Stockwinners Market Radar for July 01, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:01 EDT Gilead intends to submit NDA for filgotinib to FDA this year - Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced that at a recent pre-New Drug Application meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company provided an update about the investigational, oral, selective JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib. The company discussed with the agency the Phase 3 FINCH studies, as well as the ongoing Phase 2 MANTA safety study assessing semen parameters with filgotinib treatment in men with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. As a result of this discussion, a path forward has been established to submit the NDA for filgotinib as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in 2019. Filgotinib is an investigational agent and not approved anywhere globally. Its efficacy and safety have not been established.

18:25 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - HIGHER: Globus Maritime (GLBS), up 17% after it announced the closing of a $37M loan... SM Energy (SM), up 2.1% after it was named to join the S&P 600. LOWER: OncoCyte (OCX), down 11.2% after it priced a $15M block trade... Aptinyx (APTX), down 10% after it filed a $200M mixed securities shelf... Neon Therapeutics (NTGN), down 4.8% after it filed $200M mixed securities shelf.

17:41 EDT SM Energy will replace Multi-Color Corp. in the S&P 600 at open on 7/9 - SM Energy (SM) will replace Multi-Color Corp. (LABL) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the open of trading on Tuesday, July 9. Platinum Equity LLC is acquiring Multi-Color in a deal that closed on July 1.

17:09 EDT NY Governor calls on DFS to investigate Facebook over advertising - New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo called on the Department of Financial Services to investigate reports that state-regulated advertisers are using Facebook, Inc.'s advertising platform to discriminate against protected classes. "The allegations against Facebook advertisers are extremely troubling and fly in the face of everything that New York stands for," Governor Cuomo said. "I am calling on the Department of Financial Services to investigate these claims and help ensure that New Yorkers seeking housing for themselves and their families are not discriminated against in any way. We will take aggressive action and ensure that those who are behind these reprehensible alleged practices are held fully accountable." Reference Link

16:46 EDT Highwoods Properties announces CEO succession plan - Highwoods Properties announced Ed Fritsch will retire as CEO and member of theboard effective September 1. Ted Klinck, who currently serves as president and COO, will assume the role of CEO and director upon Fritsch's retirement. Effective with these changes, Highwoods also announced Brendan Maiorana has been promoted to executive VP of Finance and Investor Relations and Brian Leary will join the company as executive VP and COO.

16:39 EDT Synchronoss rejoins Russell 3000 Index, added to Russell Microcap Index - Synchronoss announced that it has rejoined the Russell 3000 Index and been added to the Russell Microcap Index, which was effective June 28.

16:36 EDT Hexindai launches e-commerce installment financing platform - Hexindai announced that it will further diversify its business by launching a new e-commerce installment financing platform Hexin Installments. The new platform will offer curated categories for installment financing, such as electronic products, education and travel products and services. With installment payments, consumers can purchase competitively priced products and services on the platform. Hexindai will cooperate with institutional partners as funding sources to provide installment financing for consumers on the platform. The company will acquire users through its existing online channels. Hexindai's risk management system and technology infrastructure will provide footing for the new platform.

16:33 EDT One Liberty Properties acquires two industrial properties for $15M in aggregate - One Liberty Properties announced that it acquired two industrial properties for an aggregate purchase price of $15M and sold a Kmart property. One Liberty acquired an 85,000 square foot industrial property on 4.2 acres located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, for $6.2M. The 24-foot clear, concrete tilt wall industrial building, is net leased to Tinicum Mechanical Supply, Betz Mechanical and Industrial Supply and Philly Motors and Drivers. Tinicum leases approximately 61,000 square feet through 2023 and Philly Motors leases approximately 22,000 square feet through 2024. The current aggregate annual base rent including cell tower revenue is $420,000, with annual increases ranging from 2.7%-3%. One Liberty also acquired a 62,000 square foot Class A industrial facility on 3.5 acres located in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, for $8.7M. The concrete tilt wall building was constructed for Floratech in 2005, and features 30-foot clear ceilings, four dock doors and two drive-in doors. The property is net leased to Floratech, a manufacturer of raw materials used in cosmetic and skin care products. The facility is used for warehouse, research and development in addition to serving as Floratech's headquarters. The property is leased through 2029 at an annual base rent of $581,000 with annual increases of 2%. One Liberty sold a Kmart property located in Clemmons, North Carolina, for $5.3M, net of closing costs. The company anticipates that its share of the gain from this sale, which will be recognized in the three and six months ending June 30 after giving effect to the non-controlling partner's approximate $420,000 share of the gain, will be approximately $675,000. This property accounted for $361,000 of revenues during the six months ended June 30, 2018.

16:31 EDT Luminex submits ARIES MRSA assay for FDA approval - Luminex announced that the company submitted the ARIES MRSA Assay to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for clearance on Friday, June 28, 2019. The assay is a real-time, quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based, in vitro diagnostic test for the direct detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus DNA from nasal swabs in patients at risk for nasal colonization. "This submission demonstrates our continued dedication to expanding the menu of clinically relevant and high-value tests that support patient care throughout the world on our sample to answer platforms," said Homi Shamir, President and CEO of Luminex. "Our VERIGENE II GI Flex and RSP Flex submissions, as well as the commercialization of our new SENSIPLEX instrument, remain on track with our previously communicated timelines."

16:25 EDT Landec CEO Albert Bolles announces steps company has taken in his first 30 days - Landec released its strategy for sustained profitable growth. Albert Bolles, Landec's new CEO, announced the steps the company has taken in his first 30 days in office to achieve Landec's short-term and long-term financial goals. Bolles discontinued the Now Planting brand, re-packaged its GreenLine green bean food service products to the Eat Smart brand and closed the EatSmart@home e-commerce business. The company launched an internal network optimization project focused on logistics and resource consolidation across all operations and locations. The first action was closing and putting up for sale the Curation Foods offices in San Rafael, California and designating the Santa Maria offices as the new headquarters where Bolles will be located. Bolles also hired a new senior VP of supply chain, Tim Burgess, whose initial focus will be on improving operations, driving efficiencies and reducing costs. None of the above mentioned changes impacted revenues in FY19. Revenues in the Curation Foods business are expected to grow approximately 5% in fiscal FY19, which is near the low-end of its guided range. The Lifecore business remains on track to deliver 16% revenue growth in FY19, which is at the high-end of the previously guided range, with a "strong" product development pipeline. "We transformed our food business from a packaged, fresh vegetable company to a higher-margin, natural foods business. Curation Foods' existing mission paves the way for future growth. The actions we have taken in the last 30 days will focus the business and accelerate profitability," said Bolles. "Specifically within the Curation Foods business, we're streamlining our projects pipeline and allocating our capital expenditures to support the success of a few select projects, tightening our operational practices for improved productivity, and placing a renewed emphasis on people, specifically employees, customers and consumers. These important steps will strengthen our business, and ultimately, have a positive impact on our bottom line."

16:21 EDT U.S. Physical Therapy sells 50% interest in physical therapy partnership - U.S. Physical Therapy said it has sold its 50% interest in one physical therapy partnership to the group's founders. The sales proceeds to U.S. Physical Therapy, all of which is in cash, is $11.6M. There is an estimated $2M pre-tax gain on the sale. Management does not anticipate any other sales of partnership interests. The practice historically had financially underperformed, the company said.

