Category: Deals & Investment

Broncus Holding Corporation Closed Series D Financing

HONG KONG, Jan 28, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Broncus Holding Corporation (“Broncus”), a global leader in diagnostic and therapeutic technology for lung diseases, announced today the closing of a Series D round of funding led by FountainVest Partners. Other investors include Exome Asset Management, Summer Capital, and Valliance Capital.

Broncus is dedicated to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic technology for lung diseases with focus on the diagnosis of lung cancer and the treatment of emphysema. Owning more than 200 patents, Broncus has built a comprehensive and robust pipeline of patented technologies using a disciplined approach. The Bronchoscopic Trans-Parenchymal Nodule Access (“BTPNA”) technology supporting the Archimedes System is able to access any part of the entire lung, reaching directly the lesions that are not connected to or adjacent to an airway. Leveraging its proprietary full-lung navigation technology, the company has developed an integrated interventional pulmonology platform encompassing navigation, diagnosis and treatment.

The funds raised in this round will be used for the commercialization and development of technology across lung cancer, emphysema and other important lung diseases. Efforts will include expanding commercial adoption and global clinical studies of the core products, and further development of next-generation radiofrequency technology to treat lung cancer with precision. Early investors in the company include Qiming Venture Capital, Lake Bleu Capital, DCP Capital, Ascendum Capital and Intuitive Surgical, an early pioneer and global technology leader in minimally invasive, robotic-assisted surgery.

Zhan Guowei, CEO of Broncus, said, “Our breakthrough navigation technology is enabling us to accelerate the development and commercialization of precise interventional technologies for diagnosis and treatment in order to improve options for patients with lung diseases and the physicians that care for them.”

Jason Li, Managing Director of FountainVest, said, “FountainVest Partners is excited to be supporting Broncus, one of the leading global players in the field of interventional diagnosis and therapy of lung diseases with proven capabilities to develop cutting edge innovative medical technologies. Leveraging FountainVest’s resource within the healthcare sector, we look forward to partnering with Broncus to explore further growth opportunities both domestically and globally.”

About Broncus Holding Corporation
Broncus is dedicated to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic technology for lung disease, a leading interventional pulmonology medical device player providing comprehensive lung solution offerings in China and globally. Founded in 2012, the company’s primary technology platforms focus on the diagnosis of lung cancer and the treatment of emphysema, and has developed an integrated interventional pulmonology platform encompassing navigation, diagnosis and treatment. The Archimedes System has been cleared by the FDA (U.S.), CE (Europe) and NMPA (China) and had broad patent protection globally. Under the unique R&D model, company combines international cutting-edge technologies with local R&D cost advantages to support a strong intellectual property portfolio and fast product iterations.

About FountainVest Partners
Founded in 2007, FountainVest Partners (“FountainVest”) is one of the most established independent private equity firms in Asia. FountainVest focuses on long-term oriented investments in industry leaders, partnering closely with management teams to drive growth and create value in diversified areas including in strategy, operations, finance, and industry consolidation. FountainVest has completed a number of successful landmark investments in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Sectors of focus include Consumer, Media & Technology, Healthcare, Industrials, and Financial and Business Services. FountainVest manages assets on behalf of world leading public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors.

Media Contact:
Broncus
Shirley Deng
Email: shirley.deng@dnamedtech.com

Trintech Named a ServiceNow Elite Partner in the ServiceNow Technology Partner Program

Debuts CadencyDirect Financial Close Automation Solution Designed for Enterprise Digital Workflow Transformation in the Office of Finance

Trintech, a leading global provider of integrated Record to Report software solutions for the office of finance, today announced that it has been named a ServiceNow Elite Partner in the ServiceNow Technology Partner Program. As an Elite Partner, Trintech is also announcing a new financial close automation solution, CadencyDirect, available through the ServiceNow Store. CadencyDirect is designed to leverage the Now Platform and is among the first integrations of digital workflows for the office of finance.

CadencyDirect is built on Trintech’s industry-leading Cadency(R) solution that combines all financial close activities into a single, seamless process, including operational matching, intercompany transaction management, balance sheet reconciliations, journal entry management, close task management and compliance. Cadency supports 100s of ERP instances including SAP(R), Oracle(R) and NetSuite(R). Cadency clients include ABB, Albertsons, AON, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, GSK, Ingram Micro, Kroger, Microsoft, Sanofi, Secure Trust Bank, Uber, Volvo AB, and Western & Southern.

“Enterprise organizations are facing complex, new challenges as they work to scale and grow in the current environment,” said Teresa Mackintosh, CEO at Trintech. “A comprehensive digital workflow transformation is vital to their future success, and our partnership with ServiceNow brings together two enterprise powerhouse offerings – Trintech’s CadencyDirect on the ServiceNow platform – to make that transformation achievable.”

The solution also provides existing Trintech customers and prospective customers with an ability to expand into the broader ServiceNow portfolio of solutions.

“As 21st century enterprises accelerate their digital transformation efforts, they understand the need to digitize workflows across every department to drive greater efficiencies and better employee experiences,” said Karel van der Poel, Senior Vice President, Product Incubation at ServiceNow. “For finance organizations, CadencyDirect complements and extends financial operations management so that CFOs and their teams can digitize workflows across the financial close process – reducing complexity and risk, accelerating the overall process, and driving a greater experience for finance teams.”

