Gurbaksh Chahal's Gravity4 is trying to acquire another public ad tech company just a week after its last takeover bid was rejected (TRADST) | ||
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Ad tech company Gravity4 has made a 564,700,000 kr ($67.4 million) bid to acquire publicly traded rival Swedish company TradeDoubler. The news is startling for a number of reasons:
Chahal has maintained his innocence in the first case and has said he only pleaded guilty to avoid a "witch hunt." Neither Chahal or Gravity4 has responded to requests for comment about the second reported arrest. TradeDoubler would not comment on the Gravity4 acquisition bid when contacted by Business Insider. A press release from Gravity4 reads: Gravity4 has announced that it board of directors has doubled its offer of 282,350,000 kr for publicly traded TradeDoubler AB headquartered in Sweden. Gravity4 will purchase publicly traded TradeDoubler AB 282,350,000 kr (equivalent to 6.67 kr per share) in cash upon closing, additional to the equivalent of that amount in Gravity4 stock. This offer would value the full transaction at 564,700,000 kr (equivalent to 13.4 kr per share). Chahal is the former founder and CEO of another ad tech company, RadiumOne. He was fired by his board after the domestic abuse accusations became public. He once, unsuccessfully, tried to buy back his former company, but went on to start another: Gravity4. In the past nine months it has made nine acquisitions of small ad tech companies such as Triggit and, most recently , AdX Search. However, Business Insider understands those deals are modest, and mostly in stock. Chahal claims his new company is valued at $1 billion. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 11 icons of American pop culture who are actually Canadian  | ||
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The incredible rags-to-riches story of British lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone | ||
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British lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone, 43, is the poster child for entrepreneurship and inspirational women in business. Her life may look glamorous now, but it hasn't been plain sailing. The Scottish founder of the British brand Ultimo, launched in 1996, grew up in an impoverished part of Glasgow, left school at 15 with no qualifications, and got pregnant at 18. Troubles followed Mone into her later life. She was mugged and assaulted outside her office, her husband left her on Christmas Day 2011, and her messy divorce cost her nearly half her wealth. Mone has charted her journey from jobless teen to creating one of the world's most iconic lingerie brands in her new book, "My Fight to the Top." The entrepreneur now has an estimated net worth of £20 million ($30 million). Here is her story, sourced from her book, her interview with Business Insider, as well as official pictures from her website, and several social media accounts. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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Obama to warn rising sea levels could cost US $200 bn | ||
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Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama will on Wednesday warn that a one-foot rise in sea levels could cost the United States as much as $200 billion, in a speech warning of the security risks of climate change. In a commencement address to the United States Coast Guard Academy, Obama will warn that climate change presents the most serious risk to national security, a risk that is immediate and acute. "You are part of the first generation of officers to begin your service in a world where the effects of climate change are so clearly upon us," he is expected to say. "Make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country. And so we need to act—and we need to act now." The White House believes that rising sea levels is chief among these risks. "Climate change, especially rising seas, is a threat to our homeland security—our economy, infrastructure, and the safety and health of the American people." "It's estimated that a further increase in sea level of one foot -— just one foot -— by the end of this century could cost our nation $200 billion," Obama will say. The Pentagon is taking the matter so seriously that according to White house officials, it is assessing the vulnerability of more than 7,000 bases, installations and other facilities to climate change. The military is also studying the impact of the National Guard being deployed to deal with the aftermath of extreme weather. Obama has launched a high-profile push to raise awareness about the dangers facing the environment. After a landmark bilateral deal last year that committed China to emissions cuts, the administration says it would like to see a binding global deal reached in Paris this December. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Israel PM halts ban on Palestinians using settler buses | ||
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Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday ordered the suspension of a controversial measure banning Palestinians from riding the same buses as Jewish settlers when returning from Israel to the West Bank. The announcement came several hours after a three-month pilot project which was approved by Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon went into action. The ban was immediately attacked by rights groups and the opposition, who denounced it as an "unprecedented" move that heaped unnecessary humiliation on the Palestinians and would ultimately damage Israel. "Under a three-month pilot project, Palestinians who work in Israel will, starting Wednesday, need to return home by the same crossing without taking buses used by (Israeli) residents" of the occupied West Bank, a defence ministry official told AFP. Thousands of Palestinians travel each day to work in Israel, mainly in the construction business, using travel permits each time they cross. But the move was quickly stopped by Netanyahu, an official in his bureau told AFP. "The proposal is unacceptable to the prime minister. He spoke with the defence minister this morning and it was decided that the proposal will be frozen," he said. Under terms of the arrangement, Palestinian commuters' outward journey would remain unchanged but for their return trip they would have to board special Palestinian-only buses, which would have dropped them off at the same checkpoint where they crossed. They would cross the checkpoint on foot, then make their own way home. Before, they were able to catch any buses returning to the West Bank, serving both Palestinian commuters and settlers. Public radio said Yaalon had agreed to the ban as it would allow for "better control" of the Palestinians and "reduce security risks". Israeli settlers in the West Bank have called for years for Palestinians to be banned from public transport there, arguing their presence poses a security risk. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Gurbaksh Chahal's Gravity4 is trying to acquire another public ad tech company just a week after its last takeover bid was rejected (TRADST) | ||