16:19 EDT Horizon Technology provides $8M venture loan to OutboundEngine - Horizon Technology Finance Corporation announced it has provided an $8M venture loan to OutboundEngine, Inc. OutboundEngine is an all-in-one marketing software that includes a responsive website, relevant content created and sent automatically across email and social media, and hands-free social advertising on Facebook and Instagram. OutboundEngine serves as a command center for managing contacts, tracking marketing results, optimizing online reputation, and following up with leads -- all from a smartphone. OutboundEngine offers subscription options ranging from $199 to $449 per month. OutboundEngine's largest investors include Silverton Partners, S3 Ventures, Noro-Moseley Partners, Harmony Partners, and Floodgate Fund. OutboundEngine will use the proceeds to fund its growth strategy and for general corporate purposes.

16:17 EDT TRI Pointe CFO Mike Grubbs to retire at end of year - TRI Pointe Group announced that Mike Grubbs, co-founder, chief financial officer and treasurer, will retire on January 1, 2020, concluding a 32-year career in homebuilding and real estate finance. Grubbs will be succeeded by Glenn Keeler, current chief accounting officer, also effective January 1, 2020. Grubbs co-founded TRI Pointe Group, formerly TRI Pointe Homes, in May 2009 with CEO Doug Bauer and president/COO Tom Mitchell and has served continuously in that role during the past decade. Keeler joined TRI Pointe in 2013 as corporate controller, and was named chief accounting officer in 2014.

16:14 EDT Celyad announces strategic update on r/r AML, MDS programs - Celyad announced several strategic updates to its relapse/refractory, or r/r acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, and myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS, program, including its lead autologous NKG2D-based CAR-T therapy, CYAD-01, as well as the next-generation NKG2D-based CAR-T candidate, CYAD-02. The company's management team will host a conference call to discuss each of the updates and future milestones for the program. To date, results from the Phase 1 THINK trial evaluating CYAD-01 without prior preconditioning chemotherapy for the treatment of r/r AML and MDS have shown the NKG2D-based CAR-T to be well tolerated with preliminary anti-leukemic activity in six of thirteen patients evaluable per protocol. The company is currently evaluating the potential for CYAD-01 in the treatment of r/r AML and MDS in multiple clinical trials including the schedule optimization cohorts of the THINK trial, which is assessing a more frequent dosing schedule of CYAD-01, and in the Phase 1, dose-escalation DEPLETHINK trial, which is assessing CYAD-01 following the preconditioning chemotherapy cyclophosphamide and fludarabine, or CyFlu. CyFlu is the preconditioning therapy typically used with other hematological malignancies evaluating CAR-T cell therapies.In June, preliminary data presented at the European Hematology Association meeting demonstrated that a denser schedule of infusions of CYAD-01 without preconditioning in Cohort 10 of the THINK trial and a single infusion of low dose CYAD-01 following preconditioning chemotherapy in the DEPLETHINK trial was well tolerated and led to better time-averaged engraftment of the CAR-T cells. Based on the initial clinical data and tolerability profile for CYAD-01 from the r/r AML and MDS clinical program, Celyad aims to increase the potency of the NKG2D-based CAR-T therapy to potentially deepen the breadth, frequency and duration of clinical responses in this patient population. In particular, Celyad is focused on the optimization of treatment conditions, including denser dosing schedule or exploiting preconditioning chemotherapy; optimization of the manufacturing process, including enrichment of T cells with memory-like phenotype and improving the persistence of CAR-T cell therapies through RNA interference using short hairpin RNA technology. Initial clinical data from cohort 4 of the Phase 1 DEPLETHINK trial for CYAD-01 using the OptimAb manufacturing process are expected by year-end 2019. Full results from cohort 4 of the DEPLETHINK trial are anticipated in first quarter 2020. The company will initiate the Phase 1 dose-escalation trial evaluating CYAD-02, following preconditioning chemotherapy for the treatment of r/r AML and MDS in early 2020. Preliminary data from the Phase 1 trial are expected by mid-2020.

16:06 EDT Francesca's CFO Kelly Dilts to resign, Cindy Thomassee to succeed - Francesca's announced that Kelly Dilts, executive VP and CFO, has informed the company of her plans to resign from her position effective July 19 to pursue another opportunity. The company has named Cindy Thomassee, currently serving as senior VP and CAO, to assume the role of executive VP and CFO. Thomassee will report directly to the interim CEO, Michael Prendergast. Dilts will work closely with Ms. Thomassee to ensure a smooth transition. Thomassee is a retail executive who joined the company in December 2007 after serving as the Controller at LRG Furniture.

16:01 EDT QIA and Douglas Emmett acquire The Glendon in Los Angeles, CA - The Qatar Investment Authority, or QIA, and Douglas Emmett (DEI) announced a further $365M acquisition by their multibillion dollar real estate partnership. This latest investment made an acquisition of The Glendon, a residential community in Westwood with 350 apartments and approximately 50,000 square feet of retail.

15:21 EDT Southern updates on progress at Georgia Power's Vogtle 3 & 4 project - Georgia Power announced what the company identified as "several key milestones" at the Vogtle nuclear expansion near Waynesboro, Georgia, including the placement of the middle containment vessel ring for Unit 4. The containment ring is part of the structure that houses the reactor vessel. Additionally, a placement of more than 930 cubic yards of concrete was completed inside the Unit 3 shield building. The Unit 3 shield building is now more than 80 percent complete as the construction team moves closer to completion of the protective barrier that surrounds the Unit 3 containment vessel. "The project has reached an all-time high with approximately 8,000 workers now currently on site," Georgia Power and parent company Southern Company stated in a press release regarding the project update.

14:39 EDT Edwards Lifesciences recalls IntraClude intra-aortic occlusion device - The FDA announced that Edwards LifeSciences is recalling the IntraClude Intra-Aortic Occlusion Device due to a risk of balloon rupture during use, which may add time to the procedure and compromises the safety of the patient. The firm has received 22 complaints related to balloon rupture or puncture. Three deaths have been reported. On May 14, Edwards Lifesciences issued an Urgent Recall Notification sent to customers, the FDA noted. Reference Link

13:30 EDT WPP announces sale of minority stake in Chime to Providence for GBP54.4M - WPP announced the sale of its minority shareholding in Chime Group Holdings Limited, the sports, entertainment and communications group, to the majority shareholder Providence for GBP54.4M and potential additional amounts based on the future value of Chime. The disposal is in line with WPP's new strategy as set out in December 2018, a key element of which is to focus on its main areas of business and simplify its operations through the disposal of non-core assets, WPP said in a statement.

13:22 EDT HFF Inc. stockholders approve acquisition by Jones Lang LaSalle - HFF (HF) announced that at the annual meeting of stockholders of the company, the stockholders approved a proposal to adopt the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated March 18, among the company, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL), JLL CM, Inc. and JLL CMG, LLC, pursuant to which a wholly-owned subsidiary of JLL will merge with and into the company. As previously announced, the company expects the acquisition of the company by JLL to close on Monday, July 1 after the close of regular trading hours on the New York Stock Exchange, and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions.