For more information, please contact either your appropriate ServiceNow or Trintech representative or go to www.trintech.com/CadencyDirect for more information.

About Trintech

Trintech Inc., a pioneer of Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) software, combines unmatched technical and financial expertise to create innovative, cloud-based software solutions that deliver world-class financial operations and insights. From high volume transaction matching and streamlining daily operational reconciliations, to automating and managing balance sheet reconciliations, intercompany accounting, journal entries, disclosure reporting and bank fee analysis, to governance, risk and compliance – Trintech’s portfolio of financial solutions, including Cadency(R) Platform, Adra(R) Suite, and targeted tools, ReconNET(TM), T-Recs(R), and UPCS(R), help manage all aspects of the financial close process. Over 3,500 clients worldwide – including the majority of the Fortune 100 – rely on the company’s cloud-based software to continuously improve the efficiency, reliability, and strategic insights of their financial operations.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Trintech has offices located across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics, as well as strategic partners in South Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific. To learn more about Trintech, visit www.trintech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Kristina Pereira Tully
Vested
650-464-0080
trintech@fullyvested.com

SOURCE: Trintech

Hong Kong Investor Relations Association Announces Winners of the 6th IR Awards 2020

HONG KONG, Sept 24, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – Hong Kong Investor Relations Association (“HKIRA”) today announced the winners of the 6th Investor Relations Awards 2020 (the “IR Awards” or the “Awards”).

Now in its sixth consecutive year, the Awards has been recognising and honouring investor relations (“IR”) excellence and best practices among Hong Kong-listed companies and IR professionals. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s IR Awards Conference and Awards Presentation Ceremony was held online for the first time, where experts and professionals were invited to conduct discussions with regard to strategies, leading changes, effective processes and best practices of investor relations from different perspectives. HKIRA is particularly honoured to have Mr. Christopher HUI, JP, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, HKSAR, as the guest of honour and keynote speaker at the Awards Presentation Ceremony.

The 6th IR Awards 2020 has gained strong support from listed companies and the investment sector. The number of participating companies increased to 168 compared to last year, reflecting higher market attention to investor relations. Just like previous years, the award winners were first nominated by the public and then selected by eligible voters from buy-side and sell-side investors via online polling. Over 670 investors took part in the voting for award winners this year. The active participation of the investment community also demonstrated the wide recognition that IR Awards enjoy in the industry.

With environment, social and governance becoming increasingly important factors that affect the strategies and operation of listed companies, the 6th IR Awards added “Best ESG (E), Best ESG (S)” and “Best ESG (G)” awards as well as the “Grand ESG Award” selected by the judging panel comprising representatives from the academic field, professional associations and investment community to honour companies demonstrating excellent in all 3 areas of ESG. Apart from the awards selected by public online voting and the judging panel, the new “My Favourite Listed Company” award was added this year to make the event more exciting, as all participants of the online conference were given a chance during the event to cast the vote for their favourite company among the winning list of companies this year.

Of all the award categories, “Overall Best IR Company” is the most prestigious since the judging panel makes their selection from the winners of all the award categories – honouring companies that have demonstrated exemplary and all-round excellence in investor relations. This year, the winners of Overall Best IR Company by company size – Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap – are Xiaomi Corporation (stock code: 1810); Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust (stock code: 0778); and Sa Sa International Holdings Limited (stock code: 0178) respectively.

Dr Eva Chan, Founding Chairman of HKIRA, said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed brought challenges to the preparation of HKIRA IR Awards this year, but thanks to the support and assistance of our partners including listed companies, IROs, advisors, regulators and sponsors, and the efforts of our team, the conference and award presentation ceremony managed to go off without a hitch via live broadcast. I really want to express my gratitude to the participation of various parties and their assistance provided during the preparation. We are glad to witness the growing recognition of IR profession in Hong Kong, as well as the enlarging scale and rising standards, making IR an essential part for the corporate governance of listed companies in Hong Kong.”

She added, “Despite the uncertain situation of pandemic that forced us to postpone the event, HKIRA has maintained close communications with our members and industry since the initial outbreak in Hong Kong. In February, we announced the ‘IR Guidance amid Coronavirus Outbreak’, providing IROs with practical information and guidance, and also helping maintain communications with investors and stakeholders during the pandemic. Webinars were also held regularly, in which the industrial peers were invited to share how to overcome challenges brought by COVID-19, so as to maintain service quality of IR during pandemic through exchanging experience. Looking ahead, we will strive to maintain the excellent IR standards in Hong Kong, so as to reinforce Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre and capital market.”

