lead to new treatments for a wide variety of infections.
"Many infectious bacteria, from listeria to chlamydia to salmonella, use systems that allow them to dwell withintheir host's cells," says study leader Vincent Tagliabracci, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular biology at UTSW and member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Better understanding the tools they use to make this happen is teaching us some interesting biochemistry and could eventually lead to new targets for therapy."
Tagliabracci's lab studies atypical kinases, unusual forms of enzymes that transfer chemical groups called phosphates onto proteins or lipids, changing their function. Research here and elsewhere has shown that Legionella, the genus of bacteria that cause Legionnaires' disease, is a particularly rich source of these noncanonical kinases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 10,000 cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported in the U.S. in 2018, though the true incidence is believed to be higher.
After identifying a new Legionella atypical kinase named MavQ, Tagliabracci and his colleagues used a live-cell imaging technique combined with a relatively new molecular tagging method to see where MavQ is found in infected human cells, a clue to its function. Rather than residing in a specific location, the researchers were surprised to see that the protein oscillated back and forth between the endoplasmic reticulum - a network of membranes important for protein and lipid synthesis - and bubble- or tube-shaped structures within the cell.
Further research suggests that MavQ, along with a partner molecule called SidP, remodels the endoplasmic reticulum so that Legionella can steal parts of the membrane to help create and sustain the vacuole, a structure that houses the parasite inside cells and protects it from immune attack.
Tagliabracci, a Michael L. Rosenberg Scholar in Medical Research and a Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar, says that he suspects other bacterial pathogens may use similar mechanisms to co-opt existing host cell structures to create their own protective dwellings.
UTSW scientists who contributed to this study include Ting-Sung Hsieh, Victor A. Lopez, Miles H. Black, Adam Osinski, Krzysztof Pawlowski, Diana R. Tomchick, and Jen Liou, a Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research.
This work was funded by NIH grants DP2GM137419, R01GM113079, T32GM008203-29, F30HL143859-01, Welch Foundation grants I-1911, I-1789, CPRIT grant RP170674, and Polish National Agency for Scientific Exchange scholarship PPN/BEK/2018/1/00431.
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JOURNAL: Science https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/04/28/science.aay8118
[Category: BizHospital]
TEGNA Announces Record Final First Quarter Results, Second Quarter Guidance
TYSONS, Virginia, May 11 -- TEGNA, a broadcast, digital media and marketing services company, issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.
FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS:
Total company revenue was $727 million, up six percent year-over-year, driven by continued growth in subscription revenue and record first quarter advertising and marketing services ("AMS") revenues. Revenue was up 41 percent from the first quarter of 2019 driven by the same factors, as well as the impact of acquisitions./1
Subscription
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TYSONS, Virginia, May 11 -- TEGNA, a broadcast, digital media and marketing services company, issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.
FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS:
Total company revenue was $727 million, up six percent year-over-year, driven by continued growth in subscription revenue and record first quarter advertising and marketing services ("AMS") revenues. Revenue was up 41 percent from the first quarter of 2019 driven by the same factors, as well as the impact of acquisitions./1
Subscriptionrevenue was a first quarter record of $387 million, up 16 percent year-over-year driven by rate increases.
* Subscriber trends continue to improve, down below five percent year-over-year according to first quarter data; these are the strongest trends we have seen since December 2019.
Full-year subscription revenues are on track to grow mid-to-high teens percent.
Net subscription profits are still expected to grow in the mid-to-high twenties percent in 2021./2
Record first quarter AMS revenues of $323 million were up 9.4 percent year-over-year.
Revenues of Premion, TEGNA's over-the-top advertising business, were up more than 50 percent year-over-year in the first quarter.
TEGNA now expects full-year Premion revenues to be up 45 to 50 percent relative to 2020.
Net income was $113 million, up 30 percent from the first quarter of 2020, and non-GAAP net income was $115 million.
Total company Adjusted EBITDA was a first quarter record of $231 million, an increase of nine percent despite the impact of record political advertising revenues in the first quarter of 2020.