12:43 EDT Court says Dolan case against Altice will go to trial - A Delaware judge has cleared the way for New York's Dolan Family to pursue a lawsuit against Altice USA in a bid to save jobs and journalistic quality at News 12 Networks. In an opinion issued on June 27, the Honorable Joseph R. Slights III, Vice Chancellor, Court of Chancery, State of Delaware, ruled the lawsuit may proceed to trial. Altice had filed a motion on April 22, 2019 to dismiss the case.

12:02 EDT Fiverr announces new partnership with Lilly Singh - Fiverr announced a multi-faceted collaboration with comedian and actress Lilly Singh. "This partnership is part of a series of collaborations with leading experts and influencers to teach the secrets of their domain to the Fiverr community and help empower them to do more. Previous collaborators include Apple iconic logo designer, Rob Janoff, musician, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Wyclef Jean, and actor, director, Eli Roth."

12:00 EDT VelocityShares 3x Long Natural Gas ETN falls -11.4% - VelocityShares 3x Long Natural Gas ETN is down -11.4%, or -$1.87 to $14.53.

12:00 EDT Comstock Resources rises 12.4% - Comstock Resources is up 12.4%, or 69c to $6.26.

12:00 EDT Seadrill rises 14.7% - Seadrill is up 14.7%, or 61c to $4.77.

11:31 EDT Takeda Pharmaceutical completes sale of Xiidra to Novartis - Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) announced the completion of its sale of its Xiidra 5% product to Novartis (NVS) for $3.4B upfront in cash and up to an additional $1.9B in potential milestone payments. "The completion of this transaction marks an important step in executing Takeda's strategy, which is focused on optimizing our portfolio around the key business areas that are core to our long-term growth and creating the most value for our patients and shareholders," said Christophe Weber, President and CEO of Takeda. "We are making solid progress on our commitment to simplify our portfolio and meet our deleveraging targets, while continuing to deliver highly-innovative medicines and transformative care to patients around the world and enhance long-term shareholder value. We are proud of the benefits Xiidra has created for patients as part of Takeda, and confident that Novartis will be a strong steward of this innovative therapeutic." Takeda intends to use the proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt and accelerate deleveraging toward its target of 2x net debt/adjusted EBITDA in the medium term following closing of the Shire acquisition. As of March 31, 2019, Takeda has 5,048.9 billion yen in net debt outstanding and its net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio is 4.7x. Takeda continues to target a net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2x within 3 to 5 years.

11:05 EDT Sangamo announces publication of ZFP-TFs research in 'Nature Medicine' - Sangamo Therapeutics announced the publication of a manuscript describing the activity of allele-selective zinc finger protein transcription-factors, or ZFP-TFs, in preclinical models of Huntington's disease. The data were published online on July 1 and will appear in the July 2019 issue of "Nature Medicine." The company said the publication describes research by Sangamo and collaborators at the CHDI Foundation, in which ZFP-TFs were engineered to selectively target the mutant form of the huntingtin gene and repress its transcription, selectively lowering production of the mutant Huntingtin protein. Preclinical data from HD patient-derived fibroblasts and neurons demonstrated that a single administration of ZFP-TFs resulted in the selective repression of over 99% of HD-causing HTT disease alleles over a wide dose range, while preserving the expression of at least 86% of healthy wild-type HTT alleles, according to Sangamo. Adrian Woolfson, M.D., Ph.D., Sangamo's Executive VP of Research and Development, said: "Sangamo's engineered ZFP-TFs demonstrated a combination of high selectivity, genome-wide specificity, and long-term tolerability that we believe establishes a new benchmark for engineered transcription factors. Overall, these data provide compelling preclinical evidence for the potential viability of Sangamo's ZFP-TF gene regulation platform as a novel disease modifying therapeutic approach for the treatment of Huntington's disease."

10:10 EDT Regeneron announces Libtayp approved for CSCC in EU - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Sanofi (SNY) announced that the European Commission has granted conditional marketing authorization for Libtayo for the treatment of adults with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation. Libtayo is a fully-human monoclonal antibody targeting the immune checkpoint receptor PD-1 and is the only treatment approved in advanced CSCC in the European Union. Updated data from the registrational EMPOWER-CSCC-1 trial were recently shared at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. The EC approval is based on data from the pivotal, open-label, multi-center, non-randomized Phase 2 trial known as EMPOWER-CSCC-1 and supported by two advanced CSCC expansion cohorts from a multi-center, open-label, non-randomized Phase 1 trial. These trials provide the largest prospective clinical data set evaluating a systemic therapy in patients with advanced CSCC to date. The recommended dose of Libtayo is 350 mg every 3 weeks administered by intravenous infusion over 30 minutes. Treatment may be continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

10:01 EDT Heritage Financial names Jeffrey Deuel president and CEO - Heritage Financial Corporation announced that Jeffrey J. Deuel was named president and CEO and appointed to the board of directors. As part of the CEO succession plan previously announced in July 2018, Deuel was named president of the company and CEO of Heritage Bank at that time. Deuel held the titles of president and COO of Heritage Bank from 2012 to 2018. As previously announced, Brian L. Vance, who served as CEO of Heritage Bank from 2003 and CEO of Heritage Financial Corporation since 2006, will now serve as executive chair of the company's and the Bank's boards of directors. Brian S. Charneski, who has served as a board member since 2000 and has been chairman since May 2016, will now assume the role of lead independent director.

10:00 EDT ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF falls -8.7% - ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF is down -8.7%, or -$2.74 to $28.75.

10:00 EDT Scorpio Bulkers rises 10.9% - Scorpio Bulkers is up 10.9%, or 50c to $5.10.

10:00 EDT NeoPhotonics rises 16.3% - NeoPhotonics is up 16.3%, or 68c to $4.86.

09:47 EDT Direxion Daily Jr Gld Mnrs Bull 3X Shrs falls -7.9% - Direxion Daily Jr Gld Mnrs Bull 3X Shrs is down -7.9%, or -$4.75 to $55.20.

09:47 EDT Britannia Bulk falls -9.1% - Britannia Bulk is down -9.1%, or -60c to $6.00.

09:47 EDT VeriSign Inc rises 9.4% - VeriSign Inc is up 9.4%, or $3.87 to $45.19.

09:42 EDT Spark Networks sees $50M+ of adjusted EBITDA in 2020 after closing Zoosk deal - Spark Networks SE announced that it has closed its previously announced acquisition of Zoosk. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Spark will acquire 100% of Zoosk's shares for a combination of cash and Spark shares, valuing Zoosk at approximately $258 million based on the closing price of Spark ADSs on June 28. Spark will issue 12,980,000 ADSs to former Zoosk shareholders valued at $153M based on the closing price of Spark ADSs of $11.78 on June 28. Additionally, the merger agreement provides for cash consideration of $105M, subject to adjustment. "Based on current financial trajectories and the synergies identified between the two entities, the acquisition is expected to deliver substantial shareholder value, with Adjusted EBITDA forecasted at over $50M in 2020, or nearly $2 per share assuming Spark's post-merger share count," the company stated.

09:36 EDT Coherus announces production of over 400,000 UDENYCA pre-filled syringes to date - Coherus BioSciences announces that it has produced over 400,000 UDENYCA pre-filled syringes to date. The company said, "The cumulative production of 400,000 UDENYCA pre-filled syringes is a significant milestone, as it represents approximately one-third of the annual utilization of pegfilgrastim in the United States." July 4th is the six-month anniversary of UDENYCA's launch and first availability in the United States.

