February 20, 2021 at 4:03 a.m.
Byju’s close to purchasing its rival
Business roundup
Byju’s close to purchasing its rival
A company that counts a former Portland resident as a major investor is close to acquiring one of its rivals.
Byju's is expected to sign a deal to buy Toppr Technologies, a firm that provides online learning materials to fifth through 12th grade students.
The purchase is expected to have a price tag of about $150 million. Bloomberg reported the pending purchase this week.
Byju's, a company based in Bangalore, India, spent part of 2020 raising capital, including from Mary Meeker’s BOND Capital. Meeker is a Jay County native and Portland High School graduate.
The company has been expanding recently, including a $1 billion deal in January to purchase Aakash Educational Services. It also bought WhiteHat Jr. in August for nearly $300 million.
In August, BOND Capital valued Byju's at more than $10 billion.
“Byju’s has emerged as a clear leader in education technology,” Meeker told TechCrunch in June.
Bank on the list
American Bankers Association has named First Bank of Berne as a Top 100 Farm Lender in the nation.
First Bank of Berne announced its placement on the list this week. The top 100 are determined by farm loan volume.
“We’re proud to be recognized as one of the nation’s leading ag lenders,” said First Bank of Berne agribusiness banking manager Ron Gentis in a press release. “The knowledge, experience, and expertise our entire staff, especially our ag lending team, offers our customers is paramount to the continued growth and success of our area.”
Purdue partnering
Purdue University announced Tuesday that it will join with MITRE as “academic vision partners.”
The university said the partnership will allow both to bring together expertise, assets and resources to advance innovation and workforce development.
“Through our work with MITRE, we recognized the vast potential to expand our successful collaborative research and education model in cybersecurity to many other areas of focus,” said Purdue executive vice president for research and partnerships Theresa Mayer in a press release. “Our shared commitment to solve problems for a safer world makes MITRE an ideal strategic partner for Purdue, and we are thrilled to solidify this through our signing of the vision partnership agreement.”
MITRE is a not-for-profit corporation based in Virginia.
Invenergy transfers
Invenergy on Tuesday has transferred ownership of a Michigan wind farm.
The company, which recently announced a proposal for a solar facility in northwest Jay County, transferred ownership of the Crescent Wind project to Consumers Utility. The new owner, a subsidiary of CMS Energy, announced Tuesday that it has officially taken ownership of the wind farm located in Hillsdale County. The facility features 60 turbines and puts out 166 megawatts of energy annually.
IU launches
Indiana University has launched a new website for its office of business partnerships, Inside Indiana Business reported this week.
The new website was created with a focus on managing and developing partnerships with industries. It will also serve as a showcase for the university’s business partners.
“Our business partnerships team is here to help the IU community connect with new and existing business partners, and to develop plans to guide partnership efforts and optimize outcomes," said IU associate vice president of business partnerships Valarie Gill. "We help faculty, staff and researchers facilitate interdisciplinary and multifaceted opportunities with a strategic and coordinated approach across IU’s seven regional campuses.”
Lilly makes deal
In an agreement announced Thursday, Eli Lilly will get exclusive licensing for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases treatments from Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. The companies made a joint announcement of the licensing deal.
Reuters reported that Rigel will receive $125 million from Lilly up front, with up to an additional $835 million in “milestone” payments to follow.
Rigel’s R552 is a drug that targets a critical signaling protein that regulates inflammation in tissue.
CVS reducing
CVS Health said during an earnings call Tuesday that it plans to reduce its office space by 30%.
Eva Boratto, chief financial officer and executive vice president of CVS Health, said the shift is in part a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The move is a cost-saving measure.
The shift will help the company save between $900 million and $1.1 billion in 2021, Boratto said.
NextEra meeting
NextEra Energy announced this week that members of its senior management team will take part in various investor meetings next week and in March.
Among the topics to be discussed are that NextEra’s long-term financial expectations are unchanged. The company expects its adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.40 and $2.54 this year, with 6% to 8% growth in 2022 and 2023.
NextEra owns and operates Bluff Point Wind Energy Center in southern Jay County and northern Randolph County.
Comcast commits
Echoing Green announced Tuesday that Comcast NBCUniversal has committed $2.5 million toward its $50 million Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund.
The investment is the largest corporate contribution thus far.
Echoing Green, a global non-profit that seeks to enhance social innovation by finding, supporting, and connecting emerging social entrepreneurs, plans to launch programming to enable leaders working to dismantle structural racism and build inclusive communities.
“Echoing Green launched its Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund with a mission to support lasting change through social innovation, which is directly in line with our philanthropic goals,” said Comcast executive vice president and chief diversity officer Dalila Wilson-Scott. “Comcast is committed to championing this critical work, and we view this partnership with Echoing Green as a fundamental part of our efforts to advance greater equity for all.”
Ardagh announces
Ardagh Group this week announced that its revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $1.7 billion, an increase of 5% over the same quarter in 2019.
Ardagh, which owns and operates glass manufacturing facilities in Dunkirk and Winchester, recorded $6.7 billion in revenue for the year, an increase of 1%.
“The Group performed well in the quarter, with strong earnings growth in Metal Beverage Packaging and volume growth in Glass Packaging,” said Ardagh chairman and chief executive Paul Coulson in a press release. “The resilience of our businesses, the adaptability of our teams and the outlook for our sustainable products was underlined in 2020. … We look forward to further strong progress in 2021.”