Adjusted EBITDA growth reflects strong operational performance of TEGNA's stations including ongoing cost efficiency efforts, in addition to continued growth in subscription revenue and strong AMS revenues.
First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was up 51 percent compared with the first quarter of 2019.
GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.51 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.52.
Free cash flow was a first quarter record of $159 million or 22 percent of first quarter revenue, driven by recent business performance including continued growth in subscription revenue and strong AMS revenues, as well as the ongoing benefit of significant cost initiatives that have been under way for more than 24 months.
The Company is on track to achieve recently updated full-year guidance for free cash flow as a percentage of 2020-2021 revenue of 21.0 - 22.0 percent.
Total debt at the end of the quarter was $3.5 billion and net leverage was 3.82x.
TEGNA is on track to achieve recently updated full-year net leverage guidance of low 3x by year-end.
CEO COMMENT
"Our final first quarter results, including projected second quarter and full-year 2021 guidance, reflect our favorable positioning for continued growth. Our record first quarter total revenue and advertising and marketing services ("AMS") and subscription revenues, net income, and Adjusted EBITDA are indicative of TEGNA's sustained positive momentum," said Dave Lougee, president and chief executive officer.
"AMS revenues have continued their positive trajectory, with quarterly sequential improvement since the height of the pandemic and finishing the quarter up more than nine percent year-over-year. With the growing distribution of vaccines across the U.S., we are optimistic that the healthy advertising trends that we are seeing early in 2021 will build throughout the year. Subscriber trends have improved year-over-year to levels we have not seen since 2019, with the first quarter down less than five percent. Combined with the successful re-pricing of subscribers at leading Big Four rates, these positive trends support our expectation for full-year subscription revenue to grow mid-to-high teens percent, and for net subscription profits to grow in the mid-to-high twenties percent in 2021.
"Our recently increased full-year 2021 guidance underscores our conviction in our future cash flows, which we are deploying to create shareholder value. We are paying down a significant amount of debt, and expect to end 2021 with net leverage of low 3x. Additionally, closely following our Board's authorization of our three-year, $300 million share repurchase program in December 2020, we announced a 36 percent increase in our dividend beginning in July. With a full set of tools at our disposal, we will continue to allocate capital to maximize shareholder value.
"Premion, our innovative over-the-top ("OTT") advertising business, is accelerating ahead of our previous estimates for 2021 with revenues now estimated to grow 45 to 50 percent relative to 2020. Premion has a long runway for rapid growth as advertisers shift more dollars away from cable networks and digital to connected TV and OTT. Additionally, at last week's IAB NewFronts, we announced we are expanding our industry-leading attribution capabilities to provide industry-specific performance and sales data for the automotive and tourism industries for campaigns placed with TEGNA and Premion.
"On the content side of our business we reached a distribution agreement with Amazon in March for all of our stations to provide on-demand news through Amazon's news app on Fire TV. Shows from Locked On, our recently acquired podcast network for local sports, will soon be available on select stations' Roku and Amazon Fire TV OTT apps and YouTube properties. These actions have allowed us to further leverage positive streaming trends which broaden our reach and support future revenue growth.
"As our nation continues to confront acts of racial and social injustice, I want to thank our journalists across the country for their unwavering commitment to providing critical reporting on these topics, and for covering and facilitating important discussions about race and inequality that will help drive systemic change."
OVERVIEW OF FIRST QUARTER RESULTS
Total company revenues increased six percent in the quarter year-over-year, driven by continued growth in subscription revenue and strong AMS revenues.
Subscription revenue grew 16 percent year-over-year due to rate increases partially offset by subscriber declines. Subscriber trends continue to improve as the rate of year-over-year decline in the quarter is the best it has been since 2019, down less than five percent.
AMS revenues increased 9.4 percent in the quarter compared to last year. Not only have AMS revenues shown quarterly sequential improvement since the height of the pandemic in the second quarter of 2020, AMS revenues have returned to pre-COVID levels, showing growth above 2019 on pro forma basis.
GAAP operating expenses were $531 million, up four percent year-over-year, and non-GAAP operating expenses were $528 million, up five percent. On a non-GAAP basis, expenses less programming costs increased only one percent above last year which includes growth in Premion. Operating expenses, less programming and Premion costs were down three percent due to diligent expense management and strategic expense reduction execution.
