Kursverdoppelung bei Actua Corporation (vorm. Internet Capital)

http://www.icg.com/default/assets/File/Presentations/webcast3Q13.pdf  

Symbio Strengthens Position as Global Leader in Outsourced Software Product Development

Posted on November 5, 2013

Merger with Freeborders adds new vertical expertise and critical new services for the Global Software Product R&D Powerhouse.

San Francisco and San Jose, CA – November 5, 2013  – Symbio and Freeborders, Inc. jointly announced today that they have formally executed a merger.  The combined company will become one of the world’s largest software product development companies with 2,000 employees, over 100 clients and 15 delivery and R&D centers across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. Symbio´s software R&D solutions and capabilities now extend to industries undergoing massive change such as financial services, media, travel, and e-commerce.

Symbio is leading the way through the change with its R&D-as-a-Service (RDaaS) concept which empowers companies grow through technology innovation. The ever-increasing pace of technology changes around mobile, social, software-as-a-service (SaaS), analytics, and smart products and services have increased software complexity.

“The merger of Symbio and Freeborders enables our clients to master innovation and capitalize on change to become market leaders,” said Jacob Hsu, CEO of Symbio.  “Technology is both a driver of industry disruption and an enabler of new innovation, and we empower our clients to succeed by co-creating new software-driven products, services and businesses together. “

The joint service offering will provide clients with a complete portfolio of RDaaS solutions to ignite (strategic insight, design and productization), accelerate (agile software development, application development & maintenance, QA and globalization) and optimize their businesses (joint development centers, managed operations centers and customer experience centers).

About Symbio
Symbio provides technology innovation and software R&D services to leading companies ranging from global multinationals such as IBM, Intel, and Microsoft, to cutting edge pioneers like Evernote, Square, and Xiaomi. We combine innovative expertise, an advanced global delivery network and specialized solutions to enable software product development of the highest quality, speed, cost-efficiency and innovation. Symbio’s headquarters are in Silicon Valley with eight development centers in China, Finland, and Sweden. To learn more, visit www.symbio.com.

About Freeborders
Founded in 1999, Freeborders provides global IT consulting, technology and outsourcing services. Freeborders’ solution accelerators help companies exploit the full potential of their IT investments. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company has offices in Denver, New York, London, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuxi. To learn more, visit http://www.freeborders.com.
This entry was posted in Latest News, Press Releases and tagged china outsourcing, Financial Services, FSI, global IT services, innovation, IT outsourcing, IT Outsourcing services, product R&D by freeborders. Bookmark the permalink.  

ICG GROUP, INC.
FORM 8-K
(Current report filing)
Filed 11/05/13 for the Period Ending 11/05/13
On November 4, 2013, Freeborders, Inc. (" Freeborders "), a company in which ICG Group, Inc. (" ICG ") owned an
approximately 34.8% equity stake (following the conversion of the outstanding convertible debt that it held), was
acquired by Symbio S.A. (" Symbio "), a provider of technology innovation and software research and development
services, in a merger. Pursuant to the merger, Freeborders stockholders exchanged their Freeborders shares for shares
of Symbio common stock. ICG expects to own approximately 8.1% of the combined company following the merger.  

Das heißt, das es für etwa 2 Anteile an Freeborders einen Anteil an Symbio gab.

Die Frages ist jetzt: Wieviel ist Symbio nach dem Merger mit Freeborders wert?  

die gestrigen und heutigen Dips für Rückkauf genutzt, für die ja noch mehr als 110 Millionen zur Verfügung stehen.  

One of the richest sources of business value is its applications, and enabling technology, such as cloud and mobility, only magnifies that application’s worth. Symbio can help you transform individual applications or your entire portfolio to ensure you’re taking full advantage of the latest innovations.

We follow one of the two approaches to application development and integration:
Full life-cycle application development, in which we assume start-to-finish responsibility for analysis, design, implementation, testing and integration of systems
Cooperative development, in which our experts work with your in-house IT personnel to jointly analyze, design, implement, test and integrate new systems

Our App Services include:


App Design and User Experience (UX)
User experience is a factor in every app we port or develop, but for mobile apps specifically created for design & UX, understanding the user becomes crucial. Contact us for more information about how Symbio’s design & UX team creates appealing designs that give mobile app users a rewarding experience and keeps them begging for more.