Winners of the 6th IR Awards include the following companies (in sequential order of tickers):

Tickers Company

0001 CK Hutchison Holdings Limited

0014 Hysan Development Company Limited

0016 Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited

0017 New World Development Company Limited

0035 Far East Consortium International Limited

0135 Kunlun Energy Company Limited

0178 Sa Sa International Holdings Limited

0291 China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited

0435 Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust

0551 Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited

0659 NWS Holdings Limited

0700 Tencent Holdings Limited

0763 ZTE Corporation

0778 Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust

0799 IGG Inc

0823 Link Real Estate Investment Trust

0832 Central China Real Estate Limited

0839 China Education Group Holdings Limited

0868 Xinyi Glass Holdings Limited

0887 Emperor Watch & Jewellery Limited

0968 Xinyi Solar Holdings Limited

1044 Hengan International Group Company Limited

1119 iDreamSky Technology Holdings Limited

1200 Midland Holdings Limited

1205 CITIC Resources Holdings Limited

1361 361 Degrees International Limited

1368 Xtep International Holdings Limited

1383 Suncity Group Holdings Limited

1608 VPower Group International Holdings Limited

1756 Huali University Group Limited

1797 Koolearn Technology Holding Limited

1810 Xiaomi Corporation

1929 Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited

2020 ANTA Sports Products Limited

2103 Sinic Holdings (Group) Company Limited

2199 Regina Miracle International (Holdings) Limited

2313 Shenzhou International Group Holdings Limited

2343 Pacific Basin Shipping Limited

2778 Champion Real Estate Investment Trust

3331 Vinda International Holdings Limited

3998 Bosideng International Holdings Limited

6068 Wisdom Education International Holdings Company Limited

6158 Zhenro Properties Group Limited

For the complete list of winners, please visit: http://hkira.com/awards/ehall2020.php

Strategic Public Relations Group is once again proud to be the Official Public Relations Partner and Diamond Sponsor of HKIRA IR Awards 2020.

Judging Panel

– Professor Louis Cheng (Chairman of Judging Panel)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Director, Centre for Economic Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Finance

– Mrs. Amy Donati

EDICO Holdings Limited – Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

– Mr. William Fung

AMTD Group – Group Vice President

– Ms. Ashley Khoo, CFA, CPA

The Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts – Director

– Mr. Bruno Lee

Hong Kong Investment Funds Association – Chairman

– Mr. Andrew Look

CITIC Resources Holdings Limited – Independent Non-Executive Director

– Ms. Victoria Mio, CFA, CPA (US), FRM

FIL Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited – Director, Asia Equity Investment

– Ms. Helen Zee

The Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies – Vice Chairman

About HKIRA

Founded in 2008 with over 900 members mostly working for companies primarily listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Investor Relations Association (HKIRA) is a non-profit professional association in investor relations (IR), comprising IR practitioners and corporate officers, who are responsible for communications between corporate management and the investment community. HKIRA is dedicated to advocating the setting of international standards in IR education, advancing the best IR practices and catering for the professional development needs of those who are interested in pursuing a professional career in IR. HKIRA’s members are from a wide spectrum of professions including IR, finance, accounting and company secretarial to corporate investment and hold positions at different corporate levels, including top executives responsible for IR and management of listed companies. For more information about HKIRA details, please visit our website http://www.hkira.com

About the IR Awards

Inaugurated in 2015, the Investor Relations Awards (IR Awards) celebrates excellence in the local IR industry through the annual presentation of awards to the many diverse professionals that make up the dynamic IR and finance industries in Hong Kong. HKIRA aims to initiate the IR Awards as the industry benchmark for high standard of excellence in IR by individuals and companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

The Awards ceremony is a significant gathering of IR specialists and industry professionals that applauds and publicises the year’s most outstanding achievements in the dynamic IR field in Hong Kong. For details of the Awards and online nominations, please visit http://www.hkira.com/awards.

Media enquiries:

Strategic Public Relations Group

Cindy Lung Tel: +852 2864 4867 Email: cindy.lung@sprg.com.hk

Angela Wong Tel: +852 2114 4953 Email: angela.wong@sprg.com.hk

Rachel Ko Tel: +852 2114 2370 Email: rachel.ko@sprg.com.hk

Website: www.sprg.asia

Hong Kong Investor Relations Association

Bowie Chan Tel: (852) 2117 1846 Email: irawards@hkira.com

Website: www.hkira.com

Clavent’s Flagship Event TESTCON Goes Virtual in 2020!

INDIA, Sept 21, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – Clavent, an India based global conferences company, has been hosting their flagship event TESTCON across the world for the past few years in countries like India, Australia, Singapore, Philippines, UK and more. Considering the COVID-19 outbreak, Clavent has cancelled all their physical editions worldwide and is hosting one global virtual edition of the conference TESTCON VIRTUAL SUMMIT on 25th-26th September. The conference will reportedly be hosting 400+ attendees from 20+ countries and 25+ speakers from around the world to discuss the disruptions and latest buzzwords in software testing. The virtual conference will allow real-time interaction and seamless networking experience with speakers and fellow delegates. The platform will try to recreate all the elements of an offline conference in an online environment.

During the two days of virtual talks and discussions, attendees will discover industry secrets and gain a new cache of knowledge about the latest in Test Automation. Clavent has secured an outstanding lineup of talented thought leaders and influencers from the industry like; Pradeep Soundararajan from Moolya; Gaurav Mahajan from Contentserv; Ajay Balamurugadas from Qapitol QA; Rahul Prasad from Bobble AI; Bilal Ahmed from Tricentis; Ketan Joshi from Deutsche Bank; Laveena Ramchandani from Deloitte UK; Divya Vaishnavi from GitHub; Sumit Mundhada from Vodafone (_VOIS), Silvia Ohr from ASX Australia; Vikas Mittal from Forbes; and more.