GAAP operating income totaled $196 million, up 12 percent year-over-year and non-GAAP operating income totaled $199 million, up 11 percent. Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure detailed in Table 3) totaled $231 million, and Adjusted EBITDA margin was 31.7 percent.
The first quarter included a few special items, the full details of which can be found in Table 2. The net effect of these items was to increase GAAP net income by $2 million and GAAP diluted net income per share by $0.01.
Interest expense decreased to $46 million compared to $57 million in the first quarter of 2020, due to the combination of lower average debt and interest rate. Total cash at the end of the quarter was $13 million. The GAAP tax rate of 24.0 percent for the first quarter of 2021 is 4.3 percentage points higher than the comparable rate in 2020 primarily due to 2020 including tax benefits from the utilization of capital loss carryforwards in connection with certain disposition transactions and the release of the associated valuation allowance.
SECOND QUARTER AND FULL-YEAR 2021 OUTLOOK
In the second quarter of 2021, TEGNA results are expected to continue to be supported by the growth drivers of strong subscription revenue and the continued recovery of advertising and marketing services revenue.
TEGNA expects to have elevated second quarter cash tax payments of $120 - $125 million due to our record 2020 results.
For the second quarter of 2021, the company expects:
See table here: https://www.tegna.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TEGNA-Q1-2021-Earnings-Release.pdf
RECENT STRATEGIC, CONTENT AND PROGRAMMING INITIATIVES
Premion Continues Exceptional Growth - Premion, TEGNA's over-the-top advertising platform, continued its rapid growth trajectory in the first quarter, and is currently pacing ahead of the previously communicated revenue growth estimate for 2021. New customer innovations, such as attribution capabilities to give advertisers deeper insights into audience and campaign performance, allow Premion and TEGNA to further leverage upward trends in streaming to expand reach and drive future revenue growth. In March, Premion received a Tech Leadership Award in the Best OTT and Streaming Technology product category. (Press release)
TEGNA Attribution Expands Product Offerings - TEGNA Attribution, a leading solution for measuring performance of linear and over-the-top (OTT) advertising campaigns, announced new offerings to provide industry-specific data for advertisers in the automotive and tourism categories. TEGNA's partnership with IHS Markit to leverage Polk Automotive Solutions will provide advanced data including number of sales, make, model, price and vehicle type to help advertisers better measure ROI for their campaigns. In the tourism category, TEGNA's partnership with Arrivalist provides advertisers with key metrics including arrivals to destinations, cities of origin and days and distance to arrival. (Press release)
TEGNA's Over-the-Top (OTT) Footprint Continues to Expand - TEGNA continues to leverage the growth of streaming through expanded offerings on OTT platforms. In March, TEGNA announced a distribution agreement with Amazon for all its stations to provide on-demand news on Amazon's news app on Fire TV. TEGNA also completed the rollout of station apps on Fire TV in the first quarter. In addition, TEGNA began to transition Locked On Podcast Network's daily sports podcasts to OTT, rolling out video simulcasts in Dallas and Cleveland on stations' OTT apps, in addition to websites and mobile apps, with additional markets being brought online throughout 2021. TEGNA also announced it is developing a standalone OTT app for Locked On, TEGNA's recently acquired sports podcasting network, that will be available later in 2021. (Press release)
Launched Inclusive Journalism Program - Developed at the end of 2020 in partnership with diverse leaders at the Poynter Institute, a leading non-profit journalism organization, TEGNA has created a firstof- its-kind Inclusive Journalism program to tackle unconscious bias in news reporting and content development. In the first quarter, TEGNA began to implement the program for newsroom staff, marketing professionals and news leaders across its stations. Every TEGNA journalist at all stations will participate in this program, which includes training for empowering diverse voices and perspectives in the editorial decision-making process, addressing unconscious bias in news reporting and how coded language contributes to racial stereotypes. The program includes third-party audits to ensure progress is being made towards inclusivity goals.