09:32 EDT Emmis Communications to form new company Mediaco with Standard General - Emmis Communications announced that it has signed an agreement to form a new public company, Mediaco Holding, with New York investment firm Standard General. Mediaco Holding will purchase from Emmis two of its New York radio properties, WBLS-FM and WQHT-FM, or HOT 97. Closing of the transaction is subject to FCC approval and other customary closing conditions and is expected to occur later this year. As a result of the transaction, Emmis will receive $91.5M in cash, a $5M note receivable, and 23.72% of the common equity of Mediaco. Emmis will distribute this common equity of Mediaco pro rata to its shareholders in a taxable dividend. Mediaco will be a public company expected to be listed on NASDAQ, and Emmis will remain a separate public company, as well. Emmis will remain active in the management of WBLS and HOT 97 and provide certain corporate services to Mediaco pursuant to a management agreement between the parties. Jeff Smulyan will be the CEO of Mediaco and will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Emmis, which will remain a public company. Standard General will appoint a majority of the board of directors of Mediaco and Soohyung Kim, CEO, managing partner and CIO of Standard General will be chairman of Mediaco. No personnel changes are planned. All New York employees will continue to be Emmis employees with Emmis benefits as part of an employee leasing agreement with Mediaco. After this transaction and the previously announced sale of partnership interest in Austin, Emmis will operate New York's WLIB and WEPN, four radio stations in Indianapolis, Indianapolis Monthly and Digonex, a pricing company.

09:26 EDT Ameresco appoints Doran Hole As CFO - Ameresco (AMRC) announced that Doran Hole will join the company as its CFO, effective July 29. Mark Chiplock, who has served as interim CFO since October 1, 2018, will continue to serve as Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer and will act as the company's principal accounting officer. Previously, Hole served as the CEO, North America and Group Vice President, Strategy, at ReneSola (SOL).

09:24 EDT BayCom to acquire TIG Bancorp in cash, stock deal valued at $39.4M - BayCom and TIG Bancorp announced the signing of an Agreement and Plan of Merger under which BayCom has agreed to acquire TIG in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $39.4M or $12.37 per share, based on the BayCom common stock price closing price of $21.90 per share on June 28. Under the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, TIG will be merged with and into BayCom. The agreement also calls for the merger of First State Bank of Colorado with and into United Business Bank. Upon consummation of the merger, each TIG shareholder will receive $6.34 in cash and 0.27543 of a share of BayCom common stock in exchange for each share of TIG common stock.

09:20 EDT Diana Shipping announces time charter contract for m/v Atalandi - Diana Shipping (DSX) announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Uniper (UNPRF) Global Commodities SE, Dusseldorf, for one of its Ice Class Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Atalandi. The gross charter rate is $12,250 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum eleven months to about thirteen months. The charter is expected to commence on July 7, 2019. The "Atalandi" is a 77,529 dwt Ice Class Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2014. This employment is anticipated to generate approximately $4.04M of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter.

09:18 EDT Mid Penn Bank completes rebranding of Miners Bank locations - Mid Penn Bank, subsidiary of Mid Penn Bancorp, has completed the rebrand of all of its Miners Bank locations in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties. The five Miners Bank offices have changed all signage and interior branding to reflect the Mid Penn Bank name. This comes four years after Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. acquired Miners Bank and its holding company Phoenix Bancorp, Inc. The rebrand will not negatively affect customers in any way. Accounts and rates will not be impacted, and branch hours will remain the same as they are.

09:17 EDT Krystal Biotech added to Russell 2000 Index - Krystal Biotech announces that it has been added to the Russell 2000 Index, effective after the stock market close on June 28, 2019 following Russell's annual reconstitution of its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes.

09:15 EDT Intec Pharma announces Accordion Pill analysis published - Intec Pharma announced that a review highlighting the benefits of the Accordion Pill, or AP, oral drug delivery platform was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Therapeutic Delivery. The article highlights the technical and clinical achievements of the AP platform in a variety of applications. The AP is an oral drug delivery system that uses biodegradable polymeric films, which combine and load drugs and inactive ingredients onto the films, folds the films into an undulated shape and then places them inside a capsule. This innovative drug delivery system has a number of unique advantages based on its gastric retention properties. With the AP, drug is released slowly in the stomach over hours, allowing the body to absorb it more steadily. The unique gastric retention performance of the platform is due to the size, shape and mechanical properties of the physical multilayer structure which unfolds to a planar structure once it reaches the stomach. A variety of Phase 2 clinical studies of AP have demonstrated gastric retention and improved pharmacokinetic properties for several drugs including those with a narrow absorption window, narrow therapeutic window and/or poor solubility. In Phase 2 studies in PD patients, AP-CD/LD produced stable LD plasma concentrations and provided daily coverage of LD therapeutic plasma levels that resulted in significantly less total daily OFF time in comparison with those receiving an active control or their current treatment. In addition, AP formulation of a poorly soluble drug demonstrated an extended absorption phase and greater exposure compared with the commercial formulation of the drug.

09:14 EDT MKS Instruments makes voluntary $50M prepayment on term loan - MKS Instruments announced that it has made a voluntary $50M prepayment of principal on its secured term loan reducing the outstanding principal to $947M as of June 28, 2019, from approximately $1B as of March 31, 2019.

09:12 EDT SS&C proposes to acquire GBST Holdings for $155M - SS&C Technologies announced the execution of a non-binding indicative proposal to acquire all of the shares in GBST Holdings, a specialist financial technology company, at a price of A$3.25 cash per share or approximately A$221M, equivalent to approximately $155M. SS&C and GBST have also entered into certain exclusivity arrangements, subject to the customary fiduciary exceptions for GBST. "No assurances can be given as to the transaction between SS&C and GBST being consummated or the terms of such transaction," the company stated. The Fly notes that the Australian Financial Review has reported that private equity-backed FNZ has made a A$3.50 per share indicative offer for GBST.

09:09 EDT Correction: SS&C proposes to acquire GBST Holdings for $155M

09:08 EDT Monaker Group added to Russell Microcap Index - Monaker Group has been added to the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2019 Russell indexes annual reconstitution.

09:06 EDT Ideanomics enters strategic agreement with Three Gorges Power, Tianda Energy - Ideanomics announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with Three Gorges Power, Tianda Energy and Shenshang Technology to promote and distribute methanol, and solid hydrogen based EV fast-charging solutions, into existing fuel station networks, as well as residential and industrial areas. These new energy management solutions will be part of an integrated network access that includes large industrial and commercial compounds, as well as other areas of vehicle concentration throughout China and the ASEAN region. The partnership's directive is to develop technology with improved efficiency and access as part of the shift away from fossil fuel powered vehicles, while developing more convenient fuel charging areas in addition to utilizing the network infrastructure of fuel stations such that these assets are redeveloped over time and not simply abandoned. Together the partners will support the new energy vehicles market with convenient places to access power, charging, network, communications, data access points and more. Ideanomics, through its NECV division, will provide client acquisition, strategic sales and marketing services, as well as other advisory services. Tianda Energy will provide operational teams and technical resources for cold storage technology, and the resources for the external connections such as attachment and conduit technologies, as well as other channel resources. Three Gorges Power will provide the financing capital, additional operation teams, and the technical resources for energy IoT solutions, intelligent operation and maintenance solutions, smart power solutions, comprehensive energy solutions, and financing resources that will include, but not limited to, Three Gorges Capital Group. This strategic cooperation between the partners will focus on the energy storage and energy station acquisition business. Ideanomics will lead the business development efforts and the other strategic partners will provide the implementation strategy and domain expertise. All the partners will jointly carry out nationwide fast charging and charging network, and mobile network fast charging business as a National fast charging and charging network, including using methanol reforming hydrogen production technology.