“We have been hosting TESTCON in more than 8 countries around the world but this year, with the COVID outbreak, the entire industry has taken a hit and there have been major layoffs and shutdowns but we as an organization are adapting to the situation and organising virtual conferences. I personally believe, it’s really tough to recreate the experience of an offline conference into a virtual/digital realm but we have been hosting virtual conferences across the year and we tried to recreate a decent virtual platform to enable learning and networking. We really wanted to continue to do our job of facilitating a platform to showcase the best in software testing and test automation and thus, a virtual conference!,” said Sneha Betharia, Director of Clavent.

The conference is set to take place this week on 25th and 26th of September starting 10 AM IST. For more information and to register for the Testcon 2020 conference, http://bit.ly/testcon_2020. Join pre-conference discussions and thought topics on twitter (@calventevents #Testcon2020) and facebook (@ClaventEvents). For any other enquiries, please mail on contact@clavent.com.

Activation Establishes RMB1 Billion Industry Fund with SHIVC

Activation Group Holdings Limited (“Activation” or the “Company”, collectively, the “Group”, stock code: 9919), a provider of integrated marketing solutions in Greater China, has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Innovital Capital (“SHIVC”) to jointly establish an industry fund with a target size of RMB1 billion. The fund is set to help the Group to invest and develop related businesses in pan-cultural industries, such as fashion, sports and entertainment industry, digital and creative marketing related business; ultimately optimize the operation layout for brand and IP establishment.

According to the memorandum of understanding, the sector fund will invest in projects that generate synergies with the Group’s core businesses as well as capitalises on the fund’s capital advantage while leveraging the resources of professional investment institutions. The fund will focus on investing in the sports culture, creative marketing, sales and marketing industries or other enterprises that create synergies with the Group’s existing businesses that are able to demonstrate its core competitiveness, high growth or tremendous growth potential, thereby creating new growth engines in accelerating the Group’s future business development.

When Activation was listed, it already planned to acquire companies that could drive its development, on top of organic growth. With the establishment of an industry fund, SHIVC agrees to make reasonable efforts and leverage its competitive edges in the PRC market to recommend and introduce invaluable resources (including government resources, cultural advertising, cultural technology and cultural real estate sectors) and investment projects proprietary to Activation so as to enable the Group’s business expansion.

A spokesperson for SHIVC said, “As we at SHIVC have the utmost confidence in Activation’s future prospects, we have recently taken a 14.42% stake in the Group to become its major shareholder. We are very pleased to further cooperate with Activation and will leverage our extensive experience and rich resources in equity investment to help the Company achieve rapid growth and further business development with an aim to achieve mutual success, and ultimately, realise our vision of nurturing a group of leading enterprises that stand out in the cultural field.”

Mr Steve LAU Kam Yiu, Joint-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Activation Group, said, “The conditions favouring digital transformation have continued to emerge. We have seen top global brands recognize and show genuine interest towards adopting the combination of online activities with offline marketing campaigns, despite having been traditionally attached to conventional ways of promotion. Looking ahead, we will capitalise on SHIVC’s network to improve the efficiency of capital use and resource mapping, as well as invest in enterprises that can generate synergies with our existing businesses in order to further enhance our digitalization strategy and optimise the operation layout for our brands and IPs, actively spearheading the Company’s development.”

About Activation Group Holdings Limited
Activation Group Holdings Limited is a leading and fast-growing integrated marketing solutions provider and brands and international IPs operator that focuses on the provision of experiential marketing, digital and brand communication, and public relations services primarily in the Greater China market. The shares of the Company have been listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited since 16 January 2020. According to an independent market research report issued by China Insights Industry Consultancy Limited, the Group ranked first in the experiential marketing services for premium and luxury brands market in Greater China in 2018. The Group also focuses on tapping the sports and entertainment IP development sector. Since 2016, the Group has operated an IP development business for the sports market, having entered into cooperation agreements with LaLiga and Amaury Sport Organisation, which granted the Group exclusive rights to respectively organise authorised events with the LaLiga Club brand and Le Tour de France brand and rights for marketing, sponsorship, merchandising and other uses in the PRC. In 2017, the Group established Stufish Asia Limited with Stufish Productions Limited to tap the entertainment IP development industry.

About Shanghai Innovital Capital
Initiated by the Shanghai Municipal Government, SHIVC is a fund that focuses on strategically emerging areas and innovative venture capital platform, so as to accomplish the mission of leading the innovation and transformation of Shanghai. Adhering to the guiding and operational policies of “marketization, professionalism and internationalization”, the fund of over RMB10 billion is set to attract more capital into venture investments, steer the right course of capital flow, and enhance the support for companies in the early or middle stages, industrial chains and clusters. So far, the capital under its management has exceeded RMB50 billion, comprising investments in nearly 1,000 innovative enterprises and business incubation projects. It has also nurtured a wide arrange of leading companies with their own intellectual property (IP) such as Weimob, ByteDance, Ingenic, Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority, Cambricon, Qi An Xin, LUNO, and New Culture. Currently, SHIVC has four major investment strategies, and one of them is focusing on the investments in pan-cultural industries through cultural and entertainment promotion and distribution.