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Ad tech company Gravity4 has made a 564,700,000 kr ($67.4 million) bid to acquire publicly traded rival Swedish company TradeDoubler. The news is startling for a number of reasons:
Chahal has maintained his innocence in the first case and has said he only pleaded guilty to avoid a "witch hunt." Neither Chahal or Gravity4 has responded to requests for comment about the second reported arrest. TradeDoubler would not comment on the Gravity4 acquisition bid when contacted by Business Insider. A press release from Gravity4 reads: Gravity4 has announced that it board of directors has doubled its offer of 282,350,000 kr for publicly traded TradeDoubler AB headquartered in Sweden. Gravity4 will purchase publicly traded TradeDoubler AB 282,350,000 kr (equivalent to 6.67 kr per share) in cash upon closing, additional to the equivalent of that amount in Gravity4 stock. This offer would value the full transaction at 564,700,000 kr (equivalent to 13.4 kr per share). Chahal is the former founder and CEO of another ad tech company, RadiumOne. He was fired by his board after the domestic abuse accusations became public. He once, unsuccessfully, tried to buy back his former company, but went on to start another: Gravity4. In the past nine months it has made nine acquisitions of small ad tech companies such as Triggit and, most recently, AdX Search. However, Business Insider understands those deals are modest, and mostly in stock. Chahal claims his new company is valued at $1 billion. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 11 icons of American pop culture who are actually Canadian  | ||
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Burundi protesters clash with police as president delays polls | ||
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Bujumbura (Burundi) (AFP) - Burundian security forces fired shots and tear gas in battles with protesters Wednesday, the latest violence in weeks of anti-government demonstrations, as the presidency delayed elections. In the capital Bujumbura, hundreds defied government orders to stop protests, marching through the streets singing and demanding President Pierre Nkurunziza end his bid for a third term in power. One week on since a failed coup led by a top general -- which saw soldiers battling each other on the streets -- police were seen returning to try to quash protests. In recent days, soldiers were mainly deployed, viewed by many protesters as being more neutral than the much more feared police. At least 20 people died in weeks of street battles with security forces before demonstrations ended during the coup attempt, but protests resumed Monday. Legislative elections had been due on May 26, but were pushed back to June 5 following "a proposal from the electoral commission to respond to a request from opposition parties, and finally to answer calls of the region and the international community," presidential official Willy Nyamitwe told AFP. No decision has been made as to whether a presidential poll set for June 26 would also be delayed. "Wait and see," Nyamitwe said.
- Police return - The European Union joined the African Union on Tuesday in calling for a delay to the elections, while South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said they should be "postponed indefinitely" after a meeting of Africa's Great Lakes bloc of nations. Opposition and rights groups say that Nkurunziza's bid for a third five-year term in power is against the constitution and the terms of the peace deal that brought an end to the country's 13-year civil war in 2006. But Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader and born-again Christian who believes he has divine backing to lead the country, argues his first term in power did not count as he was elected by parliament, not directly by the people. In the flashpoint Nyakabiga district, which has seen sone of the largest and most violent demonstrations since protests began on April 26, a small group of soldiers fired into the air to break up the crowd. But protesters continued their march soon after, and the troops pulled back. In other areas, police were deployed. "The army has guns and they cannot fire on the people... so we brought the police because they have tear gas, and are equipped for this kind of mission," one policeman told AFP. Nkurunziza has been accused by rights groups of launching a campaign of repression against opponents and trying to silence independent media since coup leaders admitted defeat on Friday after fierce fighting with loyalist troops. But the presidency dismissed such claims Tuesday, saying it would never carry out "revenge" raids and promised fair trials for those arrested. More than 100,000 people have fled to neighbouring nations to escape political violence, according to the United Nations. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The history of medicine will seem blunt and random compared with what's coming next | ||
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What we think of as modern medicine will look like primitive guesswork as we start to understand the factors that make a treatment perfect for one person yet completely ineffective for another. "So much of medicine is just based on the average patient," Dr. Eric Green said in an interview at Smithsonian magazine's "The Future is Here" festival. "There are so many cases where you'll give a medicine to somebody and you know there's a 50-50 chance the medication is either not going to work or it's going to make them sicker and yet you know that 50% it's going help." Precision medicine could change all that, letting doctors prescribe treatments specifically tailored to each patient based on genetic information and other factors that make individuals unique, rather than rolling the dice with drugs that work most of the time or — in the cases of some cancer treatments — only a small fraction of the time. After all, diseases and people are both incredibly complex. We might have a drug that barely slows the growth of a common type of lung cancer in the vast majority of the population but eliminates it completely in a tiny percentage of people. Finding and understanding the medically relevant intricacies that are unique to each individual will not be easy. The Precision Medicine Initiative, announced by President Barack Obama during this year's State of the Union address, is a massive national project that plans to delve into the specific biology of diseases and the genetic code of individuals so we can figure out what form of treatment works for each person. Green, the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, argued in his conference speech that the initiative, started with a $215 million federal investment, could radically transform medicine. He pointed to five reasons we're at a turning point with precision medicine:
"Ten years from now," Green said, you'll look at what the medical field has been doing "and say, 'Oh that was so crude and rough,' compared to what we'll be doing 10 or 20 years from now." Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Doctors Show Why 3D Printing Holds 'Limitless' Potential For Medicine  | ||
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