Brad Heppner, left, the founder and chief executive officer of Beneficient Company Group, was accused in a federal bankruptcy court motion of engaging in financial misconduct leading to the Chapter 11 filing by GWG Holdings in 2022. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Creditors in a bankruptcy case packed a court document with allegations the top executive of a Kansas business granted a unique fiduciary charter orchestrated a multiyear fraud to enrich himself and his corporate entities and leave GWG Holdings insolvent to the detriment of 27,000 investors owed more than $1 billion. The president of Beneficient Company Group, which is delivering financial services under a Kansas charter issued last year, was dismissive of creditors’ assertions about GWG’s downfall. He responded to the bankruptcy motion by arguing the best course of action would be for creditors to support Beneficient’s transition to Nasdaq and avoid litigation capable of undermining investor confidence in a publicly traded version of the company. He said GWG still held perhaps $1.4 billion in Beneficient stock, and a rise in Beneficient’s value would directly benefit creditors. Lawyers representing these creditors before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston said analysis of business records, interviews and depositions revealed Brad […]

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Publicly traded title insurance giant Stewart Information Service Corporation has acquired AccountChek , a digital verification service for assets, income and employment, from solutions provider FormFree . Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The move gives Stewart additional tools to drive insights into a customer’s financial profile across multiple channels. Stewart’s acquisition was made through its Informative Research subsidiary. “At Stewart, we are continually investing in our capabilities to better serve customers. We view improving consumer financial equity, including homeownership, as a key part of the work that we do, across all of our business lines,” Fred Eppinger , Stewart CEO, said in a prepared statement. “IR’s vision through the combined platform is to simplify the lending process and improve closing ratios.” By combining IR’s existing digital infrastructure with AccountChek, Stewart will have a unified platform to digitally verify consumer financial data, including credit, income, employment and assets. The company said it will streamline the loan underwriting process, more efficiently qualify buyers, improve closing ratios and expand access to mortgage credit. With the sale of AccountCheck, FormFree will focus on products that “advance its mission to decentralize and democratize the way consumers understand their financial data and access […]

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EV maker Nio is often called China’s Tesla. (Nio) Nio ( NIO ) reports earnings for the fourth quarter early Wednesday, and losses are expected to mount after the Chinese premium EV startup missed its Q4 delivery target. Nio stock edged lower Tuesday, extending big recent losses. More than Nio earnings, outlook will be key. Investors are looking for a recovery in EV deliveries following the seasonally weak current quarter, as production headwinds ease. After Tesla ( TSLA ) price cuts in China, some analysts warn that EV demand could weaken for the U.S.-listed Chinese EV startups, especially Nio and XPeng ( XPEV ). Both have cut EV prices after Tesla’s cuts. Nio Earnings Estimates : Analysts polled by FactSet expect Nio to widen losses to 26 cents per ADR share from 17 cents a year ago. Revenue is seen jumping 58%, year over year, to $2.462 billion. This would mark Nio’s first $2 billion revenue quarter. It first topped $1 billion in Q4 2020. The startup, sometimes called China’s Tesla, has already disclosed Q4 2022 deliveries of 40,052 electric vehicles . That was well off initial guidance of 43,000-48,000 EVs, due to Covid-fueled supply disruptions and operational issues. […]

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Chris Burres, Owner of SES Research Inc . One of my great joys is supporting entrepreneurs with my products. getty In the Art of War, Sun Tzu stated , “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” In the business world, understanding when to make business moves and change up your strategy will help your company become more successful. Many may be surprised to learn that some of the largest companies in the world, including Netflix, IBM and Twitter, all made strategic pivots at one point in their journey, which allowed them to grow and survive. When a molecule that I have been manufacturing since 1991, ESS60, showed a 90% extension of life in test subjects, Wistar rats, I had to make such a pivot decision. Although we continue to deliver carbon nano-materials to research institutions around the world, we also deliver a supplement with the longest longevity experiment result known to man. During this pivot, I have been able to tap into a broader consumer market and grow my revenue exponentially. Pivoting enabled me to reach more people with my products that could enrich their lives, thus providing greater value to society at […]

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New Orders and Production Contracting; Backlogs Contracting; Supplier Deliveries Faster; Raw Materials Inventories Growing; Customers’ Inventories Too Low; Prices Increasing; Exports and Imports Contracting TEMPE, Ariz., March 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in February for the fourth consecutive month following a 28-month period of growth, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM ® Report On Business ® . The report was issued today by Timothy R. Fiore, CPSM, C.P.M., Chair of the Institute for Supply Management ® (ISM ® ) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee: "The February Manufacturing PMI ® registered 47.7 percent, 0.3 percentage point higher than the 47.4 percent recorded in January. Regarding the overall economy, this figure indicates a third month of contraction after a 30-month period of expansion. In the last two months, the Manufacturing PMI ® has been at its lowest levels since May 2020, when it registered 43.5 percent. The New Orders Index remained in contraction territory at 47 percent, 4.5 percentage points higher than the figure of 42.5 percent recorded in January. The Production Index reading of 47.3 percent is a 0.7-percentage point decrease compared to January’s figure of 48 percent. The Prices Index […]