Byju's is expected to sign a deal to buy Toppr Technologies, a firm that provides online learning materials to fifth through 12th grade students.
The purchase is expected to have a price tag of about $150 million. Bloomberg reported the pending purchase this week.
Byju's, a company based in Bangalore, India, spent part of 2020 raising capital, including from Mary Meeker’s BOND Capital. Meeker is a Jay County native and Portland High School graduate.
The company has been expanding recently, including a $1 billion deal in January to purchase Aakash Educational Services. It also bought WhiteHat Jr. in August for nearly $300 million.
In August, BOND Capital valued Byju's at more than $10 billion.
“Byju’s has emerged as a clear leader in education technology,” Meeker told TechCrunch in June.
Bank on the list
American Bankers Association has named First Bank of Berne as a Top 100 Farm Lender in the nation.
First Bank of Berne announced its placement on the list this week. The top 100 are determined by farm loan volume.
“We’re proud to be recognized as one of the nation’s leading ag lenders,” said First Bank of Berne agribusiness banking manager Ron Gentis in a press release. “The knowledge, experience, and expertise our entire staff, especially our ag lending team, offers our customers is paramount to the continued growth and success of our area.”
Purdue partnering
Purdue University announced Tuesday that it will join with MITRE as “academic vision partners.”
The university said the partnership will allow both to bring together expertise, assets and resources to advance innovation and workforce development.
“Through our work with MITRE, we recognized the vast potential to expand our successful collaborative research and education model in cybersecurity to many other areas of focus,” said Purdue executive vice president for research and partnerships Theresa Mayer in a press release. “Our shared commitment to solve problems for a safer world makes MITRE an ideal strategic partner for Purdue, and we are thrilled to solidify this through our signing of the vision partnership agreement.”
MITRE is a not-for-profit corporation based in Virginia.
Invenergy transfers
Invenergy on Tuesday has transferred ownership of a Michigan wind farm.
The company, which recently announced a proposal for a solar facility in northwest Jay County, transferred ownership of the Crescent Wind project to Consumers Utility. The new owner, a subsidiary of CMS Energy, announced Tuesday that it has officially taken ownership of the wind farm located in Hillsdale County. The facility features 60 turbines and puts out 166 megawatts of energy annually.
IU launches
Indiana University has launched a new website for its office of business partnerships, Inside Indiana Business reported this week.
The new website was created with a focus on managing and developing partnerships with industries. It will also serve as a showcase for the university’s business partners.
“Our business partnerships team is here to help the IU community connect with new and existing business partners, and to develop plans to guide partnership efforts and optimize outcomes," said IU associate vice president of business partnerships Valarie Gill. "We help faculty, staff and researchers facilitate interdisciplinary and multifaceted opportunities with a strategic and coordinated approach across IU’s seven regional campuses.”
Lilly makes deal
In an agreement announced Thursday, Eli Lilly will get exclusive licensing for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases treatments from Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. The companies made a joint announcement of the licensing deal.
Reuters reported that Rigel will receive $125 million from Lilly up front, with up to an additional $835 million in “milestone” payments to follow.
Rigel’s R552 is a drug that targets a critical signaling protein that regulates inflammation in tissue.
CVS reducing
CVS Health said during an earnings call Tuesday that it plans to reduce its office space by 30%.
Eva Boratto, chief financial officer and executive vice president of CVS Health, said the shift is in part a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The move is a cost-saving measure.
The shift will help the company save between $900 million and $1.1 billion in 2021, Boratto said.
NextEra meeting
NextEra Energy announced this week that members of its senior management team will take part in various investor meetings next week and in March.
Among the topics to be discussed are that NextEra’s long-term financial expectations are unchanged. The company expects its adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.40 and $2.54 this year, with 6% to 8% growth in 2022 and 2023.
NextEra owns and operates Bluff Point Wind Energy Center in southern Jay County and northern Randolph County.
Comcast commits
Echoing Green announced Tuesday that Comcast NBCUniversal has committed $2.5 million toward its $50 million Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund.
The investment is the largest corporate contribution thus far.
Echoing Green, a global non-profit that seeks to enhance social innovation by finding, supporting, and connecting emerging social entrepreneurs, plans to launch programming to enable leaders working to dismantle structural racism and build inclusive communities.
“Echoing Green launched its Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund with a mission to support lasting change through social innovation, which is directly in line with our philanthropic goals,” said Comcast executive vice president and chief diversity officer Dalila Wilson-Scott. “Comcast is committed to championing this critical work, and we view this partnership with Echoing Green as a fundamental part of our efforts to advance greater equity for all.”
Ardagh announces
Ardagh Group this week announced that its revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $1.7 billion, an increase of 5% over the same quarter in 2019.
Ardagh, which owns and operates glass manufacturing facilities in Dunkirk and Winchester, recorded $6.7 billion in revenue for the year, an increase of 1%.
“The Group performed well in the quarter, with strong earnings growth in Metal Beverage Packaging and volume growth in Glass Packaging,” said Ardagh chairman and chief executive Paul Coulson in a press release. “The resilience of our businesses, the adaptability of our teams and the outlook for our sustainable products was underlined in 2020. … We look forward to further strong progress in 2021.”
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