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The Fourth World Intelligence Congress Kicked Off Online in Tianjin


TIANJIN, China, June 26, 2020 — On the afternoon of June 23, the Fourth World Intelligence Congress kicked off in Media Theater, Tianjin. Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and Chairman of China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), attended the online opening ceremony. CPC Tianjin Committee Secretary Li Hongzhong addressed the congress. Li Xiaohong, President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), congratulated the congress through video. Huai Jinpeng, Executive Vice Chairman of CAST, Zhang Guoqing, Mayor of Tianjin attended the meeting. Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul, Republic of Korea, delivered a speech via video. The congress was presided over by Gong Ke, Chairman of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. 58.6 million people watched the cloud opening ceremony and theme summit at the same time on 40 live streaming websites and platforms, and the total number of views reached 392 million.

Venue of the Fourth World Intelligence Congress
Venue of the Fourth World Intelligence Congress

Wan Gang pointed out that the congress is a high-end platform for artificial intelligence communication jointly created by Tianjin and CAST. We will open up big data, apply blockchain and innovate in cloud services during the pandemic prevention and control; promote the development of new industries, further drive the intelligent process and digitization of the entire industry chain, and continuously boost the close combination of artificial intelligence with real economy; create a new platform for employment, build an open source sharing platform, and forge the "Sci-Tech Innovation China" brand; continuously deepen basic research, build a world-class artificial intelligence development platform and industrial ecosystem; and promote international cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.

Li Hongzhong said that Tianjin comprehensively promotes the strategic layout of the new generation artificial intelligence industry, and intelligent technology is becoming the core driving force for high-quality development in the city. Tianjin will take the initiative to embrace the new era of intelligence, push forward the construction of a pioneer city in the fourth industrial revolution, build itself into an innovative city in intelligent technology, an energization city of the intelligent industry, and an ecological city of intelligent development, continuously optimize its business environment, and strengthen cooperation in intelligence fields with various parties from home and abroad.

According to Li Xiaohong, Tianjin has embarked on a new way of innovation-driven development with the intelligence technology industry as the lead, and Tianjin Intelligent Port shows a promising future.

Park Won Soon said that this year is a crucial year for the construction of 5G networks in Tianjin. He hoped Seoul and Tianjin will strengthen communications and share experience on the construction of intelligence industrial infrastructures.

At the theme summit, representatives from the global intelligence technology industry and academia delivered speeches on site or via video accesses. Among them include Gao Wenjiu, academician of CAE, Ma Huateng, Chairman of the Board of Tencent, Max Tegmark, tenured professor at the MIT Department of Physics, Yang Yuanqing, Chairman of Lenovo Group, Yang Xu, Global Vice President of Intel Corporation, Edmund Phelps, laureate of Nobel Economics Award, Wang Jian, Chairman of the Technical Committee of Alibaba Group, and Raj Reddy, foreign academician at CAE and winner of Turing Award.

Themed on Intelligence New Era: Innovation, Energization and Ecology, the Fourth World Intelligence Congress applied the modes of "meetings, exhibitions, contests and intelligence experience" to hold six cloud events namely, cloud promotion, cloud release, cloud bilateral talk, cloud intelligence experience, cloud intelligence technology exhibition, world intelligent driving challenge contest, "Fifth Space" intelligent safety competition, Tianjin "Haihe Talents" Entrepreneurial Competition, as well as 13 cloud parallel forums, cloud and on-site contract signing activities.

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Contact:Cui Kejia
Tel:0086-400-019-0516, Mobile: 0086-15120084132
Email:wic@wicongress.org

Night view of Tianjin, host city of the 4th WIC
Night view of Tianjin, host city of the 4th WIC

 

KPMG and Planon Extend Cooperation to Support Organisations in the Digitalisation of Lease-, Real Estate- and Portfolio Management Processes

NIJMEGEN and AMSTELVEEN, Netherlands, June 26, 2020KPMG and Planon today announced moving their collaboration to the next level, by signing a partnership agreement. Over the past two years the parties have been successfully working together on helping companies to comply with IFRS 16 standards by implementing Planon’s Lease Accounting solution across Europe.