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Image Credits: Yuichiro Chino / Getty Images Too often over the last decade, line of business people have been forgotten when it comes to analytics. Even though these folks are the closest to what’s happening with customers, they tend to get left behind when it comes to tools, which are often geared for data scientists or at least people with a deep understanding of data. Savant Labs is looking to bring analytics to line of business personnel and today the startup announced a healthy $11 million seed investment. Chitrang Shah, founder and CEO at Savant Labs, says people charged with dealing with data spend too much time doing manual tasks to wrangle the data they need, and they do this repeatedly. He saw an area that was ripe for automation, which he sees as a key differentiator for the startup. “So we are building a platform for [business users], and the main impetus behind it is the amount of manual work that goes on in doing analytics and reporting is staggering. You go and talk to these people and they will tell you that half their time, more than half their time sometimes, is spent just doing manual stuff […]

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The logo of Atos is seen on a company building in Nantes, France, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe PARIS, March 1 (Reuters) – French technology consultancy Atos (ATOS.PA) is in talks with Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky about the possible sale of its Tech Foundations business, Le Monde reported on Wednesday. The discussions are taking place while Atos is in non-exclusive talks with European aerospace group Airbus (AIR.PA) , which has offered to buy a 29.9% stake in Atos’ soon to be spun off division Evidian, which groups assets such as its cybersecurity division BDS and supercomputers. Advertisement · Scroll to continue "The management of Atos is not just talking to Airbus. According to our information, the management is also talking with Daniel Kretinsky … who for his part is interested in the group’s historic business of IT services Tech Foundations," the French newspaper said. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story Kretinsky holds a minority stake in Le Monde. Spokespeople for Kretinsky and Atos declined to comment. I n October , Atos said it had been approached by several players interested in buying Tech Foundations, which groups activities the company defines as approaching maturity, such as […]

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(Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) Getty Images Deal Overview On February 9, 2023, Lions Gate Entertainment LGF.A +0.5% Corp. (NYSE: LGF.A/ LGF.B, $10.61/$9.95, Market Capitalization: $2.3 billion) announced that it is proceeding with the spin-off of its Studio business and separating into two standalone companies. The Company announced that it expects to file an initial Form 10 with the SEC by the end of March and has targeted to complete the spin-off by the end of September 2023. Earlier in September 2022, the Company had reiterated that they were on track to separate STARZ and studio businesses and had increased focus on the possibility of spinning its studio business. There can be no assurance that such a transaction will be completed. Completing any such transaction would be subject to various terms, conditions, regulatory approvals, and approval of the Company’s Board of Directors. We had done a potential report on November 2, 2021, where the Company had announced that it was exploring potential capital markets alternatives for its Media Networks business (STARZ), including, but not limited to, a full or partial spin-off, split-off, issuance of a tracking stock or other transactions. Lions Gate Price Performance Spin-Off Research Deal Rationale Lions […]

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Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett — one of the most successful investors in the world — says he and vice chairman Charlie Munger are not “stock pickers; we are business pickers.” In the company’s annual shareholder letter published over the weekend , Buffett explained that the “secret sauce” of their investing success is to make “investments in businesses with both long-lasting favorable economic characteristics and trustworthy managers.” This approach is known as value investing, where the goal is to hang on to a top-performing stock rather than trade stocks based on short-term price fluctuations, otherwise known as active investing. Of course, picking winners isn’t easy. But Munger has previously outlined four rules that the two Berkshire Hathaway executives follow when choosing whether to invest in a business. Aside from Buffett’s No. 1 rule, “don’t lose money,” here are four questions that Munger and Buffett ask when deciding whether or not to invest in a business. 1. Do you understand the business? Aside from knowing how a business operates and what it offers to consumers, you also want an idea of where a company is going to be in 10 years , if not for decades, says Buffett. “If you […]

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Privately held Kodiak Robotics says it is building "the world’s safest driver" with its fleet of autonomous trucks. (Kodiak Robotics) The days of friendly truck drivers blowing their air horns for kids along the highway are numbered. Someday soon, that 18-wheeler you pass might have no one behind the wheel. So buckle up for the coming age of autonomous trucks, because it’s a good bet trucking companies will get them rolling long before driverless passenger cars. Amid a severe shortage of drivers, trucking companies are looking to self-driving rigs to fill the gap. Proponents say the technology is there to create autonomous truck fleets within a few years. Meanwhile, development of driverless cars continues to struggle. Two dozen states already allow commercial deployment of intrastate autonomous trucks, and they’re now on the road in some spots. Further, most states allow testing of self-driving trucks that have human backup on board. For interstate travel, however, autonomous trucks still need clearance from the federal government. "This is the present, not the future. It’s happening now," said Richard Steiner, head of policy and communications for self-driving truck firm Gatik. "Over the next few years, you’re definitely going to see autonomous trucks become […]

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