09:05 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Parateum (TEUM), up 15% after reporting preliminary Q2 revenue expectations... Western Digital (WDC), up 5% after Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $55 from $47. The analyst believes the Huawei ban has been a "major overhang" for handset radio frequency suppliers and memory suppliers like Western Digital and upgraded the stock following this weekend's trade truce agreement between the U.S. and China... Tutor Perini (TPC), up 2% after DA Davidson analyst Brent Thielman upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral with a $22 price target... Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) up 4%, 2%, 5% and 1%, respectively, after Macau's gaming bureau reported June gross revenue from games of fortune in the region increased 5.9% year-over-year. LOWER: Westlake Chemical (WLK), down 5% after reporting Q2 and FY19 guidance... Zoom Video (ZM), down 3% after Goldman Sachs analyst Heather Bellini last night downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral while raising her price target for the shares to $66 from $53. The analyst says her "blue sky scenario" is already more than factored into investor expectations at current valuation levels.

09:02 EDT Y-mAbs Therapeutics enters development, supply agreement with SpectronRx - Y-mAbs Therapeutics announced that the Company has entered a development, manufacturing and supply agreement with SpectronRx in South Bend, Indiana, to secure access to clinical and commercial scale radiolabeling capacity for omburtamab. Under the terms of the agreement, SpectronRx has agreed to establish a manufacturing unit designated for Y-mAbs within its existing facilities, at which both clinical and commercial supply of radiolabelled omburtamab can be produced. Omburtamab is in a pivotal Phase II trial for the treatment of CNS/LM from neuroblastoma, a Phase I trial for the treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, and a Phase I for the treatment of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumours. The Company expects to file a biologics license application for omburtamab for the treatment of CNS/LM from neuroblastoma during 2019.

08:58 EDT Fitch upgrades Equinix rating to investment grade 'BBB-' from 'BB+' - Fitch Ratings announced it has upgraded the ratings of Equinix to investment grade, including the Long-Term Issuer Default Rating to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'. The rating outlook is stable. Fitch said: "The ratings upgrade reflects Equinix's stronger credit protection metrics, including its net debt to recurring operating EBITDA of less than 4.0x and unencumbered asset to unsecured debt ratio of 2.2x. EQIX's portfolio quality, liability profile and capital access are also consistent with a low IG-rated U.S. equity REITs. Equinix's recently announced joint venture with Government of Singapore Investment Corporation is a modest credit positive that highlights growing institutional investor appetite for the specialty data center property type. Improved institutional investor and lender acceptance of data centers should improve the financeability of assets during a downturn and thereby enhance contingent liquidity for data center REITs."

08:52 EDT FNCB Bancorp to be added to Russell 3000 Index - FNCB Bancorp announced that effective after the US market opens on July 1, 2019, the Company will be added as a member of the Russell 3000 Index, when FTSE Russell reconstituted its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes after market closing on June 28, 2019.

08:49 EDT RLJ Lodging Trust announces sale of Kingston plantation for $156M - RLJ Lodging Trust announced that the company sold two hotels located in Myrtle Beach consisting of the 385-room Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort and 255-room Embassy Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort for $156M or approximately $244,000 per key.

08:48 EDT Checkpoint Therapeutics added to Russell 2000 Index - Checkpoint Therapeutics announced that it has been added to the Russell 2000 Index, effective after the U.S. market closed on Friday, June 28, 2019, following Russell's annual reconstitution of its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes.

08:47 EDT Federated National announces renewal of 2019-2020 reinsurance program - FedNat Holding Company announced its 2019-2020 reinsurance program for its wholly owned subsidiaries FedNat Insurance Company, and Monarch National Insurance Company, as well as Maison Insurance Company, which the Company does not yet own, but is the target of the previously announced acquisition, and which remains subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals and satisfaction of closing conditions. The Program covers the period from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Given the pending acquisition of Maison, FedNat and PIH have agreed to combine FNIC, Monarch, and Maison under a single reinsurance program. The joint agreement capitalizes on efficiencies as well as spread of risk and scale. The public hearing required in connection with the approval by the Louisiana Department of Insurance of the Maison acquisition is scheduled for July 1, 2019. Under the Purchase Agreement, if the transaction does not close on or before June 30, 2019, then the transaction closing is to occur as soon after November 30, 2019 as reasonably practicable. The Company and 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc. are currently discussing the timing of closing, assuming all required regulatory approvals are in place during the third quarter of 2019. Highlights of the 2019-2020 Reinsurance Agreement: The aggregate reinsurance limit purchased increased from $1.79B to $1.84B and the aggregate private market reinsurance limit purchased increased roughly $147M due to less Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund protection from a smaller Florida book. The maximum single event coverage totals approximately $1.28B. The projected treaty year ceded premium to gross written premium ratio increased 230 basis points from 28.2% to 30.5%, representing an 8.1% year-over-year increase. Based on policy count as of March 31, 2019, 18.3% of the Company's exposure is non-Florida, up from 13.4% at inception of last year's program. With the pending Maison acquisition, non-Florida's exposure would increase to 34.7% of the total. The program includes $162.2M of private market spend and $42.5M of FHCF contribution for a total program spend of $204.7M. FNIC and Monarch maintained their FHCF participation at 75% for the 2019 wind season and obtained similar private market protection for an additional 15%. Maison purchased FHCF protection for 90% for the same period. FNIC maintained its retention at $20M and Maison's retention is $5M, but Monarch lowered it retention from $3M to $2M. FNIC increased its non-Florida first event retention from $15M to $20M and maintained its second event retention of $2M for hurricane-only events. FNIC's non-Florida retentions are reduced by 50% after taking into account the profit-sharing agreement between FNIC and its non-affiliated managing general underwriter. All layers of the agreement are cascading and include prepaid automatic premium reinstatement protection. The program is provided by reinsurers with an A.M. Best Company or Standard & Poor's rating of "A-" or better, or have fully collateralized their maximum potential obligations in dedicated trusts. FNIC also renewed its quota share treaty through June 30, 2020, which excludes named storms, for another twelve months at terms similar to those in effect for the treaty year ending June 30, 2019.

08:45 EDT Duke Energy to acquire distributed fuel cell technology portfolio from Bloom - A subsidiary of Duke Energy (DUKE) announced it will acquire a portfolio of distributed fuel cell technology projects from Bloom Energy (BE), as part of the company's efforts to serve commercial and industrial customers' evolving energy needs and provide behind-the-meter generation. The company will purchase approximately 37 megawatts of Bloom Energy Servers and has already secured long-term power purchase agreements with creditworthy customers primarily located in California, Connecticut, Maryland and New York.

08:42 EDT H&R Block completes acquisition of Wave Financial - H&R Block announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Wave HQ. The purchase price of $405M was funded with available cash. Wave will maintain its leadership team, including co-founder and CEO Kirk Simpson, operating independently within H&R Block from its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario.

