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মঙ্গলবার, ২৫ জুন, ২০১৩

Neiman Marcus plans to raise up to $100M in IPO

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 11, 2009 file photo, the Chicago skyline is reflected in the exterior of Neiman Marcus on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus plans to raise up to $100 million from an initial public offering of its common stock, according to reports, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus plans to raise up to $100 million by returning to the stock market with an initial public offering.

That amount is likely to change, though, as bankers gauge investor interest. The plan to go public, announced in a regulatory filing Monday, comes about eight years after private equity firms TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus bought Neiman Marcus for $5.1 billion.

Neiman Marcus has benefited from affluent shoppers who are willing to drop $1,000 for a pair of stilettos. During the recession, Neiman Marcus was not as hurt by the consumer spending pullback as other retailers, because the wealthy suffered less in the poor economy.

Still, the initial public offering comes at a time when the stock market, which influences luxury spending, has become volatile.

Neiman Marcus won't receive any proceeds from the offering. The Dallas company operates 41 Neiman Marcus stores, two Bergdorf Goodman locations, and 35 discount shops under the Last Call brand. It also operates six Cusp stores, which cater to younger customers.

The Wall Street Journal article reported in late May that Neiman Marcus recently rebuffed a proposal that would involve buyout firm KKR & Co. investing in competitor Saks Inc., the operator of Saks Fifth Avenue, and then engineering a combination of Saks and Neiman.

According to the Journal, Neiman Marcus turned down the proposal for several reasons, including the terms and the complexity of the deal. At the time, Neiman's private equity owners were looking to sell the company outright or take it public.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday on its website that Canadian department store operator and Lord & Taylor parent Hudson's Bay has now emerged as a potential suitor for Saks Inc. It cited an anonymous source familiar with the issue. Hudson Bay could not be immediately reached for comment. A Saks spokeswoman declined to comment.

Dan Hess, CEO of Merchant Forecast, an independent research firm that monitors the retail sector, believes that an initial public offering would do well and that there's an investor appetite for luxury companies.

Neiman Marcus, founded in 1907 by Herbert Marcus Sr., his sister Carrie Marcus, and her husband A.L Neiman, has had a series of owners during its rich history.

The company was sold to department store operator Broadway-Hale in 1969 and began planning national expansion outside of Texas. Through a series of deals, the retailer came under the ownership of the conglomerate Harcourt General, which also published textbooks and owned movie theaters.

In 1999, Harcourt General spun off Neiman Marcus stores and Bergdorf Goodman as its separate, publicly traded entity, the Neiman Marcus Group. In 2005, the current owners took the company private.

Neiman Marcus has a long-held reputation for coddling its wealthy shoppers with customer service that goes above and beyond the standard. In 1984, it established InCircle, the industry's first customer loyalty program. The program now has 144,000 members and generated 40 percent of the company's total revenue in the latest fiscal year. Neiman Marcus expanded its business online in 2000, becoming the first major luxury store to do so.

Now, like other upscale retailers, Neiman Marcus is trying to reinvent its shopping experience for its customers who are increasingly using their tablets and smartphones to research and buy their designer goods.

In the filing, Neiman Marcus says it plans to further meld the online experience with shopping at its stores. It also plans to expand its Last Call and Cusp chains.

In the SEC filing, Neiman Marcus Inc. did not disclose how many shares would be offered, or what the projected price range would be. A regulatory filing by the company also did not disclose what exchange it expects to list the stock on or what ticker symbol it plans to use.

For fiscal 2012, Neiman Marcus had net income of $140.1 million on revenue of $4.35 billion. The retailer had net income of $31.6 million and revenue of $4 billion in fiscal 2011.

Earlier this month the company reported that its fiscal third-quarter net income increased 13 percent on stronger sales, particularly online. Revenue from its online business jumped 15 percent in the period. Revenue from stores open at least a year, considered a key indicator of financial performance because it strips away the effects from recently opened or closed stores, increased 3.6 percent.

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-24-Neiman%20Marcus-IPO%20Filing/id-35b9babaa9b34309914b7dae772dab2b

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Edward Snowden tells South China Morning Post he took Booz Allen job to collect NSA information

Edward Snowden may now be far from Hong Kong, but the South China Morning Post has just revealed more details from an interview he granted on June 12th while he was still there. According to the paper, Snowden reportedly said that he took a job with NSA-contractor Booz Allen Hamilton in order to gather additional evidence about the spy agency's activities. "My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked," he said. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago." He reportedly further said "correct on Booz," when asked if he specifically went to Booz Allen to gather evidence of surveillance. As the paper notes, Snowden also said that he took pay cuts "in the course of pursuing specific work" in an online Q&A with The Guardian last week, and he's also indicated that he has more information he intends to leak, saying that he'd like to "make it available to journalists in each country to make their own assessment."