VERIFY Completes Transition to National Brand - TEGNA's VERIFY launched a new national website, http://www.verifythis.com, a daily newsletter and branded social media channels on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Consumers can now text VERIFY to submit a story they want verified. In the first quarter, VERIFY's subscriber base on Snapchat's Discover platform grew to more than 174,000, while generating nearly 2 million unique viewers. (Press release)
Received 86 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, Including Six Inaugural "Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" Category - TEGNA stations received more Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards than any other local broadcast television group for excellence in broadcast journalism, including coveted prizes for Overall Excellence, Excellence in Innovation, and the new category of Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. More than a third of TEGNA's 64 stations were among the winners with four stations - KARE, KING, WFAA and WUSA - garnering Overall Excellence, the highest honor. (Press release)
Twist Multicast Network Debuts - In early April, TEGNA debuted Twist, a women-oriented multicast network featuring lifestyle and reality programming. Twist will be available in 43 of the top 50 Nielsen markets, which include 41 TEGNA markets, 11 Univision markets including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, 31 HC2 Broadcasting markets as well as on WISH Indianapolis, WADL Detroit and WIWN Milwaukee. (Press release)
VAULT Studios Launches Two New Podcast Projects - In January, VAULT Studios launched its first daily true crime podcast series, The Daily Crime, which became VAULT's leading podcast in February and March. On March 31, VAULT debuted the second season of its hit podcast Bardstown, titled Beyond Bardstown: Lacombe. In the first quarter, VAULT expanded its distribution to Amazon Music, bringing its entire catalog to one of the fastest growing audio platforms.
Rollout of ATSC 3.0 Continues - In March, WGRZ in Buffalo became the latest TEGNA station to begin broadcasting in ATSC 3.0. TEGNA expects to transition additional markets to ATSC 3.0 throughout 2021.
CAPITAL ALLOCATION
TEGNA has continued to deliver on its capital allocation strategy, facilitating continued growth of the business and resulting in increased capital return to shareholders while also strengthening the balance sheet.
In the first quarter, TEGNA announced the Board's approval of a three-year, $300 million share repurchase authorization and a dividend increase of 36 percent beginning with the July 1, 2021 dividend payment. The Company has also continued to make progress on its debt paydown and finished the quarter with net leverage of 3.82x. TEGNA has no debt coming due until 2024 and expects to end the year with net leverage of low 3x.
TEGNA continues to evaluate the tools available to return value to shareholders through the lens of maximizing value for all TEGNA shareholders.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this communication may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to a number of risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results or company actions to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by these statements, including risks relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its effect on our revenues, particularly our nonpolitical advertising revenues. Potential regulatory actions, changes in consumer behaviors and impacts on and modifications to TEGNA's operations and business relating thereto and TEGNA's ability to execute on its standalone plan can also cause actual results to differ materially. Other economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors and risks that may affect TEGNA's operations or financial results are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors. TEGNA is not responsible for updating the information contained in this press release beyond the published date, or for changes made to this press release by wire services, Internet service providers or other media.
CONFERENCE CALL
TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) will host a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2021 earnings results on Monday, May 10, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. (ET). TEGNA's earnings announcement will be released to news outlets and wire services before the market opens on May 10. Materials related to the call will be available at that time through the Investor Relations section of TEGNA's website, investors.TEGNA.com. The conference call, which will also be webcast through the company's website, is open to investors, the financial community, the media and other members of the public. To join the call toll-free, dial 888-254-3590 at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled 9:00 a.m. (ET) start time. International callers should dial 929-477-0402. The confirmation code for the conference call is 6774541. To listen to the call via live webcast, please visit investors.TEGNA.com and allow at least 10 minutes to access TEGNA's home page and complete the links before the webcast begins. A replay of the conference call will be available under "Investor Relations" at http://www.TEGNA.com from Monday, May 10 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) to Monday, May 24 at 1:00 p.m. (ET). To access the replay, dial 888-203-1112 or 719-457-0820. The confirmation code for the replay is 6774541. A transcript of the conference call will also be made available on the company's website.