08:41 EDT Casa Systems sees $7M-$8M annual cost savings run-rate from NetComm acquisition - Casa Systems has completed its previously announced acquisition of NetComm Wireless Limited. With NetComm's global leadership in fixed wireless access and fiber-to-the-distribution point technologies and Casa's advanced core, access, and network edge solutions, Casa Systems will be able to offer full end-to-end solutions for all categories of broadband technologies. Casa Systems' solutions portfolio now includes mobile, wireless broadband, fixed wireless broadband, cable, fiber-to-the-home, and fiber-to-the-distribution-point, opening up new opportunities for growth. In addition to creating long-term growth opportunities, Casa Systems expects to realize both cost and revenue synergies from this transaction. Casa Systems reaffirms its expectation of achieving an annual cost savings run-rate $7M-8M, which on a non-GAAP diluted net income per share basis is expected to yield between 2c - 3c in 2019 and 7c - 8c in 2020. NetComm will continue to focus on fixed wireless technologies and fiber-to-the-distribution point technologies, to deliver innovative and high-performance broadband edge products for wireless and fixed service providers. Updated pro forma guidance for the NetComm acquisition will be provided on the Casa Systems second quarter earnings call.

08:38 EDT Idexx Laboratories CEO Jonathan Ayers takes medical leave of absence - Idexx Laboratories announced that chairman, president and CEO, Jonathan Ayers, is on a medical leave of absence following a serious bicycling accident that occurred on June 27. Effective June 28, the Idexx board has appointed Jay Mazelsky as interim president and CEO. Mazelsky will assume Ayers's day-to-day management responsibilities and work closely with Brian McKeon, CFO, who will continue to be responsible for the company's finances and investor relations.

08:36 EDT Compass Diversified expects $205M-$215M gain from sale of Clean Earth - Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI) announced that it has completed the sale of its majority owned subsidiary, CEHI Acquisition Corporation, the parent company of Clean Earth, to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harsco Corporation (HSC), pursuant to an agreement it entered into on May 8, 2019. The sale price of Clean Earth was based on an aggregate enterprise value of $625M plus estimated cash and working capital adjustments subject to customary post-closing true-ups. CODI expects to realize a gain on the sale of Clean Earth of between $205M and $215M and intends to use the net proceeds to repay the remaining outstanding debt under the Company's revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. In addition, CODI's Manager, Compass Group Management, has agreed to waive the management fee on cash balances held at CODI, commencing with the management fee due for the quarter ending June 30, 2019 and continuing until the quarter during which the Company next borrows under its revolving credit facility.

08:34 EDT Inpixon acquires portfolio of GPS assets from GTX Corp. - Inpixon (INPX) announced it has completed the acquisition and licensing of a broad portfolio of global positioning system assets and intellectual property from GTX Corp., located in Los Angeles CA, previously announced on May 28, 2019. The transaction will allow Inpixon to expand the breadth of available solutions it can offer to enterprise and government customers and includes an anticipated $1M plus customer pipeline with schools and government agencies, in addition, to the following assets: Patents and Licenses: An intellectual property portfolio that includes a registered patent, along with more than twenty pending patent applications or licenses to registered patents or pending applications relating to GPS technologies. Smart School Safety Network: Design documentation comprised of hardware schematics, design files, data flow and architecture documentation for detecting wireless signals emitted from students' wireless devices to assist staff and first responders with campus safety and security. GPS tracking technology including a smartphone app and device monitoring portal: Will allow for monitoring the location of GPS devices in near-real-time and provide the ability to set up geofencing, get alerts and SOS's, analyze reports. Ground Personnel Safety System: Certain hardware, software and design documentation for a private, hybrid GPS + RF, 256-bit AES-encrypted wide area network to track personnel, vehicle and assets for ground situational awareness and real-time surveillance. GPS-device-to-rifle attachment hardware design: Design of the hardware that enables a GPS tracking device to be attached to a rifle via the Picatinny rail system for accountability, awareness, progress monitoring and safety.

08:29 EDT German American Bancorp expects Citizens First merger to be accretive to EPS - German American Bancorp (GABC) announced that it has completed its merger with Citizens First Corporation (CZFC), the parent company of Citizens First Bank, Inc. of Bowling Green, Kentucky, effective at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2019. Immediately following completion of the holding company transaction, Citizens First Bank merged with and into German American's banking subsidiary, German American Bank. Each Citizens First common shareholder of record at closing is entitled to receive 0.6629 shares of German American common stock and a cash payment of $5.80 for each of their former shares of Citizens First common stock, subject to his or her surrender of the old Citizens First shares to the exchange agent designated by German American. Instructions and forms to accomplish that surrender and exchange process are being mailed by the exchange agent to each of Citizens First shareholders of record as of closing. Shareholders who hold Citizens First shares in the Citizens First Bank 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan will receive a cash payment of $25.77, which is equal to the exchange ratio multiplied by the closing trading price of German American common shares on June 28th plus $5.80. CEO Mark Schroeder continued, "We expect that this strategic transaction will be accretive to German American's earnings per share during the 12 months following completion of the transaction, and will have a quick tangible book value earn back. Coupled with our previous First Security combination, this transaction also adds to our efficiency and scale. Following completion of the merger, German American's pro forma capital ratios will continue to significantly exceed regulatory well-capitalized levels, enabling us to continue to take advantage of future organic growth opportunities in Kentucky and throughout our existing Southern Indiana market area."

08:24 EDT Super League Gaming added to Russell Microcap Index - uper League Gaming has joined the Russell Microcap Index as a result of the 2019 Russell indexes annual reconstitution.

08:22 EDT aTyr Pharma adds Jane Gross, Svetlana Lucas to board of directors - aTyr Pharma (LIFE) announced the appointments of Jane Gross, Ph.D. and Svetlana Lucas, Ph.D. to the Company's Board of Directors. Gross currently serves as chief scientific officer, SVP, research and development of Aptevo Therapeutics (APVO). Lucas currently serves as a chief business officer at a newly formed biotechnology company

08:19 EDT VBI Vaccines added to Russell 2000, 3000 Indexes - VBI Vaccines announced that it has been added to the Russell 2000 and the Russell 3000 Indexes following the annual reconstitution, effective after the US market opens on Monday, July 1, 2019.

