Monthly Archives: October 2011

PTSH – News – PTS, Inc. (PTSH) Completes Merger with Navistar Logistics (UK) Ltd.

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PTS, Inc. (PTSH) Completes Merger with Navistar Logistics (UK) Ltd.

London UK, October 7, 2011 – PTS, Inc. (PTSH; www.ptspi.com) and Navistar Logistics (UK) Ltd. http://www.navistar.co.uk/ announce that Navistar Logistics had been successfully merged into PTS. Inc. The merger was executed on all stock basis and Navistar represents PTS, Inc.’s sole subsidiary and a major shareholder.

Navistar Logistics (UK) Ltd. CEO, and the incoming CEO of PTS, Inc., John O’Brien stated “We are excited to have executed this merger and we look forward to raise the value of PTS, Inc. as its sole subsidiary. Navistar is a profitable and well-ran company, and we expect to make the most of our position as a publicly traded company.

“We bring revenues in the excess of $10 million, so we are looking at the option to uplist PTS, Inc. back to the reporting status. We consider ourselves ‘doers’ rather than ‘talkers’ and our advisors are trying to secure the route for this to happen smoothly, currently seeking a suitable PCBOA auditor. We should be able to provide update on this in few months.”

Navistar Overview:

Navistar has been established in the UK for over 10 years with a wealth of experience and knowledge in all logistics disciplines. Navistar specializes in air freight, sea freight and road haulage, transfer customs clearance, storage and fulfillment. Navistar can collect and deliver door-to-door anywhere in the world.

The company is a member of British International Freight Association (Navistar can be found on BIFA site: http://www.bifa.org/content/Member.aspx), Road Haulage Association (RHA; http://www.rha.uk.net/) and the British Chamber of Commerce.

Navistar Logistics (UK) Ltd. owns warehousing facilities in London, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Manchester, Newcastle and at most major ports, airports and hubs such as London Heathrow. All facilities are equipped with state of the art security controls, and lock down facilities for high value and sensitive goods.

Navistar has extensive partnerships throughout North America and a worldwide network of international approved agents, offering logistic services throughout UK, Northern and Southern Ireland, and Europe, and developed extensive relationships with the international logistics communities, such as ports, 3rd party forwarders, large-scale logistic coordination companies, customs, etc.

Navistar offers its customers various types of delivery vehicle options, such as transit-type vans, 7.5t and 18t curtain-sided trucks with tail lifts or “air ride” 40ft articulated lorries, all operated by experienced and courteous drivers. In total, the company owns a fleet of 35 vehicles, with the option to seek out 3rd party freight forwarders to accommodate all of its customers. All vehicles are equipped with GPS tracking and mobile phone communications. The company also offers refrigerated vehicles, and is certified to handle dangerous goods. Navistar offers on-line tracking system and freight management.

PTS, Inc. management will provide more updates on this and other company news shortly and promptly.

LSE chairman says exchange mergers benefit investors

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Mergers between international exchange groups will benefit both investors and capital raisers, the chairman of the London Stock Exchange group said, as he conceded that the LSE was caught ‘flat-footed’ by the growth of high-speed trading.

PepsiCo Rebuffs Split Speculation

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PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston has quashed suggestions that the global snacks and beverage giant could split into two.

In August, Kraft Foods announced its plans to divide in two, prompting industry analysts to wonder whether PepsiCo would follow suit.

Analysts at Sanford Bernstein have said a global snacks company and a global beverages company would likely be the best structure given the benefits of shared marketing and technology. Investors could also receive a financial benefit if a split did occur, they argued.

However, when Johnston, speaking on a conference call about PepsiCo’s third-quarter results yesterday (12 October), was asked if a split was being considered, he acknowledged the company was looking at “all sorts of combinations” but he ultimately poured cold water on the idea.

He said: “The senior management of this company is extremely shareholder value orientated and in the process of turning over every stone to look for opportunities. But in this case I have to tell you with some of the things that have been discussed by media and analysts, we really don’t see the value.”

Johnston spoke of the advantages that PepsiCo’s beverage arm gives the company in developing countries in terms of scale and local knowledge, which, he said, allows its snacks business to gain ground in each market.

“Taking that apart, we clearly create additional costs, with unclear benefits,” Johnston said. ”We see ourselves has having highly complementary businesses and taking it apart I know would be very costly and I really don’t see the benefit in doing so.”

Speculation over splitting the company aside, PepsiCo appears to have a lot celebrate in these results, especially in terms of food.

Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’s chairman and CEO, outlined said snacks volume increased 8% and highlighted the growth in volumes in emerging markets, such as India (which grew 19%), Turkey (16%), Saudi Arabia (12%) and double-digit revenue growth in China.

Nooyi said innovative products tailored to local tastes is fuelling growth in emerging and developed markets. Walkers Crinkles, she said, had achieved 25% household penetration in the UK and she pointed to the introduction of lines such as Lay’s olive oil and Ruffles Burger King flavours in Turkey and a new Lay’s multigrain snack line in local flavours like chilli pecan and spring onion in China.

Russia, where PepsiCo acquired dairy processor Wimm-Bill-Dann earlier this year, was also singled out as a star performer, despite some short-term challenges, such as commodity inflation, a drop in disposable incomes and a very hot summer that had a detrimental impact on their agricultural programmes

Zein Abdalla, CEO of PepsiCo Europe, said: “It’s one of our largest businesses globally, and a market that we really believe has an enormous long-term potential.

“The fundamentals in Russia are very strong. It’s one of the countries that has got, I think, a very robust set of economic indicators, low debt ratios, good foreign exchange reserves and strong and, obviously, continuous leadership.”

AT&T, Sprint Execs Trade Insults Over T-Mobile Merger

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San Diego, California (CNN) – Technology advances quickly in the wireless industry, but animosity can fester.

Chief executives for AT&T Mobility and Sprint Nextel, speaking at the CTIA wireless-industry trade show on Tuesday, took pot shots at each other in their respective keynote speeches.

Sprint has come out as the most vocal opponent of AT&T’s proposal to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom. After the U.S. government sued to block the merger, Sprint, the third-largest U.S. carrier by subscribers, also filed a federal lawsuit last month, calling it anti-competitive and harmful to consumers.

AT&T continues to promote the proposed transaction as one that will create jobs and improve cellular service for customers.

Sprint’s Dan Hesse, who was the first cell-carrier CEO to take the stage here Tuesday, opened his keynote by comparing Ralph de la Vega, the chief of AT&T’s wireless unit, to John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Hesse joked that comparing his competitor to a murderer was a compliment because Wilkes Booth was an attractive actor.

De la Vega quipped in his introduction that it’s ironic to be compared to an actor “from the guy who is the best actor we have in wireless today,” suggesting that Hesse, a frequent stage speaker, lacks substance.

AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile was announced a day before another major wireless-industry conference in March. When people asked Hesse how that Orlando event went, he said it felt a bit like being asked, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”

At that conference, Hesse and de la Vega were cordial in public. They appeared together onstage, along with Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead, for a session moderated by CNBC’s Jim Cramer. When Cramer asked whether the two would be at each other’s throats, Hesse said, “We shook hands!” but later said he had concerns about whether the merger would “stifle innovation.”

Mead spoke third Tuesday, and stayed out of the AT&T-Sprint feud. But his prepared statements elicited some laughs, seemingly unintentionally, in light of the vitriol from the preceding speakers.

“It’s very good to share the stage with Ralph and Dan and to hear their comments,” Mead said. “We’re coming together in full force.” Mead talked about “collaboration within the wireless industry” and “operating as an industry with the highest level of integrity.”

Besides the T-Mobile deal, another storm cloud hung over Tuesday’s gathering: last week’s death of a renowned inventor.

CTIA president Steve Largent opened the conference with a brief tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, saying “the development of the iPhone is at the top of the list” of major industry milestones. Google and Samsung canceled a news conference here, where they planned to unveil a new Android phone, as a sign of respect for Jobs.

Source: CNN.com

The Insurance Industry: Mergers and Acquisitions 2010

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A number of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A’s) between insurance companies have been implemented during 2010 in a bid to strengthen business activities in both mature and emerging markets. These developments have taken place as insurers strive to capture an increase in profitable markets and penetrate new markets to capitalize on shifting global demands.

The M&A’s implemented are planned to facilitate improvements in the quality and range of services which can be provided to clients, together with uplifting profit margins and share values for companies as rationalization processes are implemented.

An appetite for mergers and acquisitions within the global insurance industry has been re-activated in the last 18 months. These activities have occurred in the wake of the global financial crisis – which started in 2007/2008; the financial crisis originating in the USA with a knock-on impact worldwide.

With the economies in the western hemisphere still feeling the effect of financial instability into late 2010, growth has been focused on Asia, Latin American and the Middle East as these regions have emerged more quickly out of recession than the established markets in North America and Western Europe. Asia – particularly China and India – has become pivotal for the insurance industry off setting lacklustre returns from established markets.

