“Gustavson donates $10 million to UVic business - Abbotsford News” plus 3 more

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• Gustavson donates $10 million to UVic business - Abbotsford News
• Embezzler who got $9M business tax credit charged with ... - Washington Examiner
• Ciena Completes Acquisition of the Optical and Carrier Ethernet Assets of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks Business - Businesswire.com
• Review site Yelp faces small-business lawsuits - Berkshire Eagle

Gustavson donates $10 million to UVic business - Abbotsford News Posted: 19 Mar 2010 07:28 PM PDT Peter Gustavson, founder of Victoria-based foreign-currency exchange Custom House, is donating $10 million to the University of Victoria's faculty of business. The donation, the largest ever to the school's business program, will establish an endowment to support scholarships, professorships, research and innovation. Gustavson double-majored in accounting and marketing at the University of Manitoba, and said he understands what it's like to be a struggling student. "I'd rather see students spending their time pursuing their studies than coming up with ways to finance their tuition and living expenses," he said. Gustavson sold Custom House to Western Union in 2009 for $370 million US. Today's announcement of the donation comes on the same day the faculty of business celebrates its 20th anniversary. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Embezzler who got $9M business tax credit charged with ... - Washington Examiner Posted: 19 Mar 2010 03:24 PM PDT FLINT, MICH. — A convicted embezzler who snagged more than $9 million in business tax credits from the state of Michigan has been charged with defrauding an elderly neighbor. RASCO (RAS-ko) CEO Richard A. Short was charged Friday with embezzlement and obtaining money under false pretenses and illegally using an ATM card. A judge set his bail at $9.2 million. Short didn't enter a plea but said he understood the new charges against him. Short shared the stage with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday as she announced RASCO would get tax credits for setting up its headquarters in Flint. He was arrested a day later and then charged with violating his parole. The situation has embarrassed economic development officials, who say they are looking into how Short won the tax credit. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Ciena Completes Acquisition of the Optical and Carrier Ethernet Assets of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks Business - Businesswire.com Posted: 19 Mar 2010 01:05 AM PDT Creates World's Largest Supplier Exclusively Focused on Converged Optical Ethernet Industry Voices Strong Support for Newly-Transformed Ciena LINTHICUM, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), the network specialist, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of substantially all of the optical networking and Carrier Ethernet assets of Nortel's+ Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business. "With broader geographic reach, deeper customer relationships and a stronger portfolio of solutions, we're confident that this acquisition positions Ciena for faster growth." The $773.8 million (USD) aggregate purchase price for the acquisition consists entirely of cash. The purchase price is subject to adjustment based upon the level of net working capital transferred to Ciena at closing, which is currently estimated to result in a downward adjustment to the aggregate purchase price of approximately $62 million (USD). In accordance with the asset sale agreement, prior to the closing Ciena elected to replace the $239 million (USD) in convertible notes that were to be issued as part of the aggregate purchase price with cash equivalent to 102% of the face amount of the notes replaced, or $243.8 million (USD). "The acquisition of these assets accelerates Ciena's overall strategy and gives us stronger operating leverage to continue investing in innovation that will allow us to deliver on our vision for next-generation networks," said Gary Smith, Ciena's president and CEO. "With broader geographic reach, deeper customer relationships and a stronger portfolio of solutions, we're confident that this acquisition positions Ciena for faster growth." Ciena already has completed several important milestones in its comprehensive integration plan, and remains focused on ensuring a smooth transition for the benefit of both customers and employees. Specifically: Ciena has selected its senior management and extended leadership teams and defined their areas of responsibility and accountability, and identified and confirmed substantially all of the organizational structure to the extent permitted by applicable law. Nearly 100 percent of the employment offers Ciena has extended to Nortel MEN employees have been accepted, including a significant number in management positions. Ciena has ensured that upon closing the applicable Nortel customer and supply contracts will successfully transition to Ciena. Philippe Morin, previously president of Nortel MEN, has been appointed Ciena's Senior Vice President, Global Products Group. The vision for the transformed product portfolio has been determined, and a comprehensive portfolio update will be announced March 22, 2010. Smith continued, "As we unite these two organizations, we are emphasizing performance in every aspect of the business and are organizing the newly-transformed Ciena to ensure we remain operationally efficient and financially strong. Staying true to our specialist roots, Ciena is now the only global supplier exclusively focused on converged optical Ethernet as a foundation for the next generation of service-and application-driven networks – creating a true industry leader." A number of existing Ciena and Nortel MEN customers and partners have commented on the completion of this acquisition, including: Tim Harden, President, Supply Chain and Fleet Operations, AT&T, said: "We believe that consolidation of optical networking and Carrier Ethernet assets will accelerate innovation and speed to market for new technologies and network solutions. Our goal is to ensure that each investment in network infrastructure