See table and footnotes here: https://www.tegna.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TEGNA-Q1-2021-Earnings-Release.pdf
[Category: BizMedia]
Scripps to Webcast Discussion From Needham Virtual Technology and Media Conference on May 20
CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 11 -- The E.W. Scripps, a broadcasting company, issued the following news release:
Adam Symson, president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), Jason Combs, CFO, and Carolyn Micheli, senior vice president of corporate communications and investor relations, will discuss the company's business strategies at the 16th Annual Needham Virtual Technology and Media Conference on Thursday, May 20.
Symson, Combs, and Micheli will hold one-on-one video conference meetings with investors that day, and Symson will host a fireside chat at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time that will
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CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 11 -- The E.W. Scripps, a broadcasting company, issued the following news release:
Adam Symson, president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), Jason Combs, CFO, and Carolyn Micheli, senior vice president of corporate communications and investor relations, will discuss the company's business strategies at the 16th Annual Needham Virtual Technology and Media Conference on Thursday, May 20.
Symson, Combs, and Micheli will hold one-on-one video conference meetings with investors that day, and Symson will host a fireside chat at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time that willbe webcast for the public.
Live audio of the fireside chat will be available from 9:30 to 10:10 a.m. Eastern. To listen, visit http://www.scripps.com and click on "investor information."
A replay will be available under "audio/video links" for approximately 30 days.
[Category: BizMedia]
Renowned Hospitalist to Lead New Division of Hospital Medicine at NYU Langone Health
NEW YORK, May 11 -- NYU Langone Health, an academic medical center affiliated with New York University, issued the following news release:
Katherine Hochman, MD, a nationally renowned hospitalist, has been named inaugural director of the new Division of Hospital Medicine in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Hochman founded the Hospitalist Program at NYU Langone in 2004, which has been expanded into a new division in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Division of Hospital Medicine will build on the previously established Hospitalist Program, providing
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NEW YORK, May 11 -- NYU Langone Health, an academic medical center affiliated with New York University, issued the following news release:
Katherine Hochman, MD, a nationally renowned hospitalist, has been named inaugural director of the new Division of Hospital Medicine in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Hochman founded the Hospitalist Program at NYU Langone in 2004, which has been expanded into a new division in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Division of Hospital Medicine will build on the previously established Hospitalist Program, providingthe highest-quality patient care, as well as educating medical students, residents, and healthcare professionals. Using clinical data, the division's clinician-researchers will continue to investigate ways to transform patient care with the goal of delivering high-quality, high-value, patient-centered healthcare. The division will also have an increased emphasis on mentoring, scholarship, and career pathways for hospitalist faculty.
"Dr. Hochman launched the Hospitalist Program at NYU Langone in 2004, and has grown the program through the crises of both Hurricane Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic," says Steven Abramson, MD, senior vice president and vice dean for education, faculty, and academic affairs, and chair of the Department of Medicine. "She has been a dynamic leader, role model, and mentor. We are extremely excited about launching the new division and thank Dr. Hochman for assuming this important position."
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of hospitalists, as both high-quality physicians, and as participants of clinical research teams. With access to and experience with large databases of patient outcomes, they collaborated with researchers in diverse departments throughout the institution, providing data on clinical information they observed working with patients presenting with previously unrecognized COVID-19-related syndromes. Dr. Hochman was a key leader during these efforts to mobilize physicians, medical students, and other frontline staff to where they were needed.
[Category: BizHospital]
News Corp. Completes Acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media Segment
NEW YORK, May 11 -- News Corp., a diversified media and information services company, issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
News Corp announced today that it has completed its acquisition of the Books & Media segment of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH Books & Media).
As previously announced, the business will be operated by HarperCollins Publishers, a News Corp subsidiary.
"We welcome the talented team at HMH Books & Media to HarperCollins, especially at a time when so many people in so many places are reading and listening to books," said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News
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NEW YORK, May 11 -- News Corp., a diversified media and information services company, issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
News Corp announced today that it has completed its acquisition of the Books & Media segment of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH Books & Media).
As previously announced, the business will be operated by HarperCollins Publishers, a News Corp subsidiary.