SinoMab entered into Strategic Collaboration with D2M

SinoMab BioScience Limited (“SinoMab” of the “Company”, stock code: 3681.HK), a Hong Kong-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of immunological diseases, is pleased to announce that SinoMab and D2M Biotherapeutics Limited (“D2M”) have entered into a Research, Development and Commercialization Agreement (“R&D Agreement”) for long term collaboration for the identification of novel drug targets. Other than the R&D agreement, the Company is also going to invest totally USD 5 million in D2M as pre-A1 round investment.

Dr. Nan BING, one of the founders of D2M, served as a Senior Director of Immunogenetics of Pfizer Inc., (U.S.A.). Dr. BING was a founding team member of the genetic data department of Pfizer and has extensive experience in discovering biomarkers through clinical data and identifying drug treatment targets through various genetic data.

Under the R&D Agreement, SinoMab and D2M enter into long-term collaboration where SinoMab is entitled to conduct research, development and commercialization of qualified drug targets, which are chosen by the Company from the original results of D2M’s target identification works according to a prioritized target-selection mechanism (“Collaboration”). D2M shall identify novel drug targets for the Company to consider further development upon satisfactory evaluation by the Company on the scientific merits and commercial potential of these discoveries.

Dr. Shui On LEUNG, the Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SinoMab, remarked: “Our Collaboration and investment in D2M are intended to expand the scope of SinoMab’s existing capabilities and values by ramifying into areas of novel target identification against which antibodies can be developed for the treatment of diseases of unmet medical needs. We are optimistic that through the synergies created by our Collaboration, D2M can contribute to the success of our future business development. The newly added drug target identification platform will make SinoMab in line with most other well-known biopharmaceutical companies which have had substantial investment in this area. It is a suitable timing for SinoMab to strategically collaborate with D2M for novel drug target identification and move-up its value chain.”

With the additional value created by D2M on the upstream research and development process in the biotech industry, such as target identification and therapeutics and therapies discovery, contributed to the Company. A strategic collaboration will be established by the parties, where SinoMab and D2M can combine their strengths and resources to create greater business value. The Company believes that the Collaboration marks a major step forward for the Company to fulfill the Company’s commitment to research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of immunological and other debilitating disease.

About D2M Biotherapeutics Limited
D2M Biotherapeutics Limited (“D2M”) is a company specialized in the development of a genetics-driven target identification platform and the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics and therapies against those targets for treatment or prevention of human diseases.

About SinoMab BioScience Limited
SinoMab BioScience Limited (“SinoMab” or the “Company”, stock code: 3681.HK) is dedicated to the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of immunological diseases. The Company’s flagship product SM03 is a potential global first-in-target mAb against CD22 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and is currently in Phase III clinical trial for rheumatoid arthritis in China, which has been recognized as one of the significant special projects of Significant New Drugs Development of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan Period and the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan Period. In addition, the Company possesses other potential first-in-target and first-in-class drug candidates, some of which are already in clinical stage, with their indications covering rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, asthma, and other diseases with major unmet clinical needs.

Hon Kwok Land Signs Lease Agreement with Global Industry Leader for En-Bloc Data Centre in Kwai Chung

Hon Kwok Land Investment Company, Limited (“Hon Kwok Land” or the “Group”; Stock Code: 160), is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gold Famous Development Limited, has entered into a long-term lease agreement with a global data centre industry leader for en-bloc space of the Group’s newly completed data centre in Kwai Chung. This move is a milestone, expanding Hon Kwok Land’s capability to develop special-purpose properties with highly specific building requirements for enterprise customers. It also marks an important advance to the Group’s portfolio by leveraging its advantage as a property developer and construction conglomerate.

The only high power density data centre in Hong Kong built in recent years

The newly completed data centre is a 14-storey building with a GFA of about 228,000 square feet, designed for data centre purpose with UTI Tier III standards. To address enterprise requirements for operational stability, the building features transformer rooms of 132kV and 11kV powered by CLP Power Hong Kong Limited, providing the facilities with a 50MVA + 26 MVA dual-feed power supplies. It is currently the only data centre capable of providing high-density power supply with 24 MW IT loads in Hong Kong that has been built in recent years. The data centre is expected to commence full operations by September 2021.

Mr. James Wong Jr., Executive Director of Hon Kwok Land, said, “The data centre market is a new direction for us. With more than 40 years in the property business, the Group is sensitive to market trends. We saw that the advent of 5G mobile networks in Hong Kong would spur a vast need for storing and processing data. Therefore, we developed and funded this data centre project from 2015 and completed the building utilising the advantages of Chinney Alliance Group Limited (“Chinney Alliance”, Stock Code: 0385) for its extensive experiences and expertise in foundation works, superstructure construction and building services. In particular, our fellow subsidiary Chinney Construction Co. Ltd. designed and built this highly technical structure. Designed to be an innovative data centre, this project goes beyond conventional investment, construction, design and facility management. It merges carrier-neutral networks, communication and information security and unified management solutions.”

Chinney Construction Group, a subsidiary of Chinney Alliance specialising in superstructure works in Hong Kong and Macau, provided the overall design and build services including data centre design, project management, construction and MEP infrastructure installation services to this building.