accelerates our move towards a network that enables the full promise of the Internet and other game-changing technologies." Phil Male, Chief Strategy Officer at Cable & Wireless Worldwide, said: "We've worked with both Nortel and Ciena historically, and the coming together of these two businesses is a logical fit – I'm sure we'll enjoy a strong relationship with the combined business going forward." Bill Teuber, Vice Chairman, at EMC Corporation, said: "EMC and Ciena have a long history of partnering together to provide industry-leading information infrastructure solutions to our customers around the world. Ciena's acquisition of these well-established networking assets will help EMC and Ciena provide a broader range of solutions for our joint customers." Paul Frizado, Chief Technology & Information Officer at MTS Allstream, said: "As a partner to both Ciena and Nortel's MEN group, we've had a front row seat to the exciting possibilities this deal represents in terms of advancing networking through innovative technology. We view this as an opportunity to work with a strategic industry partner to continue to build a simpler, more cost-effective network that can reliably deliver compelling services, applications and content to our residential and business customers across Canada." Consuelo Gómez Colín, COO of Telmex said: "We are pleased to see Nortel's optical and Carrier Ethernet assets land with Ciena. The combination of these two industry leaders offers us an even stronger and more capable partner for bringing the best in network innovation to our customers." Zouheir Mansourati, Vice President, Technology Strategy at TELUS, said: "Our focus is on delivering the best solutions for Canadians at home, at the workplace and on the move, which requires a dynamic, reliable and high-capacity network. Ciena's acquisition of Nortel's MEN assets ensures the continued delivery of the advanced optical networking solutions that are part of our network while ensuring TELUS' heritage of designing, building and deploying advanced networking technology." "We remain committed to providing stability, continuity of supply and innovation to our customers through individualized, high-touch attention. This will ensure that we remain a trusted partner in evolving networks and enabling our customers to create new and differentiated services to capture market share," said Mike Aquino, senior vice president, global field organization at Ciena. About Ciena Ciena specializes in practical network transition. We offer leading network infrastructure solutions, intelligent software and a comprehensive services practice to help our customers use their networks to fundamentally change the way they compete. With a global presence, Ciena leverages its heritage of practical innovation to deliver maximum performance and economic value in communications networks worldwide. We routinely post recent news, financial results and other important announcements and information about Ciena on our website. For more information, visit www.ciena.com. Note to Ciena Investors Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 5, 2010. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. +'Nortel' is a trademark of Nortel Networks, used under license by Ciena. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Review site Yelp faces small-business lawsuits - Berkshire Eagle Posted: 20 Mar 2010 06:26 AM PDT Saturday March 20, 2010 SAN FRANCISCO ( AP) - Yelp, one of the most popular Web sites that let people post opinions about restaurants, shops and local services, is being sued by several small businesses that claim they've been pressured to advertise on the site in exchange for getting negative reviews squashed. Yelp denies the claims, but exactly what happened may never be clear. And regardless of what happens in court, the lawsuits could taint Yelp's reputation as a leader in online reviews. Yelp has faced many complaints since it began letting consumers post reviews about local businesses ranging from all-you-can eat buffets to zip line operators six years ago. Often businesses have complained about how reviews on the site - positive or negative - can mysteriously disappear and reappear. But since late February, at least three lawsuits seeking class action status have been filed against the site by a dozen companies, complaining that reviews are manipulated depending on which companies advertise on the site and which ones do not. The first suit, which explicitly alleges Yelp engaged in extortion and attempted extortion, was filed Feb. 23 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Cats & Dogs Animal Hospital in Long Beach, Calif. That lawsuit was amended in March to add nine more companies - some Yelp advertisers, some not. It alleges Yelp sales representatives indicated to businesses that they could alter site listings to help advertisers and harm nonadvertisers, and that Yelp has actually done so. The lawsuit began with Cats & Dogs owner Greg Perrault, who said in a court filing that after receiving negative reviews on the site he started getting calls from Yelp, informing him that if he advertised Yelp would hide or lower negative reviews on his page and let him choose the order of the reviews. Perrault said he decided not to advertise, and a week later a negative review that had disappeared from his page reappeared. He also received a second negative review from someone who had previously written one, he said. Yelp refused his request that the reviews be removed, he said. The lawsuit seeks an order barring Yelp from manipulating reviews and forcing the company to return money reaped "by means of its wrongful acts and practices," along with unspecified damages. At least two similar lawsuits have been filed: One by Christine LaPuasky of D'ames Day Spa in Imperial Beach, Calif., on March 3 in the same district court, and one by Boris Levitt of Renaissance Furniture Restoration in San Francisco on March 12 in San Francisco Superior Court. In an interview, Yelp co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said that the businesses suing his company don't understand how Yelp works. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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