"We welcome the talented team at HMH Books & Media to HarperCollins, especially at a time when so many people in so many places are reading and listening to books," said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of NewsCorp. "With the addition of the compelling Books & Media backlist and frontlist, as well as its expertise and creativity in digital development, HarperCollins will be even better positioned to serve authors and audiences around the world."
"We are happy to welcome HMH Books & Media employees, authors, and illustrators to the HarperCollins family," said Brian Murray, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers. "Uniting two publishing companies, each with more than 200 years of literary history, will be the focus of our combined teams. We look forward to new and exciting opportunities as we chart a stronger future together."
HMH Books & Media, with its extensive backlist of more than 7,000 titles and a significant frontlist in the lifestyle and children's segments, has a history of strong profitability. Popular HMH Books & Media titles include 1984 and Animal Farm, Curious George, The Polar Express, Little Blue Truck and The Little Prince. The acquisition gives HarperCollins US rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's works, which means the publisher now has global English language rights to titles that include The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
HMH Books & Media's Productions business repurposes its popular brands across media platforms, including the animated series Carmen Sandiego on Netflix, which is also in development as a live-action feature film. The company also has a flourishing audiobooks business, which is expected to add value to HarperCollins's own large and growing audiobook revenue stream.
HMH Books & Media was acquired by News Corp for $349 million in cash.
HarperCollins Publishers is the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world. In the most recent quarter, ending March 31, 2021, HarperCollins had 19% revenue growth, year-over-year, and Segment EBITDA surged 45%, with both frontlist and backlist performing strongly.
Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing operations in 17 countries. With 200 years of history and more than 120 branded imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year in 16 languages, and has a print and digital catalog of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, and the Man Booker Prize. HarperCollins has been home to authors who include Mark Twain, the Bronte sisters, Thackeray, Dickens, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Maurice Sendak, Shel Silverstein, and Margaret Wise Brown.
[Category: Media]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Completes Divestiture of HMH Books & Media for $349 Million
BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 11 -- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
Learning technology leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ("HMH" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: HMHC) today completed its previously announced divestiture of its consumer publishing business, HMH Books & Media, to HarperCollins Publishers, a division of News Corp (Nasdaq: NWSA), a global, diversified media and information services company, for a cash purchase price of $349 million. Net proceeds to HMH were approximately $337 million after transaction fees.
The Books & Media divestiture advances
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BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 11 -- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
Learning technology leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ("HMH" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: HMHC) today completed its previously announced divestiture of its consumer publishing business, HMH Books & Media, to HarperCollins Publishers, a division of News Corp (Nasdaq: NWSA), a global, diversified media and information services company, for a cash purchase price of $349 million. Net proceeds to HMH were approximately $337 million after transaction fees.
The Books & Media divestiture advancesHMH's Digital First, Connected strategy, accelerating the Company's growth momentum in digital sales, annual recurring revenue and free cash flow. This transaction deepens HMH's position as one of the largest and fastest growing companies in the edtech market, highly committed to building innovative solutions that deliver successful outcomes for students and teachers in all learning environments.
"This divestiture enables us to focus singularly on serving the large and growing K-12 education market and simultaneously extend our impact on student achievement," said Jack Lynch, President and CEO, HMH. "With a highly differentiated end-to-end technology platform underpinning our solutions, we are uniquely positioned to meet the need for purposeful digital learning and to enhance the value we provide to our customers--which include 90 percent of the nation's schools--and create for our shareholders. Importantly, the transaction also enables us to transform our capital structure and create flexibility, as a result of our ability to pay down a significant portion of our debt."
Lynch continued, "We wish our Books & Media colleagues the best and are grateful for the literary legacy that will always be central to HMH's story."
[Category: BizMedia]
Apple Awards Corning $45 Million From Its Advanced Manufacturing Fund
CUPERTINO, California, May 11 -- Apple, a provider of consumer electronics, computer software and online services, issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
Apple is awarding $45 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Corning Incorporated, a supplier of precision glass for iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad. The funding will expand Corning's manufacturing capacity in the US and drive research and development into innovative new technologies that support durability and long-lasting product life, building on both Apple and Corning's deep commitment to protecting the environment.