Thanks to this partnership organisations can achieve a stronger ‘end-to-end transformation’ from lease accounting towards strategic portfolio management. The combination of Planon’s innovative software solutions with KPMG’s extensive knowledge around process optimisation and performance improvements creates synergy. It will enable building owners and users to plan and execute a smart portfolio management strategy, using innovative technologies managed from a single-source-of-truth.

Gerben de Roest, Partner at KPMG Enterprise Solutions, said, ‘I am very happy that we have found a global software provider that helps building owners and occupiers to streamline business processes for buildings, people and workplaces and that puts innovation first. I am looking forward to continuing our successful collaboration by helping our mutual and new clients to get the most value out of their Planon investments, by providing value added expertise and controlled implementation of Planon solutions and related technology.’

Sander Grunewald, Partner at KPMG Real Estate Advisory, added, ‘The extended cooperation in a partnership between Planon and KPMG emphasises our global firm’s focus to support corporate organisations with optimising and digitising their real estate portfolios and further align real estate within its key business strategy. Many of our corporate clients are looking to embrace the opportunities that technology brings. We aim to support them in gaining the full potential from digital and innovative technology. Planon is one of the established technology providers in this domain that can fulfill a bridging role to connect the technology solutions and bring additional value to the corporate clients.

About Planon

With over 35 years of experience, Planon is the leading global provider of innovative software, proven best practices and professional services that help building owners and occupiers, commercial service providers, and financial controllers to streamline business processes.

About KPMG Netherlands

KPMG has offered high-quality accountancy and advice services in the Netherlands since 1917.

 

Related Links :

https://planonsoftware.com

IFS Named a Visionary in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises Report

– IFS recognized for completeness of vision and ability to execute

LONDON, June 25, 2020 — IFS, the global enterprise applications company, announces that IFS has been named a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises* for its extended ERP platform IFS Applications™.

To be included in this report, vendors like IFS had to meet requirements on product or service, customer experience, operations, and geographic strategy. IFS was proud to be evaluated.

IFS is the cloud ERP vendor of choice for some of the world’s leading businesses across industry verticals such as manufacturing, service management, aerospace and defense, energy, utilities and resources, and engineering, construction and infrastructure. Some of the most recent customers include leading French waste management group Séché Environnement, world-leading supplier of advanced spring wire Suzuki Garphyttan, liquefied natural gas industry leader Höegh LNG, and leading producer of batteries for the aerospace and defense sector EaglePicher. IFS cloud and SaaS revenue for FY 2019 increased 56% versus the same period of 2018 (excluding Astea and WorkWave revenue).

"Our singular focus is to deliver products that create value for our customers throughout their entire lifecycle, whether in manufacturing, asset management, supply chain management, after-sales service management or any combination of these functions," IFS Chief Product Officer Christian Pedersen said. "We are concentrating and accelerating our investments to power intelligent and autonomous enterprises on a scale we haven’t seen before. We are proud to offer proven industry solutions in whatever way makes sense for our customers: natively in the cloud or on-premises. We are very pleased to be acknowledged by Gartner in this report, which we see as a testament to our unwavering commitment to customer value and choice."

IFS’s business platform extends across full-scale ERP capabilities including financials, HR, supply chain and project management, all fully integrated with best-in-class support for enterprise asset management (EAM), and service management and realized through a beautiful user experience. Global leaders in industries such as manufacturing, aerospace & defense, energy & utilities, engineering & construction, and service provision trust IFS’s cloud solutions to deliver better business outcomes. 

IFS’s comprehensive product offering has been recognized in a multitude of industry analyst research. The company was recognized in April 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management**.

Based on customer feedback and ratings, IFS was also recognized as a February 2020 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Enterprise Asset Management Software***.