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Source: South China Morning Post

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/aE-i8TCdsX4/

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সোমবার, ২৪ জুন, ২০১৩

Future Stunt Pilots Could Train in These All-Electric Planes

Didier Esteyne and EADS turned heads at the 2011 Paris Air Show when they debuted the the world's first all-electric airplane, the single-seat Cri-Cri. Fast forward two years, and the miniscule Cri-Cri has grown into a sleek tandem-seat training craft that's as green as it is acrobatic.

Snapjoy photo sharing service shut down following Dropbox aquisition

Snapjoy has announced that it'll be shuttering all of its services a mere six months after being acquired by cloud colossus Dropbox. In a blog post, the company said photos can no longer be imported into Snapjoy and the iPhone app is henceforth unavailable. If you've got images stored on the site, you'll have exactly a month to get them downloaded, since after July 24th, "all photos and data will be permanently deleted." The same thing happened to Audiogalaxy shortly after its acquisition by Dropbox, and of course other big fish like Google and Twitter are well known for similar behavior after eating smaller fish -- though at least we saw the #Music fruits of Twitter's buyout shortly after it happened. On the other hand, we've yet to see Dropbox do anything with Audiogalaxy, so we hope the defunct apps will be resurrected in some form soon.

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Via: CNET

Source: Snapjoy (Blog)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/snapjoy-photo-sharing-site-shut-down/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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One dead as shooting mars Albania's election

Albania?s Conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha, 68, who is seeking a third term in office, speaks at a rally in Tirana, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The general election taking place Sunday, June 23, 2013 is considered a test for the Balkan country to shed its post-Communist legacy of troubled popular votes, as it seeks closer ties and eventual membership in the European Union. Conservative Sali Berisha, is seeking a third term and will speak at his Democratic Party's main election rally Friday in the capital Tirana. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

In this Thursday, June 20, 2013 photo, main opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama, speaks at a rally, in Tirana, Albania, ahead of the Sunday?s general elections. Political parties in Albania entered their final day of campaigning for Sunday's general elections, considered a test for the Balkan country to shed its history of troubled campaigns as it seeks closer ties and eventual membership in the European Union. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

Trash bins in the capital Tirana Saturday, June 22, 2013, are filled with posters, banners and other materials used by the political parties during the month-long electoral campaign. Political campaigning stops in Albania Saturday, a day before parliamentary elections which are considered a crucial test for its ambitions for closer ties and eventual membership in the European Union. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

An Albanian woman casts her vote in Tirana, Sunday, June 23, 2013 in the Albanian elections. An Albanian political candidate was shot and a supporter of a rival party killed in an exchange of gunfire near a polling station, police said Sunday, as the country held crucial elections already marred by a dispute that could leave the outcome up in the air. Both conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his close rival, Socialist leader Edi Rama, have hopes for eventual entry to the European Union, and the election is seen as a test of whether the country can run a fair and safe vote. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

TIRANA, Albania (AP) ? Albania's national elections Sunday were marred by violence after an exchange of gunfire wounded a candidate and killed a supporter of a rival party, tainting what had been a largely peaceful campaign and threatening to undermine the country's bid to join the European Union.

The violence near a polling station, which drew condemnation from an EU official, added to the existing uncertainty surrounding the election. Though the leader of the main Socialist Party has claimed victory, it's unclear when the results will be announced because the body that oversees elections in the Balkan country hasn't enough members to certify them constitutionally following a political dispute. However, the law mandates they be revealed no later than three days after the polls.

Election day has been overshadowed by the violence. A police spokesman said Gjon Gjoni, 49, died after being shot in an exchange of fire that also wounded Mhill Fufi, 49, a candidate for Prime Minister Sali Berisha's governing Democratic Party. An opposition party leader identified Gjoni as a supporter. Another man, Fufi's relative Kastriot Fufi, 39, was also wounded.

Details surrounding the incident, which took place in the city of Lac, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Tirana, were sketchy. However, the police spokesman confirmed that it started with an argument.

A spokeswoman for the ruling Democratic Party, Laura Vorpsi, said Fufi was trying to move away some opposition supporters who were trying to bribe voters, and alleged that they "responded with shooting rounds."

"The Democratic Party harshly denounces any act of violence," Vorpsi said.