Corning
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CUPERTINO, California, May 11 -- Apple, a provider of consumer electronics, computer software and online services, issued the following news release on May 10, 2021:
Apple is awarding $45 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Corning Incorporated, a supplier of precision glass for iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad. The funding will expand Corning's manufacturing capacity in the US and drive research and development into innovative new technologies that support durability and long-lasting product life, building on both Apple and Corning's deep commitment to protecting the environment.
Corninghas already received $450 million from Apple's $5 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund over the last four years. Apple's investment helps support more than 1,000 jobs across Corning's US operations in Kentucky and other facilities. The investment has also helped facilitate research and development into state-of-the-art glass processes, which led to the creation of Ceramic Shield, a new material that is tougher than any smartphone glass.
"Apple and Corning have a long history of working together to accomplish the impossible," said Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer. "From the very first iPhone glass, to the revolutionary Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 12 lineup, our collaboration has changed the landscape of smartphone cover design and durability. Ceramic Shield is a prime example of the technologies that are possible when deep innovation meets the power of American manufacturing. We're so proud to work alongside Corning, whose 170-year-old legacy is a testament to the ingenuity of the US workforce."
With support from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, experts at both companies worked together to develop a new glass-ceramic, which gets its strength from nano-ceramic crystals, produced in Corning's plant in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, the facility where every generation of iPhone glass has been made.
The new material was enabled by a high-temperature crystallization step which forms nano-crystals within the glass matrix. Those specialized crystals are kept small enough that the material is transparent. The resulting material makes up the revolutionary Ceramic Shield, which Apple used to fashion the new front cover featured on iPhone in the iPhone 12 lineup. Prior to Ceramic Shield, embedded crystals have traditionally affected the material's transparency, a crucial factor for the front cover of iPhone because so many features, including the display, the camera, and sensors for Face ID, need optical clarity to function.
"We are incredibly proud of our collaboration with Apple on Ceramic Shield, made possible in part through the Advanced Manufacturing Fund and the hard work and dedication of hundreds of individuals at Corning and Apple," said Wendell P. Weeks, Corning's chairman and chief executive officer. "We thank Apple for our longstanding product-development partnership and for their continued commitment to supporting the American workforce. The deep investment they've provided for new manufacturing technology in our Harrodsburg, Kentucky, facility is not only fueling life-changing innovation, it's also helping us sustain vital communities where we live and work - a fundamental objective at both of our companies. Together, we're developing a world-class workforce, engaging them in new technologies, and creating opportunities for learning and training."
Corning has well-established training and education programs to create career advancement opportunities for their employees, fostering the kind of specialized workforce that can deliver innovations like Ceramic Shield. These programs include funding through the Corning Incorporated Foundation that helped build a new manufacturing center at local trade school Bluegrass Community Technical College, to support the development of trade positions at the Harrodsburg plant and within the community. The plant also has a state-licensed apprenticeship program for employees to continue their professional development.
Jason Alexander has been working at Corning's Harrodsburg plant as a mechanical maintenance associate for more than 20 years and is a graduate of the company's mechanical maintenance apprenticeship program.
"It means a lot to me -- personally and professionally -- to be part of a company that invests as much in its employees and its community as it does the latest innovations," said Alexander. "This year has been incredibly challenging for so many, and I am proud to be part of this team, and grateful to have had new opportunities to further develop my skills through the apprenticeship program and be part of so many cutting-edge projects. Thanks to Apple's support and Corning's leadership, the future is bright here in Harrodsburg."
Apple's longstanding relationship with Corning over the past decade is based on the company's unique expertise, strong community presence, and commitment to protecting the environment. Corning is part of Apple's Clean Energy Program, which is designed to advance the use of renewable energy throughout the company's supply chain and is an integral part of Apple's efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030. As part of that commitment, Corning has deployed multiple clean energy solutions, including the recent installation of a solar panel system at its Harrodsburg, Kentucky, facility. The company has procured enough renewable energy to cover all of its Apple manufacturing in the US.
[Category: BizElectronic Products]