Access a complimentary copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises report here: https://info.ifs.com/2020-Gartner-Magic-Quadrant-Cloud-ERP_Gated.html.

*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises, Tim Faith, Duy Nguyen, Dennis Torii, Paul Schenck, Christian Hestermann, 22 June 2020

** Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management," Jim Robinson, April 16, 2019.

*** Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings, and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Gartner or its affiliates.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

For more information, please contact:
Lyndsey Rojas
IFS Director of Communications
Phone: +1-888-437-4968
press@ifs.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/ifs/r/ifs-named-a-visionary-in-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-cloud-erp-for-product-centric-enterprises-report,c3141497

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Cyient Collaborates with Microsoft to Accelerate Internet of Things Solutions for Industry 4.0


Verified IoT Edge Gateways and software enhance interoperability and allow faster time to production.

HYDERABAD, India, June 26, 2020 — Cyient, a global engineering and technology solutions company, today announced it has joined Microsoft Azure Certified for Internet of Things (IoT), ensuring customers get IoT solutions up and running quickly with hardware and software that has been pre-tested and verified to work with Microsoft Azure IoT services. Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT allows businesses to reach customers where they are, working with an ecosystem of devices and platforms, allowing for faster time to production. 

Suman Narayan, Senior Vice President, Semiconductors and Medical Technologies and Healthcare, Cyient
Suman Narayan, Senior Vice President, Semiconductors and Medical Technologies and Healthcare, Cyient

Cyient combines 28 years of operations technology experience and industry domain knowledge with its digital solutions and services expertise to help businesses simplify complex IoT implementations and manage the convergence of OT/IT for improved outcomes.  From solving a single, high-impact customer challenge to mapping out a strategic roadmap for superior operations, Cyient helps customers Connect, Integrate, Analyze, and Act on data to drive actions. 

Cyient IoT Edge Gateway 5400, the flagship product in the company’s family of IoT gateways, is Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT. It provides customers with a modular and scalable edge gateway for seamless connectivity of legacy machines and next-gen intelligent devices to the Industrial IoT network and the cloud. Cyient’s IoT Edge Gateway 5400 provides diverse connectivity and communication protocol options, advanced data processing, and edge analytics capabilities for remote asset monitoring and predictive maintenance solutions.  Cyient’s modular platform approach to hardware and software, with plug-and-play modules and over-the-air firmware updates, ensure your long-life assets evolve as your business and technology evolve.

Speaking on the collaboration, Suman Narayan, Senior Vice President, Semiconductors and Medical Technologies and Healthcare at Cyient, said, "Industries today are increasing focus on digital technology and building intelligence into equipment for remote monitoring and to extend asset life, improve customer experience, and ensure regulatory compliance. The Microsoft Azure IoT Certification validates Cyient’s ability to accelerate IoT deployments for customers and ensure seamless integration from the edge to the cloud."

"Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT extends our promise to bring IoT to business scale, starting with interoperable solutions from leading technology companies around the world," said Jerry Lee, Director of Marketing for Azure Internet of Things, Microsoft Corp. "With trusted offerings and verified partners, Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT accelerates the deployment of IoT even further."

IoT projects are complex and take a long time to implement. Customers find that choosing and connecting the right set of devices, assets or sensors to the cloud can be time-consuming. To jumpstart their IoT projects with confidence, customers are looking for certified devices and platforms that are tested for readiness, compatibility and usability with the Microsoft Azure IoT Suite. By choosing a partner from the Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT program, customers can save time and effort on project specs and RFP processes by knowing in advance what devices and offerings will work with the Azure IoT Suite.

Learn more about this collaboration at Azure Certified for IoT and explore the Azure IoT Suite today.

About Cyient:

Cyient (Estd: 1991, NSE: CYIENT) is a global engineering and technology solutions company.  As a Design, Build, and Maintain partner for leading organizations worldwide, Cyient takes solution ownership across the value chain to help customers focus on their core, innovate, and stay ahead of the curve. The company leverages digital technologies, advanced analytics capabilities, domain knowledge, and technical expertise to solve complex business problems.