08:19 EDT Equinix, GIC form joint venture to develop hyperscale data centers in Europe - Equinix announced the signing on of a greater than $1B initial joint venture in the form of a limited liability partnership with GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, to develop and operate xScale data centers in Europe. The initial facilities in the joint venture will serve the core workload deployment needs of a targeted group of hyperscale companies, including the world's largest cloud service providers. The facilities, on or proximate to some of Equinix's existing IBX campuses, will allow these enablers of digital transformation to streamline their continued work, while strengthening Equinix's position in the cloud ecosystem. Under the terms of the agreement, GIC will own an 80% equity interest in the joint venture and Equinix will own the remaining 20% equity interest. The joint venture is expected to close in Q3, pending regulatory approval and other closing conditions. Equinix will sell both its London LD10 and Paris PA8 IBX data centers and the associated leases, as well as certain other development interests, to the joint venture. A significant portion of London LD10 and Paris PA8 are already leased. Under the terms of this joint venture, additional new xScale data centers are expected to be developed in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London. These initial six facilities, when fully built out, will provide approximately 155 megawatts, or MW, of power capacity. Upon closing of this initial joint venture, GIC is expected to have contributed cash to fund its 80% equity interest in the joint venture, and Equinix is expected to have transferred its LD10 and PA8 IBX assets and certain development investments in return for net cash proceeds and a 20% equity interest in the joint venture. At a future date, pending the delivery of certain contractual milestones related to the four development sites, Equinix will receive additional cash funded through additional equity contributions. Depending on the closing date of the joint venture, relative to prior Equinix guidance, the sale of both LD10 and PA8 to the joint venture is expected to reduce each of Equinix's 2019 revenue, adjusted EBITDA and AFFO guidance by approximately $15M or less, net of the fees earned and the lease payments incurred from the joint venture by Equinix. The joint venture has received financing commitments for EUR850M of secured credit facilities, consisting of a EUR200M secured term loan facility that will be used to fund a portion of the consideration paid to Equinix for the sale to the joint venture of the LD10 and PA8 IBX data centers and other development investments; a EUR610M secured delayed draw term loan facility that will be used to fund a portion of the planned development and construction costs for the new xScale data centers in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London; and a EUR40M secured revolving credit facility that will be used to fund working capital needs and other general corporate purposes of the joint venture.

08:18 EDT Ocular Therapeutix announces commercial launch of DEXTENZA in U.S. - Ocular Therapeutix announced the commercial launch in the United States of DEXTENZA 0.4 mg for the treatment of ocular inflammation and pain following ophthalmic surgery. DEXTENZA is the first FDA-approved intracanalicular insert, a drug product with a novel route of administration that enables the delivery of drug to the surface of the eye, obviating the need for a burdensome, monthly regimen of steroid eye drops. DEXTENZA originally received FDA approval in November 2018 for the treatment of ocular pain following ophthalmic surgery.

08:17 EDT Freeport McMoRan backs FY19 copper, gold sales guidance - Freeport-McMoRan provided an update on its operations and outlook at PT Freeport Indonesia, or PT-FI, affirmed its April 2019 guidance for 2019 consolidated copper and gold sales volumes and provided revised estimates for second-quarter 2019. During second-quarter 2019, PT-FI achieved important milestones with respect to its newly commissioned underground mining operations in the Grasberg minerals district in Papua, Indonesia. PT-FI has commenced extraction of ore from the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine, which is the same ore body historically mined from the surface in the open pit. Since its discovery in 1988, production from the Grasberg open pit has totaled approximately 27 billion pounds of copper and 46 million ounces of gold. Over its life, PT-FI expects to produce an additional 17 billion pounds of copper and 14 million ounces of gold from the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine, making Grasberg one of the world's largest copper and gold deposits. In 2023, PT-FI expects to produce an average of 130,000 metric tons of ore per day from five production blocks spanning 335,000 square meters in the large-scale Grasberg Block Cave underground mine. At average reserve grades of 0.96 percent copper and 0.72 grams per tonne of gold, 130,000 metric tons of ore per day is expected to equate to production of 850 million pounds of copper and 700,000 ounces of gold per year. Access to higher grades is expected in the early years of production. Undercutting in the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine exceeded 20,000 square meters, over 20 percent above forecast. Inception to date, undercutting in the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine totals 48,000 square meters. Initiated drawbelling in two additional production blocks, bringing the active production blocks to three. Eighteen drawbells were opened, exceeding forecast. Open drawbells in inventory in the three active production blocks currently total 29. Ore extraction ramped up from an average of 5,000 metric tons per day in first-quarter 2019 to an average of approximately 9,000 metric tons per day in June 2019 and is expected to reach 15,000 metric tons per day by the end of 2019. The fully autonomous, state-of-the-art underground rail system is supporting efficient transport of ore to the oreflow system for delivery to the mill processing facility.

08:15 EDT IEA announces two wind contract awards valued at $150M - Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives announced two new wind energy project awards valued at approximately $150M. One award is for construction of the Las Majadas Wind Farm in Willacy County, southern Texas. This is an approximate 272-megawatt project that is expected to provide enough energy to power up to 77,000 average Texas homes. This is equivalent to avoiding nearly 280,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually. The power generated by the project's planned 125 Vestas turbines will be delivered into the Texas electrical grid. Construction on the Las Majadas project is scheduled to begin in July with full operation by October 2020. The second award is for construction of the Coyote Wind Farm in Scurry County, Texas, which is about 260 miles west of Dallas. This is an approximate 242-megawatt project, whose 59 Siemens Gamesa turbines are expected to power up to 65,500 homes. The power generated by Coyote Wind will also be delivered into the Texas electrical grid. Construction on Coyote Wind is slated to begin in July and finish in September 2020. The scope of IEA's work on both Las Majadas and Coyote Wind will include wind turbine installation, public road maintenance and repairs, turbine access roads and MV collection system installation.

08:11 EDT Constellium says making 'significant progress' on sustainability targets - Constellium released its 2018 Business and Sustainability Report, reflecting the company's continuing commitment to sustainability. The company said, "Constellium continues to make significant progress on most of its sustainability targets, including: Employee Engagement: 78% of our employees participated in our 2018 Global Employee Survey. We were proud to outperform our 2020 target with a 10-point increase in employee satisfaction compared with our 2014 baseline. Sustainable Purchasing: Supplier assessment is a priority. By the end of 2018, more than 50% of our annual supplier spending was assessed by independent third-parties, who determined that 83% met or surpassed our standards. Aluminum Stewardship Initiative: We are on track with ASI's certification roadmap and are working to get two of our plants certified. Customer Satisfaction: Our three business units received positive results on our latest customer survey and performed significantly above the industry benchmark. The following sustainability objectives require further improvement, and we are implementing corrective actions to address them: Safety: Despite a significant improvement in our recordable case rate beyond our target, we had a fatality at one of our plants. Energy Efficiency: While we have made significant progress, we need to continue to focus our efforts on all potential energy-saving opportunities to reach our 2020 energy efficiency goal of 10% improvement vs. 2015. Landfilled Waste: Although we reduced our landfill waste in 2018, more efforts are needed to reach our 2020 goal. Following the latest materiality assessment in 2017, Constellium also added human rights to its sustainability roadmap. Constellium remains focused on ensuring that the company achieves its 2020 targets, while also beginning to shape its 2030 sustainability journey."

08:10 EDT Jack Henry acquires Geezeo - Jack Henry announced the acquisition of Geezeo, a Boston-based provider of retail and business digital financial management solutions. Geezeo has evolved from a white label PFM provider to a fintech partner of financial institutions, core processors and complementary digital banking solutions. By processing, augmenting and storing millions of transactions, Geezeo now occupies a role with their clients as a data partner. Geezeo's solutions will be sold to Jack Henry's core bank and credit union clients and to the non-core clients supported by its ProfitStars division. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

08:08 EDT ManTech selected for $21M OTA award from U.S. Army - ManTech announced that it has won a three-year $21M Other Transaction Agreement award from the Department of Defense to further enhance and integrate prototype capabilities of the U.S. Army's Persistent Cyber Training Environment or PCTE. Under the new OTA, ManTech will manage DevOps for software architecture and control plane development, installation of compute and storage capabilities, and Tech Ops for planning and execution of training that scales to serve thousands of cyber warriors simultaneously.