Generating stable and recurring income stream

The successful leasing of this data centre could ensure a stable and recurring income stream to Hon Kwok Land, thus strengthening its financial capability for future development and to meet challenges from the ever-changing business environment.

“The completion and the successful leasing of this data centre represent a new chapter in Hon Kwok Land’s project development. In addition to a long history of developing residential and commercial buildings, the Group is now poised to also diversify our project portfolio and tap the potential for alternative property investments. We are confident that the partnership with Chinney Alliance will give the Group an edge in capturing opportunities in data processing and storage space”, Mr. Wong noted.

About Hon Kwok Land Investment Company, Limited
Hon Kwok Land Investment Company, Limited was founded in 1965 and listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 1972. Its primary business is property development and investment. It has completed over 40 projects throughout Hong Kong and overseas. It is a subsidiary of Chinney Investments, Limited. (Stock Code: 0216). In 1997, the Group set up a wholly-owned subsidiary Hon Kwok Investment (China) Limited to focus on developing the Mainland China market. At present, Hon Kwok Investment (China) has investment projects mainly in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan and Chongqing.

Media Enquiries:
Strategic Financial Relations Limited
Veron Ng Tel: (852) 2864 4831 Email: veron.ng@sprg.com.hk
Phoebe Leung Tel: (852) 2114 4172 Email: phoebe.leung@sprg.com.hk

Trintech and The Hackett Group Announce Strategic Partnership to Help Organizations Transform the Close

Trintech, a leading global provider of integrated Record to Report software solutions for the office of finance, and The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT), an intellectual property-based strategic consultancy and leading enterprise benchmarking and best practices digital transformation firm to global companies, today jointly announced a strategic alliance to deliver finance solutions that empower organizations to deliver real-time financial intelligence to executives and add strategic value to the enterprise.

“The demand for Record to Report technology solutions continues to grow as finance organizations around the world seek to increase not only the efficiency, but also the effectiveness of their financial close,” said David Dungan, Vice Chairman and COO of The Hackett Group. “We believe this strategic partnership with Trintech will offer customers a comprehensive solution that will drive true financial transformation.”

With this strategic alliance, Trintech and The Hackett Group will provide CFO and CIO organizations with effective finance processes and technology solutions that optimize efficiencies, visibility, governance and controls across the entire Record to Report process. By improving and automating these operations, Trintech and The Hackett Group will help the office of the CFO reduce costs and risk and allow them to free up valuable resources to refocus their time and effort on other initiatives critical to the business.

“We are confident that organizations committed to digitally enabling and transforming their financial processes will benefit immensely from the combination of Trintech’s System of Accounting Intelligence(TM) and The Hackett Group’s expertise in helping businesses simplify, standardize, and automate their processes,” said Russ Hubbard, Chief Revenue Officer at Trintech. “Together, we aim to help finance organizations become simpler, agile and more efficient.”

With this partnership, Trintech’s customers will be able to extend and augment the benefits they have experienced from utilizing Trintech’s leading Record to Report solution by engaging The Hackett Group’s empirical benchmarks, intellectual property, and focused consulting capabilities that detail how companies can improve efficiency and effectiveness and quantify world-class and peer performance. The Hackett Group’s research also spotlights strategic thinking in financial transformation strategy, best practices and emerging areas – including the increasing use of digital transformation such as robotic process automation and artificial intelligence.

About The Hackett Group

The Hackett Group (HCKT) is an intellectual property-based strategic consultancy and leading enterprise benchmarking and best practices digital transformation firm to global companies, offering digital transformation including robotic process automation and enterprise cloud application implementation. Services include business transformation, enterprise analytics, working capital management and global business services. The Hackett Group also provides dedicated expertise in business strategy, operations, finance, human capital management, strategic sourcing, procurement and information technology, including its award-winning Oracle and SAP practices.

The Hackett Group has completed more than 15,000 benchmarking studies with major corporations and government agencies, including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 89% of the Fortune 100, 87% of the DAX 30 and 59% of the FTSE 100. These studies drive its Best Practice Intelligence Center(TM) which includes the firm’s benchmarking metrics, best practices repository and best practice configuration guides and process flows, which enable The Hackett Group’s clients and partners to achieve world-class performance.

More information on The Hackett Group is available at: www.thehackettgroup.com, info@thehackettgroup.com, or by calling +1-770-225-3600.

Hackett Cautionary Statement Regarding “Forward Looking” Statements

This release contains “forward looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements including without limitation, words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, seeks”, “estimates” or other similar phrases or variations of such words or similar expressions indicating, present or future anticipated or expected occurrences or outcomes are intended to identify such forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are not statements of historical fact and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may impact such forward looking statements include without limitation, the ability of Hackett to effectively market and continuing demand for Trintech software, its digital transformation and other consulting services, competition from other consulting and technology companies who may have or develop in the future, similar offerings, the commercial viability of Hackett and its services as well as other risk detailed in Hackett’s reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Hackett does not undertake any duty to update this release or any forward looking statements contained herein.