Once one of the world's most hardline communist countries, Albania has had a rocky road to democracy over the past couple of decades. Corruption has plagued the impoverished country, and its elections have been marred by violence and vote-rigging.

Some 3.3 million registered voters were eligible to vote, the eighth national polls since the fall of communism in 1990. The monthlong contest had been relatively calm until election day, though there had been reports of civil servants and even school children being pressured to attend pro-government rallies.

Some polling stations remained open after the original close time but most have closed and ballot boxes have started to be transported to counting centers nationwide.

The conservative prime minister, Berisha, and his close rival, Socialist Party leader Edi Rama, have both expressed the hope that Albania can gain eventual entry to the EU, and Sunday's election was seen as a test of whether the country can run a fair and safe vote.

Berisha declined to comment on the killing after casting his ballot, saying he needed more information first. The prime minister invited all Albanians to take part in the vote and turn Sunday "into a day of festivities and good understanding."

"I assure you that your vote will be fully respected," Berisha said.

Later Berisha expressed condolences to the victim's family and called on his opponents not to exploit the death "for political capital."

"I ask police and prosecutor's office to investigate with absolute priority the event, discover the truth and the circumstances and the responsibility of each one," he said.

Rama, meanwhile, denounced "certain segments of police" for collaborating with "criminals" and insisted that participation in the vote was the best way to respond.

"It is barbarous that in an election day, in the midst of Europe, a human is shot dead from criminals supported from police," he told reporters.

In the evening Rama came to claim victory "based on operational data" and called on police and election authorities to guarantee the process.

"We are here as unshaken and invincible guarantors of each ballot which has been cast today to take Albania at the address set from its fate ? the European Union," he said in front of his supporters at party headquarters.

Ilir Meta, the leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration, confirmed that Gjoni, the man who died, was a supporter. Meta, whose party allies with Rama's, also blamed police and "criminal elements" of the ruling Democrats, whom he alleged were exerting pressure at polling stations.

"Sali Berisha is not Albania's premier any more. He cannot leave power without shedding blood," Meta said.

The shooting wasn't the only incident: A journalist was reportedly not allowed to enter a polling station, while a camera belonging to a private TV station, Top Channel was broken and the cameraman reported to have been beaten.

Albania's president called for unity in wake of Sunday's violence. "Peace, calm, citizens' life is important," Bujar Nishani said. "I appeal for calm and maturity because, we may vote for different parties, but we are one nation."

But the EU's top diplomat in Albania took a hard stand on the violence.

"I want to say something very clear, very firm. Among the international and European standards for elections, there is the refusal of violence," said Ettore Sequi, the EU ambassador to Tirana.

Albania joined NATO in 2009. But it has failed to gain candidate status from the EU, which is pressing for broader democratic reforms and an improved election record.

Some 400 international observers and about 8,000 local ones are monitoring Sunday's election.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-23-Albania-Elections/id-58458b7128d2462c9b1b991426061436

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রবিবার, ২৩ জুন, ২০১৩

Kerry: Political solution urgently needed in Syria

DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Saturday for an urgent political resolution to the war in Syria, saying that unless the bloodshed stops, the region could descend into a chaotic sectarian conflict.

Kerry met in Doha with 10 of his counterparts from Arab and European nations to coordinate aid to the embattled rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad in a two-year civil war that has left 93,000 dead. All the nations in attendance agreed to step up aid to the rebels, Kerry said.

While he offered no specifics, Kerry said the assistance would help change the balance on the battlefield, where regime forces have scored recent victories. Kerry blamed Assad for the deteriorating situation in Syria, saying that while the international community was attempting to hold a conference to set up a transitional government, Assad invited Iranian and Hezbollah fighters to bolster his troops.

It was Kerry's first meeting with his counterparts about aid to the Syrian rebels since President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would send lethal aid to the opposition despite concern that weapons could fall into the hands of Islamic extremists in Syria. That decision was partly based on a U.S. intelligence assessment that Assad had used chemical weapons, but Kerry expressed deeper concern about Iran and Hezbollah fighters.

"That is a very, very dangerous development," Kerry said. "Hezbollah is a proxy for Iran. ... Hezbollah in addition to that is a terrorist organization."

Kerry blamed Hezbollah and Assad with thwarting efforts to diffuse sectarian rebels and to negotiate a settlement.

"We're looking at a very dangerous situation," that had transformed "into a much more volatile, potentially explosive situation that could involve the entire region," Kerry said.

The war already has spilled into neighboring countries and is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines, pitting Sunni against Shiite Muslims and threatening the stability of Syria's neighbors.