Cyient partners with customers to operate as part of their extended team in ways that best suit their organization’s culture and requirements. Cyient’s industry focus includes aerospace and defense, healthcare, telecommunications, rail transportation, semiconductor, geospatial, industrial, and energy.

For more information, please visit www.cyient.com

Follow news about the company at @Cyient

Disclaimer: All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

Contact Details

Media Relations
Perfect Relations
Vishal Thapa
Mobile: +91 9701834446
Email: vthapa@perfectrelations.com

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Related Links :

http://www.cyient.com

iQIYI Announces Winners of its iCartoonFace Challenge, the First Large-scale Cartoon Character Recognition Competition in China

World-leading iCartoonFace datasets drive intelligent recognition technology

BEIJING, June 25, 2020 — iQIYI Inc. (NASDAQ: IQ) ("iQIYI" or the "Company"), an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, today announced the winners of its iCartoonFace Challenge (the "Challenge"), the first large-scale cartoon character recognition competition in China. The team from Southeast University won the Challenge with a MAP (Mean Average Precision) of 0.9291 in the cartoon character detection track and the teams from Zhejiang University and Sun Yat-sen University jointly claimed the title of Best Algorithm in the cartoon character recognition track with a Rank1 accuracy of 92.4697%.

The Challenge, held in partnership with the 29th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) and the 17th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (PRICAI), was held over a period of two months, attracting a total of 481 participating teams from top universities and leading technology firms in China. Contestants included Peking University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as renowned companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com and SenseTime.

While human facial recognition technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated and mature, cartoon character recognition is still in its infancy. Cartoon characters are far more complicated and diverse than human faces in terms of both color and texture. Other challenges include the fact that cartoon characters from the same content or universe could be highly similar in appearance, but characters from different universes may vastly contrast. Due to the complexity of this dataset, cartoon character recognition poses far more challenges than human facial recognition.

Currently, most of the existing cartoon datasets for recognition suffer from issues such as lack of data volume or noisy data. During the Challenge, iQIYI offered contestants access to the largest known manually tagged datasets in the world for cartoon detection and recognition that contains over 5,000 cartoon characters and more than 400,000 high-quality and authentic images.

iQIYI is committed to researching cutting-edge technologies and exploring their applications in entertainment. iQIYI has in the past two years successfully held two video-based multimodal biometric recognition challenges which helped significantly improve the accuracy of multimodal recognition technology. Currently, cartoon character recognition has been applied to multiple innovative businesses and features of iQIYI’s. For example, AIWorks can automatically collect cartoon character content to generate a mixed-cut video based on a specific theme; and a feature known as Qiguan (AI Radar) allows users to identify the cartoon characters in an animated show or movie.

Through the iCartoonFace Challenge held in partnership with IJCAI and PRICAI, iQIYI has achieved further breakthroughs in the field of cartoon detection and recognition, promoted the development of cartoon character recognition technology, enabled a deep integration of technology and content that could lead to more usage scenarios, thereby advancing the ongoing evolution of intelligent detection and recognition technology.

About iQIYI, Inc.
iQIYI, Inc. is an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China. Its corporate DNA combines creative talent with technology, fostering an environment for continuous innovation and the production of blockbuster content. iQIYI’s platform features highly popular original content, as well as a comprehensive library of other professionally-produced content, partner-generated content and user generated content. The Company distinguishes itself in the online entertainment industry by its leading technology platform powered by advanced AI, big data analytics and other core proprietary technologies. iQIYI attracts a massive user base with tremendous user engagement, and has developed a diversified monetization model including membership services, online advertising services, content distribution, live broadcasting, online games, IP licensing, online literature and e-commerce.