About Trintech

Trintech Inc., a pioneer of Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) software, combines unmatched technical and financial expertise to create innovative, cloud-based software solutions that deliver world-class financial operations and insights. From high volume transaction matching and streamlining daily operational reconciliations, to automating and managing balance sheet reconciliations, intercompany accounting, journal entries, disclosure reporting and bank fee analysis, to governance, risk and compliance – Trintech’s portfolio of financial solutions, including Cadency(R) Platform, Adra(R) Suite, and targeted tools, ReconNET(TM), T-Recs(R), and UPCS(R), help manage all aspects of the financial close process. Over 3,500 clients worldwide – including the majority of the Fortune 100 – rely on the company’s cloud-based software to continuously improve the efficiency, reliability, and strategic insights of their financial operations.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Trintech has offices located across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics, as well as strategic partners in South Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific. To learn more about Trintech, visit www.trintech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contacts:
Kelli Shoevlin, Trintech – +1-972-739-1680 or Kelli.Shoevlin@trintech.com
Gary Baker, The Hackett Group – +1-917-796-2391 or gbaker@thehackettgroup.com

SOURCE: Trintech, Inc.

MicroPort CardioFlow Completes Raising New Round of Funds

On April 15, 2020, MicroPort Scientific Corporation (Stock code: 00853) (“MicroPort”), announced that MicroPort CardioFlow Medtech Corporation (“MicroPort CardioFlow”), which is a subsidiary of MicroPort, had completed raising a new round of funds on the basis of a pre-money valuation of US$1.1 billion. The introduction of seven prominent strategic investors, who are CPE, Hillhouse Capital Management, Ltd., Lake Bleu Capital, Gamnat, China Reform Conson Soochow Overseas Fund I L.P., Gortune Artemis Limited, and 3H Health Investment Fund I, L.P., raised approximately US$130 million. After this round of fundraising, the investors will have an aggregate shareholding of 10.83% in MicroPort CardioFlow. J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited and Citigroup Global Markets Asia Limited acted as co-placement agents in the transaction.

MicroPort CardioFlow focuses on the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of comprehensive medical device solutions to the treatment of valvular heart diseases. Its independently developed VitaFlow Transcatheter Aortic Valve and Delivery System (“VitaFlow Valve System”) received the registration certificate from National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA) in July 2019. VitaFlow Valve System is the first approved Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) product using bovine pericardium as valve tissue in China, as well as the first TAVI product that features a double-layer PET skirt and a motorized delivery system in China. Accompanied by Alwide Balloon Dilation Catheter and Alpass Catheter Sheath Set, which were independently developed by MicroPort CardioFlow and approved by NMPA, VitaFlow Valve System provides a comprehensive full-set therapeutic solution for clinicians. The clinical data of VitaFlow Valve System have proved that the product can effectively improve the safety and efficacy of the TAVI procedure, which has been widely endorsed by industry experts and clinicians in practice. VitaFlow Valve System launched its official commercialization in August 2019. As of April 16, 2020, the products have entered a total of 51 hospitals with TAVI capacity, including Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Fuwai Hospital, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital.

Dr. Qiyi Luo, Chief Technology Officer of MicroPort and Chairman of MicroPort CardioFlow, said, “With about 10 years of committed development of its aortic valve business, MicroPort CardioFlow has become an influential player in the field of heart valve in China and been favored by the capital market. This round of fundraising will bring in more resources for the development of the company in research and development, manufacturing, market expansion, and the enhancement of its market competitiveness. We have every confidence that we will maintain rapid development in the niche market of medical devices for valvular heart diseases, so as to provide more patients with high-quality and accessible integrated therapeutic solutions to valvular diseases.”

Edvantage Group (0382.HK) Entered into Strategic Cooperative Partnership with Kingdee Group

Comprehensively realizing digital transformation of Edvantage Group;
Further encouraging innovative model for talent nurturing with integration of industry and education

Video Signing Ceremony across Shenzhen and Hongkong
Signing Ceremony(from left to right: Principal Chen Yue of Kingdee Training Education Sector; Principal Guo Yinhua of Huashang Education Group; COO Ms. Liu Wenqi of Edvantage Group)
Management of Edvantage Group(from left to right: CFO-Mr. Wong Shing Mun; CEO-Ms. Liu Yi Man; Chairman-Mr. Liu Yung Chau; CF&IR Director-Mr. Sunny Yan)

Edvantage Group Holdings Limited (“Edvantage Group” or the “Group”, stock code: 0382.HK), the largest private higher education group in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (the “Greater Bay Area”), is pleased to announce that the Group has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Kingdee Software (China) Co., Ltd. (“Kingdee Group”, stock code: 0268.HK), a leading enterprise management software and e-commerce application solution provider in Asia Pacific. Edvantage Group fully exerts its professional recourses and brand advantages, along with Kingdee Group’s industrial advantages in the field of management software industry and enterprise cloud service application information technology, to join forces to promote the integration of industry and education. In the light of that, the Group’s digital transformation will be further promoted, and the Group’s financial vocational training and social services capabilities will be further improved as well, bringing the realization of joint development and win-win situation.

Comprehensively realizing digital transformation
Further optimizing corporate operation and management
Edvantage Group is the first private higher education group to enter strategic partnership with Kingdee Group in China. With established regional network in China, Australia and Singapore, the Group will see expansion of international network in the future, thus comprehensive digital transformation will better fuel the Group’s international business development and improve operation and management efficiency of domestic and international business. Operation cost will be significantly reduced as well.