Kerry met with his counterparts in the Qatari capital on the first stop of a seven-nation trip through the Mideast and Asia where he is tackling difficult foreign policy issues ? from finding peace between the Israelis and Palestinians to trying to gain traction on U.S. talks with the Taliban to end the Afghanistan war. James Dobbins, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, arrived in Doha on Saturday, but talks with the Taliban have not been scheduled.

Kerry seemed to put the ball in the Taliban's court, saying the Americans and Qataris were all on board to help negotiate a political resolution to the war and it was up to the Taliban to come to the table at a new political office they opened last week in Doha. "We are waiting to find out whether the Taliban will respond, Kerry said.

"We will see if we can get back on track. I don't know whether that's possible or not," Kerry said. "If there is not a decision made by the Taliban to move forward in short order, then we may have to consider whether the office has to be closed."

On Syria, Kerry has been pressing hard on Russia to back an international conference intended to end the bloodshed in Syria and allow a transitional government to move the country beyond civil war.

Russia has been the key ally of Assad's regime throughout the two-year conflict.

Top U.S. diplomats are ready to go to Geneva to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials next week to advance the political process, Kerry said. The date and location of the international conference on Syria haven't been announced, but it's already being dubbed "Geneva 2" because a similar event was held there a year ago.

On Friday, Russia's foreign minister said Washington was sending contradictory signals on Syria that could derail an international conference intended to end that country's civil war, warning that U.S. talk about a possible no-fly zone would only encourage the rebels to keep fighting.

Sergey Lavrov also criticized demands that Assad step down. Russian leaders warn that if Assad steps aside, the resulting power vacuum could be quickly filled by al-Qaida connected rebels, who are well-armed and aggressive.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-political-solution-urgently-needed-syria-154043827.html

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Hong Kong says Snowden has left for third country

HONG KONG (AP) ? A former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday.

A statement from the government did not identify the country, but the South China Morning Post, which has been in contact with Edward Snowden, reported that he was on a plane for Moscow, but that Russia was not his final destination.

Snowden, who has been in hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks since he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs, has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland.

Russia's Interfax news agency, citing an unidentified Aeroflot official, confirmed that Snowden was on a flight to Moscow and said he had a ticket for another Aeroflot flight Monday to Cuba.

Snowden's departure came a day after the United States made a formal request for his extradition and warned Hong Kong against delaying the process of returning him to face trial in the U.S.

The Hong Kong government said Snowden left "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel."

It acknowledged the U.S. extradition request, but said U.S. documentation did not "fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." It said additional information was requested from Washington, but since the Hong Kong government "has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."

The statement said Hong Kong had informed the U.S. of Snowden's departure. It added that it wanted more information about alleged hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies which Snowden had revealed.

Snowden's departure eliminates a possible fight between Washington and Beijing at a time when China is trying to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance of American government and commercial operations. Hong Kong, a former British colony, has a high degree of autonomy and is granted rights and freedoms not seen on mainland China, but under the city's mini constitution Beijing is allowed to intervene in matters involving defense and diplomatic affairs.

Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political.

The Obama administration on Saturday warned Hong Kong against delaying Snowden's extradition, with White House national security adviser Tom Donilon saying in an interview with CBS News, "Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of the United States in law enforcement matters, and we expect them to comply with the treaty in this case."

Snowden's departure came as the South China Morning Post released new allegations from Snowden that U.S. hacking targets in China included the nation's cellphone companies and two universities hosting extensive Internet traffic hubs.

He told the newspaper that "the NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data." It added that Snowden said he had documents to support the hacking allegations, but the report did not identify the documents. It said he spoke to the newspaper in a June 12 interview.

With a population of more than 1.3 billion, China has massive cellphone companies. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile network carrier with 735 million subscribers, followed by China Unicom with 258 million users and China Telecom with 172 million users.

Snowden said Tsinghua University in Beijing and Chinese University in Hong Kong, home of some of the country's major Internet traffic hubs, were targets of extensive hacking by U.S. spies this year. He said the NSA was focusing on so-called "network backbones" in China, through which enormous amounts of Internet data passes.

The Chinese government has not commented on the extradition request and Snowden's departure, but its state-run media have used Snowden's allegations to poke back at Washington after the U.S. had spent the past several months pressuring China on its international spying operations.

A commentary published Sunday by the official Xinhua News Agency said Snowden's disclosures of U.S. spying activities in China have "put Washington in a really awkward situation."

"Washington should come clean about its record first. It owes ... an explanation to China and other countries it has allegedly spied on," it said. "It has to share with the world the range, extent and intent of its clandestine hacking programs."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-says-snowden-left-third-country-081745849.html

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