 

Related Links :

http://www.iqiyi.com

CloudSense Appoints Jonathan English as Chief Executive Officer

LONDON, June 25, 2020 — CloudSense, a leading Commerce and Subscriber Management platform, today announced the appointment of Jonathan English, a distinguished executive with proven experience accelerating go-to-market efforts at high growth software businesses, as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer.

CloudSense welcomes newly appointed CEO, Jonathan English
CloudSense welcomes newly appointed CEO, Jonathan English

Rob Amen, a Managing Director at Vector Capital and a member of CloudSense’s board of directors said, “Jonathan is a seasoned technology executive with a track record of expanding market share in high growth software businesses. Given CloudSense’s award-winning product innovation in the commerce and subscriber management SaaS category, we believe Jonathan is the perfect leader to accelerate our growth and deliver this world-class technology to our existing and future customers. We are excited to welcome Jonathan to CloudSense and look forward to working with him.”

Mr. English has extensive experience leading innovative, high growth enterprise software companies and has an exceptional track record of driving revenue through global sales execution. Most recently, he served as Chief Revenue Officer at ION Commodities, the largest global provider of trading, analytics, and risk management solutions for capital markets, commodities, and treasury management. Prior to that, he spent eighteen years at Allegro Development, where he served as Senior Vice President of Global Sales and led sales teams across the company’s various markets and regions.

“I am excited to join CloudSense and humbled to be part of an organization that is transforming the sales and delivery software industry,” said Mr. English. “CloudSense is uniquely positioned to take advantage of vast opportunities in the rapidly growing Digital Commerce, CPQ, and Order Management markets, and I look forward to working with this talented team to serve customers and build upon CloudSense’s momentum of innovation and leadership.”

Mr. English succeeds Richard Britton, CloudSense’s co-founder and CEO since 2009. During his eleven years of leadership, Mr. Britton and his founding team built CloudSense into a market-leading global software company with over 300 employees and an award-winning product. Mr. Britton will assist with the leadership transition.

Mr. Britton commented, “It has been a privilege and honor to work with CloudSense’s incredibly talented and dedicated employees and loyal customers. The Board and I are confident Jonathan is the right person to build on this progress, with the expertise and leadership qualities to continue advancing the company. I am excited about the future of CloudSense.”

Matt Blodgett, a Managing Director at Vector Capital and a member of CloudSense’s board of directors said, “We thank Richard for his strong leadership as a co-founder and CEO of CloudSense over the past eleven years. The company would not have achieved its award-winning position without his passion and commitment, and we look forward to working together to continue generating value for customers, employees and shareholders.”

About CloudSense:

CloudSense is the proven Commerce and Subscriber Management platform, built for high-volume or complex ongoing services. We’re trusted by Communications, Media and Utilities businesses worldwide to launch, sell and fulfill faster and give customers and partners convenient buying journeys.

To learn more, please visit http://www.cloudsense.com.

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Related Links :

https://www.cloudsense.com/

Better Ai Launches New Personal Assistant To Help Busy Families Manage Life

PLEASANT HILL, Calif., June 25, 2020 — Better Ai launches a new personal assistant designed to take the mental load (dubbed parent-brain) off of busy parents.

 

The new AI powered personal assistant works via text and can help families manage calendar events, search within calendars, store personal information and send reminders. With no download necessary and no steep learning curve, the Better Ai assistant works more like a friend than a new piece of technology. Try it free for 30 days at https://betterai.ai/.

“I started Better Ai as a way to accelerate the transition of ‘user-managed’ technology to ‘technology-managed’ technology. Too many apps and too many screens are taking away from life, not adding to it! My vision is to help people and families by building a trustworthy, reliable and intelligent assistant that you can welcome into your home to simplify life and preserve mental energy for the more important things in life.” 

–  Blair Stewart, CEO and Founder of Better Ai

With an overwhelming amount of ‘day-to-day life’ apps to choose from including calendars, to-do-lists, scheduling, polls and so many more, parents don’t need another app to manage their family life. It is with this knowledge that the Better Ai assistant was developed. Rather than building another app to add to the chaos, the assistant just “does.” It was designed to remove the work it takes to start using a new technology, and rather communicate with you as a real-life assistant would via text.