– Regarding informatization construction, Kingdee Group will allocate the optimal resources and advanced management model to help Edvantage Group to fully improve its digital management level in accordance with the Group’s informatization construction strategy and goals. At the same time, they will jointly analyze the advanced enterprise management model in the education industry. Kingdee Group will combine the management results of the research with the actual management situation and industry characteristics of Edvantage Group to form a Chinese management model in the education industry.

– Regarding the financial sharing center’s construction, Kingdee Group provides related planning and construction consultation, system process planning, and software system support for the construction of Edvantage Group’s financial sharing center. Both sides will jointly create an efficient sharing and management system and establish the financial sharing model for the education industry.

Further encouraging the integration of industry and education
Continuously expanding the vocational education training business
Kingdee Group also assists the Group in extending innovative information management technology, modern corporate management concepts, and advanced corporate culture to the Group’s professional teaching and social services. Together, both parties will promote the innovative model of professional talent training and the integration of industry and education, as well as deepen the school-enterprise cooperation to further improve the employment quality of graduates. At the same time, both sides proactively respond to the government policy on “1+X” certification system and cooperate to develop certification courses for college students and adult learner, which enable the Group to develop vigorously in the field of vocational education and training.

– Regarding the integration of industry and education, both parties jointly create new business majors cooperation, and integrate cloud management with ABCD new technology-related industrial resources, to promote the updating of professional talent training programs in the fields of accounting, management and software, and jointly cultivate composite application-oriented talents that are suitable for enterprise digital management.

– Regarding the vocational education and training, both parties integrate their competitive resources and develop a series of training courses of enterprise digital management in new technology fields such as big data, industrial internet, and cloud technology to explore diversified education services for enterprise and social trainee in Greater Bay Area. In addition, both sides plan to establish an industrial college to jointly cultivate enterprise information management talents and application-oriented talents who fulfill the demand of industry digital management field.

The Group is the largest private higher education group weighed in business in the Greater Bay Area, while the Kingdee Group is a leader in the Chinese software market headquartered in Shenzhen, making the cooperation a strong alliance between two industry leaders both rooted in the Greater Bay Area. Adhering to the principles of “complementary advantages, resource sharing, mutual benefit and win-win development, and joint development”, both parties establish close and long-term strategic partnerships of mutual benefit and complementary advantages to achieve the goals of joint development and mutual benefit. Looking forward, in the light of the comprehensive realization of digital transformation, the Group’s domestic and international networks will be more efficiently and seamlessly connected, which will further optimize the overall operation of the Group. In addition, the further development of the integration of industry and education will not only grant the graduates’ competitiveness in the employment market, but also strengthen the Group’s brand reputation. The continuous expansion of the vocational education and training business not only conforms to the national education policy, but also enriches the Group’s income sources.

About Edvantage Group Holdings Limited
Edvantage Group Holdings Limited (“Edvantage Group” or the “Group”, stock code: 0382.HK) is the largest private higher education group in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (in terms of total student enrolment of business majors for the 2017/2018 school year), and an early mover in education sector in pursuing international expansion. With a sizeable student base, the Company operates with economies of scale. In China, the Edvantage Group currently operates two private higher education institutions located in the Great Bay Area of Guangdong Province, China, namely Huashang College and Huashang Vocational College. Huashang College and Huashang Vocational College focus their programme offerings on business programmes, such as accounting, finance, economics and business English, and strive to help students to achieve employment prospects when they graduate, and to benefit from the availability of employment opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. The Company also operates a private vocational education institution named Global Business College of Australia (“GBCA”) authorized by ASQA in Australia, offering vocational education courses and non-formal short-term courses aiming to provide students with competitive advantages and global prospective.

The Group has also acquired NYU Language School, a local school in Singapore and has established the Singapore campus based in the existing NYU Language School. NYU Language School has been accredited as EduTrust by the Education Department of Singapore. The Singapore campus is expected to commence operation in April 2020. In addition to the language preparatory courses, the new campus also provides undergraduate and college courses and start-up/training courses. It is qualified to offer internationally-recognised courses and accept local and overseas students in Singapore.

About Kingdee Software (China) Co., Ltd.
Kingdee Software (China) Co., Ltd. (“Kingdee Group”, stock code: 0268.HK) was founded in 1993 and listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Well-known as a leading enterprise management software and e-commerce application solution provider in Asia Pacific, one of the fastest growing independent software vendors in the global software market and a leader in China’s software industry, Kingdee Group is committed to becoming “the worthiest entrusted enterprise service platform”. Kingdee Group is headquartered in Shenzhen, China, running nearly 100 branches in mainland China focusing on marketing and services, and partnering with more than 2,400 consulting, technology, implementation services, and distribution organization, providing cloud services to more than 6.8 million enterprises and government organizations. According to authoritative IDC data, Kingdee Group has ranked No. 1 in the market share of Chinese SMEs for 14 consecutive years and ranked No. 1 regarding the enterprise SaaS ERM market share for 3 consecutive years. It is the only Chinese enterprise SaaS cloud service vendor selected into Gartner’s Global Market Guide.