App Development
As mobile devices infiltrate every part of a consumer’s life, it is critical to have your business accessible in every mobile format. Symbio custom creates turnkey iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone apps designed to reach the rapidly growing mobile-device-user market. Regardless of what device they choose.


App Porting
Porting apps from one platform to another, such as porting iPhone apps to Android, presents challenges. Each platform operates in a fundamentally different way with a profoundly different programming language. Symbio’s talented developers use fluent translation of different platform languages that let us port the app you want to your desired platform.


App Testing
Application Testing is an integral and critical phase of any software development project. Symbio offers a complete and comprehensive range of testing services including Functional Testing, Non-Functional Testing, Test Automation, Black-box and White-box testing.


App Localization
Symbio provides complete software localization services to businesses expanding into new markets. We localize desktop, client-server and web applications - from engineering and translation to testing and managing in-country reviews.
 

bin ich etwas enttäuscht. Wenn die 34% von ICG Group 1:1 ungetauscht worden wären, hätte der Anteil an Symbio nach dem Merger ca. 17% sein müssen. Geworden sind es aber nur 8%, so dass offensichtlich für 2 Freeborders-Anteil nur knapp ein Symbio-Anteil heraussprang.

Bleibt die Frage: Wieviel ist Symbio (erweitert) mit ca. 2,000 Beschäftigten und nach meinen Schätzungen zu um die 80 Millionen wert. Ich tendiere zu zu einem Wert von 300 Millionen, was für die 8% einen Wert von nur 24 Millionen ergeben würde - ich hatte aber so einen Wert zwischen 30 und 40 Millionen für die Beteiligung an Freeborders iim Hinterkopf.

Aber vielleicht schätze ich ja auch den Wert von Symbio zu niedrig.

Die große Unsicherheit ist aber der Wert von Symbio.  

http://www.symbio.com/services/application-services  

One of the richest sources of business value is its applications, and enabling technology, such as cloud and mobility, only magnifies that application’s worth. Symbio can help you transform individual applications or your entire portfolio to ensure you’re taking full advantage of the latest innovations.

We follow one of the two approaches to application development and integration:
Full life-cycle application development, in which we assume start-to-finish responsibility for analysis, design, implementation, testing and integration of systems
Cooperative development, in which our experts work with your in-house IT personnel to jointly analyze, design, implement, test and integrate new systems
 

Und auch das offeriert Symbio, wo ich der Meinung bin, dass ICG Group austocken sollte:

The magnitude of complexity involved in embedded and industrial software is rapidly increasing. What was previously a single software component among its hardware counterparts is now a key element of the entire shipped product. As a result, more than half of all product development resources now target software development.

Embedded Development
Device driver implementation
OS adaptation (Linux, Android, Windows Phone)
Graphics, multimedia, and connectivity expertise
Consumer device middleware and application development
System integration and productization


Performance Optimization
Service package to optimize product performance
Benchmarking to pinpoint potential bottlenecks
Holistic, use-case-based approach to performance optimization and power consumption
Boot Time Analysis and Optimization
Continuous, automated measurement and benchmarking to track project KPIs


Device Software Maintenance
Outsourced legacy product maintenance
SLA-based engagements


Training

Symbio offers packaged training programs and workshops for numerous embedded technologies and solutions.

Topics include:
Android
Compact 7
Embedded Linux
Silverlight
Windows CE, Windows Embedded Standard, and Windows Embedded Device Manager (WEDM)
 

November 4, 2013 3:50 pm / Leave a Comment


Prynhawn Da / Good Afternoon, and welcome to another weekly update on the activities of the Digital Publishing Division here at ONS.

Technically, this should be week 15 as we unfortunately missed last week’s round-up, but hopefully the posts on our infographic guidance and Measurefest were interesting enough to keep you coming back to the blog for today’s post.

So what’s been happening?