“I used to feel like I could remember everything, but trying to keep track of three calendars, to-do lists, and miscellaneous numbers (who knows their Known Traveller # by heart?) means something always falls to the wayside. I don’t think I even realized how much I had going on in my head before using Better Ai. All I have to do is send a text to set a reminder or save something for future reference? A literal life saver. Better Ai is super easy to use and best of all, saves me so much time and mental energy!”

– Mia D., Better Ai user

The Better Ai personal assistant is currently available in the US only and expanding into new international markets beginning in 2021.

About Better Ai

Better Ai was founded by Blair Stewart in May, 2019. Following a successful beta program, Better Ai’s personal assistant is now officially available in the U.S. for $7.99 USD monthly. People can start using the assistant for free for 30 days at betterai.ai.

Better Ai Personal Assistant
Better Ai Personal Assistant

 

 

Utilities must accept payments online after the lockdowns, warns IT billing expert

BLOOMSBURG, PA., June 24, 2020Thomas Tobin, Pennsylvania based software developer and President of Diversified Technology Corp, issued the following statement:

“Utility organizations who resisted moving to online payment systems in the past must now take that crucial step,” said Tom Tobin. “To help them, we’ve streamlined the transition process and flattened the learning curve, so even organizations with no online exposure can still confidently make the move.” Diversified set up an information page at: https://diversifiedbilling.com/go-online to help managers understand the process.

“Utility organizations must take this seriously for two reasons,” said Mr. Tobin,

  • “The COVID-19 lockdowns have forced people to rely on online payment systems.
  • COVID-19 still remains a threat and some level of social distancing will probably be a part of everyday life for some time to come.”

“The lockdowns have changed consumer behavior forever,” said Mr. Tobin. “People who would previously tolerate standing in a line to pay a cashier now expect everything to be online and this is not going to change.”

Mr. Tobin’s company, Diversified Technology has seen an increase in Utility organizations ready to move their billing systems online. While Americans have been able to pay most of their accounts online for over a decade, this has often not been the case with utility bills. Some utility organizations have been resistant to change, with long term staff fearing they will be made obsolete, by any move to an automated system.

“But the recent crisis has been a catalyst for them to move,” Mr. Tobin said. “Aside from appeasing dissatisfied customers, moving online is now popular with key staff who worry about being exposed to the virus.” Mr. Tobin explained that utility organizations typically have a large percentage of aging staff, people who are most at risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from the disease.

Mr Tobin said the key component of their system was the flexibility. Being able to switch utilities from inhouse LAN based software to cloud based, and back to their LAN at any time, gives managers the reassurance they need to be able to make the move. They also discover a new layer of safety with online billing. Real time reporting results in fewer delinquent accounts and a reduction in phone calls from irate customers. When people can view their statistics online, they are more likely to understand their charges.

Diversified Technology Corp is a Pennsylvania based software development company, who have built utility billing and management systems for the past twenty years. You can call them on 800-537-8903 x1004 or visit their website at: https://diversifiedbilling.com/go-online

Related Links :

https://diversifiedbilling.com

CDEL Announces Formation of Independent Special Committee to Review Preliminary Non-Binding Proposal to Acquire the Company

BEIJING, June 22, 2020 — China Distance Education Holdings Limited (NYSE: DL) ("CDEL", or the "Company"), a leading provider of online education and value-added services for professionals and corporate clients in China, today announced that its board of directors (the "Board") has formed a special committee (the "Special Committee") consisting of Ms. Carol Yu and Ms. Annabelle Yu Long, each an independent director, to review and evaluate a previously-announced non-binding proposal that the Board received on June 8, 2020 (the "Proposal") from Mr. Zhengdong Zhu, co-founder, chairman of the Board and chief executive officer of the Company ("Mr. Zhu"), Ms. Baohong Yin, co-founder of the Company, deputy chairman of the Board and the spouse of Mr. Zhu, and their affiliated entity (collectively, the "Buyer Group"), to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of the Company, including ordinary shares represented by American depositary shares (the "ADSs", each representing four ordinary shares), for US$2.27 in cash per ordinary share, or US$9.08 in cash per ADS (the "Proposed Transaction"). The Special Committee has retained Goulston & Storrs PC as its United States legal counsel in connection with its review and evaluation of the Proposal.