While the USA and Western European countries are suffering from the impact of austerity measures, the major reforms of state provided healthcare services proposed in these major nations could be beneficial for private sector insurers. There is an expectation that populations may switch to private insurance in bigger numbers as standards and waiting times worsen in public sector provision. The out-sourcing of state funded medical treatments and procedures to private facilities with spare capacity may also be adopted as a more cost effective process in countries such as the United Kingdom.

Additionally opportunities for private insurers in western hemisphere countries could emerge from an attempt to rectify a estimated shortfall amounting to trillions of dollars in the pension and savings sectors in these nations; this deficit has been building up over many years and will need to be satisfied.

In the emerging markets of Asia and Latin America, the increasing wealth of the large populations has resulted in a demand for a broad range of insurance products. Insurance companies are poised to penetrate the market for micro-insurance, which is estimated to be worth some US$ 40 billion (£26 billion:€30 billion) of new premium business. A report issued by Swiss Reinsurance in December 2010 highlighted the potential demand for micro insurance primarily for low income populations in Asia, Latin America and Africa countries; the fledgling market being assessed at 4 billion policies covering a diverse range of products – 2.6 billion for people living on US$1.25 to US$4 a day plus the capability of a further 1.4 billion policies with the help of financial support from governments and international aid agencies.

Another niche market ready for expansion covers the development of tactful insurance primarily to populations in Islamic countries. This is based on the issue of mutually beneficial protection policies distinctly geared to markets in Middle Eastern and Asian countries.

Mergers And Acquisitions How They Can and Can’t Work

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Flawed Intentions
For starters, a booming stock market encourages mergers, which can spell trouble. Deals done with highly rated stock as currency are easy and cheap, but the strategic thinking behind them may be easy and cheap too. Also, mergers are often attempt to imitate: somebody else has done a big merger, which prompts other top executives to follow suit.A merger may often have more to do with glory-seeking than business strategy. The executive ego, which is boosted by buying the competition, is a major force in M&A, especially when combined with the influences from the bankers, lawyers and other assorted advisers who can earn big fees from clients engaged in mergers. Most CEOs get to where they are because they want to be the biggest and the best, and many top executives get a big bonus for merger deals, no matter what happens to the share price later.

On the other side of the coin, mergers can be driven by generalized fear. Globalization, the arrival of new technological developments or a fast-changing economic landscape that makes the outlook uncertain are all factors that can create a strong incentive for defensive mergers. Sometimes the management team feels they have no choice and must acquire a rival before being acquired. The idea is that only big players will survive a more competitive world.

The Obstacles to Making it Work
Coping with a merger can make top managers spread their time too thinly and neglect their core business, spelling doom. Too often, potential difficulties seem trivial to managers caught up in the thrill of the big deal.

The chances for success are further hampered if the corporate cultures of the companies are very different. When a company is acquired, the decision is typically based on product or market synergies, but cultural differences are often ignored. It’s a mistake to assume that personnel issues are easily overcome. For example, employees at a target company might be accustomed to easy access to top management, flexible work schedules or even a relaxed dress code. These aspects of a working environment may not seem significant, but if new management removes them, the result can be resentment and shrinking productivity.

More insight into the failure of mergers is found in the highly acclaimed study from McKinsey, a global consultancy. The study concludes that companies often focus too intently on cutting costs following mergers, while revenues, and ultimately, profits, suffer. Merging companies can focus on integration and cost-cutting so much that they neglect day-to-day business, thereby prompting nervous customers to flee. This loss of revenue momentum is one reason so many mergers fail to create value for shareholders.

But remember, not all mergers fail. Size and global reach can be advantageous, and strong managers can often squeeze greater efficiency out of badly run rivals. Nevertheless, the promises made by deal makers demand the careful scrutiny of investors. The success of mergers depends on how realistic the deal makers are and how well they can integrate two companies while maintaining day-to-day operations.

Source; http://www.investopedia.com

Mergers and Acquisitions: Why They Can Fail

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It’s no secret that plenty of mergers don’t work. Those who advocate mergers will argue that the merger will cut costs or boost revenues by more than enough to justify the price premium. It can sound so simple: just combine computer systems, merge a few departments, use sheer size to force down the price of supplies and the merged giant should be more profitable than its parts. In theory, 1+1 = 3 sounds great, but in practice, things can go awry.Historical trends show that roughly two thirds of big mergers will disappoint on their own terms, which means they will lose value on the stock market. The motivations that drive mergers can be flawed and efficiencies from economies of scale may prove elusive. In many cases, the problems associated with trying to make merged companies work are all too concrete.