Last week, I attended the Open Government Partnership Summit, where London played host to over 60 countries to discuss ways to make their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. There were a number of talks from a range of organisations including GDS which gave a masterclass on performance platforms for transactions and Guardian’s Digital Agency which talked through the art of data visualisation.

ONS took part in the festival exhibition area and provided a demonstration of the ONS Data Explorer tool (BETA), which launched that week. Visitors to the stand were very positive and we look forward to feedback from all our users as they start to use it.

Subscribers to the email alert service has reached 7000, that’s an increase of 500% over 5 months, exceeding all expectations. Since June we have been using GovDelivery to increase the number of subscribers to this service which provides people with information about releases they are interested in. GovDelivery maximises direct connections with the public through digital communications and the networking opportunities with other Government Departments have helped us to quickly increase audience reach. Read more at GovDelivery Success Stories.

Other news

Work is underway to build our very own user testing lab, ensuring that the work we do to improve the ONS website is user driven and that we can react quickly to their feedback. We are also working on a project to identify and develop personas so that we fully understand who are users are and what they need.

Our social media team saw an almost record high of retweets relating to a story on how the population of certain areas change in a working day. Take a look at the data visualisation.

Guest Presenter Robin Christopherson, Head of Digital Inclusion at Abilitynet, delivered a facinating session on the good and bad of accessibility across websites and mobile platforms.

and finally

We are off to the Government Statistical Service (GSS) annual conference later today where we will deliver a panel discussion on the communication and dissemination of our statistics, watch this space for how it went
 

BOLT Solutions Inc. October 31, 2013 9:07 AM


NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BOLT Solutions, Inc., a leading independent provider of Software as a Service (SaaS) insurance distribution solutions to the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry, today announced the acquisition of the industry's largest online insurance aggregator, Austin, Texas based Superior Access Insurance Services Inc.. The addition of SAIS demonstrates Bolt's continued commitment to providing agents a superior user experience. The acquisition further strengthens Bolt's market leadership position with access to SAIS' distribution channel of more than 2,100 agents, offering over 95 products through over 50major insurers. With SAIS, Bolt will be able to provide its customers access to markets and products previously inaccessible to both independent and captive agents.

Founded in 1996 by independent agents, SAIS was established with the goal of assisting the insurance agent community in identifying markets for their customers. Since then, SAIS has evolved, creating a unique partnership with its agents and carrier partners. SAIS is regarded as the markets' most innovative solution for the retail insurance agent, enabling a very rich user experience.

SAIS' staff is uniquely experienced with both carrier and agency expertise. In addition, the SAIS staff is highly credible and holds top industry credentials and designations. The addition of SAIS' high caliber front line agents will continue to fuel the superior consumer experience Bolt offers -- already rated in the top 1% of consumer experience in the P&C Insurance industry.
 

Commenting on the acquisition Eric Gewirtzman, CEO of Bolt, said, "We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to continue to work with the best insurance markets in the U.S. and with the best and brightest in the agent community. As we continue our journey as the leading insurance marketplace for both agents and consumers we believe the combined offering enhances the country's leading agency platform and further demonstrates our continued commitment to the market."

Keith Curry, COO of SAIS added, "We are committed to providing our agency force with markets their customers are looking for as well as the most advanced technology to enable them to easily do their job and place the right business with the right carrier. Our goal has always been to make business easier for our agents -- effectively leveraging people, processes, and technology. With Bolt we will continue to be at the forefront of the industry enabling us to significantly expand our market position as the largest insurance aggregator in the U.S."

About SAIS

Headquartered, in Austin, Texas, Superior Access (SAIS) is an established online insurance wholesaler and distributor, providing fast access to a variety of insurance products. Superior Access provides online insurance quotes and wholesale brokerage services to more than 2,100 retail insurance agents across the nation. Superior Access has forged strategic alliances with many of the world's leading insurance companies.  

Basismodule
- Symbio Architect
- Symbio Modeling Client
- Symbio Publishing
- Symbio Document

Zusatzmodule
- Symbio eden Client
- Symbio Cost Analysis
- Symbio eLearning (powered SAP®WPB)
- Symbio Dashboard (powered SAP®Crystal Dashboard)
- Symbio Reporting
- Symbio Workshop Scanner

Lösungen
- Symbio for SharePoint
- Symbio for SAP
- Symbio for ARIS  

für Symbio stimmt, dürften die zusammengelegten Umsätze von Symbio und Freeborders in 2013 irgendwo zwischen 80 und 100 Millionen angesiedelt sein, vielleicht auch mehr.