The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that neither the Board nor the Special Committee has made any decision with respect to the Company’s response to the Proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated. The Company does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to this or any other transaction, except as required under applicable law.

About China Distance Education Holdings Limited

China Distance Education Holdings Limited is a leading provider of online education and value-added services for professionals and corporate clients in China. The courses offered by the Company through its websites are designed to help professionals seeking to obtain and maintain professional licenses and to enhance their job skills through our professional development courses in China in the areas of accounting, healthcare, engineering & construction, legal and other industries. The Company also offers online test preparation courses for self-taught learners pursuing higher education diplomas or degrees, and practical accounting training courses for college students and working professionals. In addition, the Company provides business services to corporate clients, including but not limited to tax advisory and accounting outsourcing services. For further information, please visit http://ir.cdeledu.com.

Safe Harbor Statements

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements. Any such statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expect," "predict," "anticipate," "future," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "estimate" and similar statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic and annual reports to the SEC, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that the Buyer Group will make any definitive offer to the Company, that any definitive agreement relating to the Proposal will be entered into between the Company and the Buyer Group or that the Proposed Transaction or any other similar transaction will be approved or consummated.

Contacts:

In China:

China Distance Education Holdings Limited
Jiao Jiao
Tel: +86-10-8231-9999 ext. 1826
Email: IR@cdeledu.com

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Xi Zhang
Tel: +86-10-6508-0677
E-mail: dl@tpg-ir.com

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Brandi Piacente
Tel: +1 212-481-2050
Email: dl@tpg-ir.com

Related Links :

http://ir.cdeledu.com

New Oriental Announces Proposed Debt Offering

BEIJING, June 22, 2020 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (the “Company” or “New Oriental”) (NYSE: EDU), the largest provider of private educational services in China, today announced the proposed offering of senior notes outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.

The joint bookrunners of the offering are BofA Securities and UBS AG Hong Kong Branch.

The notes will be offered outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act. The notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other place, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities, nor shall there be a sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

This press release contains information about the pending offering of the notes, and there can be no assurance that any of the offerings will be completed.

About New Oriental

New Oriental is the largest provider of private educational services in China based on the number of program offerings, total student enrollments and geographic presence. New Oriental offers a wide range of educational programs, services and products consisting primarily of language training and test preparation, primary and secondary school education, online education, content development and distribution, overseas study consulting services, pre-school education and study tour. New Oriental’s ADSs, each of which represents one common share, currently trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “EDU.”

For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://www.neworiental.org/english/.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Among other things, the description of the proposed offering in this announcement contains forward-looking statements. New Oriental may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about New Oriental’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: our ability to attract students without a significant decrease in course fees; our ability to continue to hire, train and retain qualified teachers; our ability to maintain and enhance our “New Oriental” brand; our ability to effectively and efficiently manage the expansion of our school network and successfully execute our growth strategy; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to copyright and other intellectual property rights; competition in the private education sector in China; changes in our revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of our revenues; the expected growth of the Chinese private education market; Chinese governmental policies relating to private educational services and providers of such services; health epidemics and other outbreaks in China; and general economic conditions in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New Oriental does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and New Oriental undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Contacts

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Ms. Rita Fong

Ms. Sisi Zhao

FTI Consulting

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.

Tel: +852 3768 4548 

Tel: +86-10-6260-5568

Email: rita.fong@fticonsulting.com

Email: zhaosisi@xdf.cn

Related Links :

http://english.neworiental.org