Income Statement

Revenue

$42.1

Welche Umsatzmutiple jetzt auf diese ca. 90 Millionen anzuwenden ist, ist eine schwierige Frage. Ich denke aber, dass 4 eine sehr vorsichtige Schätzung sind, was für SymbioNeu auf einen Wert von 360 Millionen hinausliefe. Die 8% von ICG Group, mit denen ich eigentlich nicht so richtig zufrieden bin, wären dann ca. 27 Millonen wert - knapp unter der unteren Untergrenze meiner letzten Schätzungen für Freeborders von 30 bis 40 Millionen.

Da kann ich nur hoffen, dass ich mich beim Wert des Mergers von 360 Millionen verschätzt habe.  

CHICAGO, Nov. 14, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MSDSonline, the leading provider of cloud-based solutions for managing safety data sheets, today announced that it has expanded its offerings to include a global fax-back service. Similar to MSDSonline's popular domestic fax-back service, the global service allows users to call a hotline from anywhere in the world, any time day or night, and have a safety data sheet faxed directly to their location.

Fax-back provides employees critical Right-To-Know access to chemical hazard information, as required by OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard and the hazard communication systems of many countries. The hotline also gives users access to a dedicated team of specialists, including translators, registered nurses, emergency medical technicians, toxicologists, paramedics and pharmacists who are on call 24/7 to provide chemical exposure support.

"Our customers have employees deployed around the world and they want those workers to have around-the-clock access to the best chemical hazard information available," said MSDSonline's VP of Product Development, Mike Flynn. "Our global safety data sheet fax-back service gives employees access to a site-specific database of safety data sheets and works seamlessly with our powerful HQ and HQ RegXR chemical management solutions."

MSDSonline's release of global fax-back coincides with increased global adoption of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System (GHS), a model hazard communication system that's focusing greater attention on the importance of harmonizing critical hazard information from chemical manufacturers around the world.
 

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_23650276  

Form 8-K for ICG GROUP, INC.


--------------------------------------------------

18-Nov-2013

Other Events



Item 8.01. Other Events
On November 15, 2013, Allconnect, Inc., a leading online provider of home services to consumers ("Allconnect"), acquired substantially all of the assets of WhiteFence, Inc. ("WhiteFence"), a company in which ICG Group, Inc. ("ICG") owned an approximately 36% equity interest. ICG expects to receive up to $9.5 million of proceeds consisting of cash and Allconnect shares over the three-year period following the consummation of the transaction, subject to indemnification claims and working capital and other adjustments under the purchase agreement. ICG anticipates the value of its proceeds from the sale to approximate its carrying value in WhiteFence and does not expect to owe any income taxes in connection with the transaction.
 

eigentlich nur so erklären, dass fast alle Investoren gar nicht wussten, dass ICGGroup auch noch 36% an Whitefence hielt.  

sie gar nicht mehr aus:

http://www.icg.com/companies/


Dies Übersicht ist allerdings per 30.9.2013 - Procurian ist inzwischen verkauft, und zwar meines Erachtens für knapp 400 Millionen zu billig.  

GovDelivery Expands Washington, DC Presence as Client Demand Accelerates
Digital Communications Leader Increases GovDelivery East Office Space by Over 60% GovDelivery

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GovDelivery, the leading provider of cloud-based public sector communication solutions, announced today the expansion of GovDelivery East, its North American east coast center. With every federal executive department now using GovDelivery for digital communications, the company is moving into significantly bigger office space in the Washington, DC area. The additional space accommodates GovDelivery's continued investment in client-facing staff and its GovLoop division, which runs the largest knowledge network connecting more than 100,000 government workers on govloop-website. This move follows the expansion of GovDelivery Central, the company's offices in Saint Paul, MN.
 

November 12, 2013
In a recent article in Harvard Business Review Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani discussed the importance of creating a personalized online shopping experience. Rakuten is the third largest online seller after Amazon and eBay, and they really focus on customer service and interaction rather than just speed and convenience.
McKinsey recently drew parallels from the insurance agency market to the travel industry, where agents are becoming disintermediated. Mikitani makes a good point that travel sites (Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, etc.) could benefit significantly if they figured out how to also offer the personal experience that the boutique travel agencies offered. We agree.
Mikitani touched on a lot of ideas that we think parallel the Bolt Platform approach of “high tech, high touch” to the online insurance buying process.
• Not all sales are social sales. Friends (online and offline) don’t have all the power in making online purchase decisions. For example, if you were buying a high end guitar you are likeier rely on staff in a boutique than an online review. Another good example of this is Apple store employees.
•There is a need to provide personal service on top of the hyper efficient shopping and standardized offering compared side by side.
•Personal service and a relationship with the seller over time can be key. Design, passion and the “story” of the producer is often more important than price. Consumers are likely to spend more money when they have a personal connection and receive superior service from the seller.
The “high tech, high touch” style of the Bolt Platform includes live chat and licensed agents available at extended hours. Many of the proposed online models for selling insurance forget that human interaction and building relationships is crucial to the buying process, particularly in commercial lines insurance.
 

fusioniert und ICGGroup hält an de fusionierten Unternehmen 8% statt den zuletzt ca. 35% an Freeborders

http://www.symbioworld.com/de/produkt/ueberblick.html

Das fusonierte Unternehmen dürfte etwas mehr als 2.000 Beschäftigte haben. Wie schon weiter oben angeführt bin ich mit den erreichten 8% im Rahmen des Zusammenschlussen nicht so zufrieden.  

Symbio is about turning innovative ideas into great products. We partner with companies wanting to make a global impact, by helping co-create cutting edge software products that make a difference – from rising stars such as Evernote, Qunar, and Square, to international heavyweights like IBM, Microsoft, and Intel. Our software approach is based on the vision where everything can be accessed by any device, in any language, anywhere in the world, using the experiences people choose. Symbio is a global company based in Silicon Valley, with 1400+ software engineers and architects from R&D centers across the United States, Asia Pacific, and the Nordic countries.

Visit us online at www.symbio.com
Spezialgebiete
Mobile Software Development, Mobile applications, Device integration and porting, Embedded Systems, User Experience, Mobile Convergence, Web Solutions, Web Application Development, Quality Assurance & Testing, Test and Measurement Systems
Typ
In Privatbesitz
Unternehmensgröße
1001-5000 Mitarbeiter
Webseite
http://www.symbio.com
Branche
IT und Services
Gründungsdatum
1994


Quelle: Linkedin
 

Humanizing Online Sales - the Bolt Platform Approach
| November 12, 2013
In a recent article in Harvard Business Review Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani discussed the importance of creating a personalized online shopping experience. Rakuten is the third largest online seller after Amazon and eBay, and they really focus on customer service and interaction rather than just speed and convenience.
McKinsey recently drew parallels from the insurance agency market to the travel industry, where agents are becoming disintermediated. Mikitani makes a good point that travel sites (Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, etc.) could benefit significantly if they figured out how to also offer the personal experience that the boutique travel agencies offered. We agree.
Mikitani touched on a lot of ideas that we think parallel the Bolt Platform approach of “high tech, high touch” to the online insurance buying process.
• Not all sales are social sales. Friends (online and offline) don’t have all the power in making online purchase decisions. For example, if you were buying a high end guitar you are likeier rely on staff in a boutique than an online review. Another good example of this is Apple store employees.
•There is a need to provide personal service on top of the hyper efficient shopping and standardized offering compared side by side.
•Personal service and a relationship with the seller over time can be key. Design, passion and the “story” of the producer is often more important than price. Consumers are likely to spend more money when they have a personal connection and receive superior service from the seller.
The “high tech, high touch” style of the Bolt Platform includes live chat and licensed agents available at extended hours. Many of the proposed online models for selling insurance forget that human interaction and building relationships is crucial to the buying process, particularly in commercial lines insurance. While speed, efficiency, and convenience