08:07 EDT Abercrombie & Fitch announces partnership with Klarna - Klarna announced its multimarket partnership with Abercrombie & Fitch. Later this year, U.K. customers at Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids and Hollister Co. will have access to Klarna's Pay in 3 product, and customers in the U.S. can take advantage of Klarna's Pay in 4 product.These services allow customers to pay for their purchase in three or four installments, respectively, over a two-month time period. A&F Co. currently offers Klarna's Pay Later service to its customers in Germany, which gives shoppers up to 14 days to pay after their order has been delivered. This evolved partnership to the U.S. and U.K. with Klarna is part of A&F Co.'s continued investment in its online and digital capabilities.

08:06 EDT cbdMD appoints Scott Coffman as Co-CEO - cbdMD announced that Scott Coffman, the co-founder of the brand cbdMD, has been appointed as Co-CEO effective immediately. Coffman will share CEO duties with Martin Sumichrast. Sumichrast will remain Chairman of the board and Coffman will remain a board member. In addition, Caryn Dunayer, the co-founder of the brand cbdMD, has been appointed as President of the company effective immediately. Sumichrast will continue to focus on shareholder and public company aspects while Coffman will oversee the operational aspects of the company.

08:05 EDT Ascent Capital trading resumes

08:04 EDT Stifel Financial closes acquisition of Mooreland Partners - Stifel Financial announced the completion of its acquisition of Mooreland Partners. The Stifel Global Technology Group, resulting from the combination, will operate internationally with more than 100 professionals serving clients on both sides of the Atlantic through offices in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, New York, Baltimore, London, and Frankfurt. On a combined basis, Stifel and Mooreland advised on more technology M&A transactions valued under $1B than any other firm during the period 2010 through 2018. Effective immediately, the Mooreland associates will operate under the Stifel brand as part of the Stifel Global Technology Group.

08:02 EDT Soliton partners with Maryland site for Cellulite Trial - Soliton announced that the company has partnered with a Maryland-based site as well as the supervising physician for its upcoming expanded pivotal Cellulite Trial. The trial builds upon the proof-of-concept trial conducted earlier this year. The proof-of-concept trial was conducted at SkinCare Physicians in Boston in collaboration with Capital Laser and Skin Care in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Tanzi will supervise the treatment of patients occurring in the expanded Cellulite Clinical Trial at Capital Laser. Three additional trial sites and supervising physicians are in discussions at this time.

07:59 EDT Blue Harbour comments on Genesee & Wyoming acquisition by Brookfield, GIC - Blue Harbour Group, the largest active owner of Genesee & Wyoming (GWR), or GWR, with approximately 2M shares representing about 4% of the company, commented on GWR's agreement to be acquired by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) and GIC for $112 per share in cash. Blue Harbour began initiating its GWR position early in Q2 of 2018, when the stock traded at about $75 per share. Robb LeMasters, a managing director of Blue Harbour Group, said, "We invested in Genesee & Wyoming because we believed its share price did not reflect its unique combination of short-line railroad market leadership, powerful cash generation, strong balance sheet and experienced management team. It appeared to us that the public market was misvaluing GWR's very strategic North American short line operations in part because of the Company's international businesses. The transaction announced today unlocks the significant shareholder value that GWR's management team has built over many years, both through acquisitions and operational execution, as they assembled the most significant short line railroad footprint in North America. We are confident that Brookfield and GIC will be excellent partners for GWR and we congratulate GWR's management team and Board for entering into this transaction."

07:53 EDT Intrexon subsidiary ActoBio to move to next stage in AG019 trial - ActoBio Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intrexon (XON), has announced that it will progress to the next stage of the Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial for investigational drug AG019 for the treatment of early-onset type 1 diabetes, or T1D. This follows a scheduled review by the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board, which supported moving forward with the study. Therefore, the company may now initiate enrollment of the next two patient cohorts of the study: AG019 dosing in patients 12-17 years of age and combination dosing of AG019 plus teplizumab in adults. ActoBiotics AG019 is an investigational drug designed to induce oral immune tolerance to reverse T1D, a disease with no approved disease-modifying treatment that is currently managed through lifestyle modification and diet combined with exogenous insulin. AG019 is formulated as an oral capsule consisting of engineered Lactococcus lactis specifically modified to deliver human proinsulin and the tolerance-enhancing cytokine human interleukin-10 to the mucosal lining of the gastro-intestinal tissues. In the next stage of the study, AG019 will be utilized in combination with PRV-031, a Phase III anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody in development for the interception and prevention of clinical T1D, pursuant to a collaboration with Provention Bio (PRVB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The Phase IIa study will evaluate AG019 administered for eight weeks in combination with PRV-031 for the first 12 days as compared to placebo. Pre-clinical studies of AG019, in association with a short-term treatment with a systemic anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, induced reversion to normal blood sugar levels in 60% of diabetic mice and reversed the disease in 89% of mice treated at early stage of the disease. The results of the current trial are expected in 2020 and will provide initial data regarding the safety and efficacy of AG019 in humans.

07:48 EDT Biohaven Pharmaceutical enrolls first patient in Phase 2 rimegepant trial - Biohaven Pharmaceutical announced that the first patient has been enrolled in a Phase 2 clinical trial assessing the efficacy and safety of rimegepant in treatment refractory trigeminal neuralgia. This trial will enroll patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Researchers will evaluate the efficacy and safety of rimegepant in treating trigeminal neuralgia in patients who failed to respond adequately to pharmacotherapy. The primary outcome measure is the change in a patient's average Numeric Pain Rating Scale between the two treatment phases of the study.

07:44 EDT Organogenesis added to Russell 2000, 3000, Microcap Indexes - Organogenesis Holdings announced that the Company has been added to the Russell 2000, Russell 3000 and Russell Microcap Indexes.

07:41 EDT Ascent Capital expects to consummate merger after Monitronics reorganization - Concurrent with the completion of the reorganization of Monitronics under the Plan, subject to certain conditions, Ascent anticipates that it will consummate the Merger. As a result of the Merger, all assets of Ascent, including up to $23M in cash, will become assets of Monitronics. Upon consummation of the Merger, Ascent's stockholders are expected to receive up to approximately 5.82% of the total shares of Monitronics common stock expected to be issued and outstanding following the consummation of the Plan and the Merger, in exchange for all then issued and outstanding shares of Ascent common stock, subject to dilution under a management incentive plan for the Company. If, however, Ascent is expected to hold $20Mor more in cash, but less than the Target Cash Amount upon consummation of the Plan, the stockholders of Ascent will receive a proportionately lower percentage of shares of Monitronics common stock, and certain of the Company's noteholders have agreed to contribute the shortfall. If Ascent is expected to hold less than $20M in cash upon consummation of the Plan, the Merger will not occur, certain noteholders will contribute the Target Cash Amount and Ascent will be obligated to make a cash contribution to Monitronics in the amount of $3.5M. Under the terms of a Restructuring Support Agreement entered into by Ascent, Monitronics and certain creditors of Monitronics, Ascent must obtain approval for the Merger from its stockholders within 63 days of the commencement of Monitronics' Chapter 11 Cases on June 30, 2019. If the Merger is not approved within 63 days following the Petition Date or the Merger is not completed on the effective date of the Plan for any reason the Merger will not occur, and the restructuring of Monitronics will be completed without the participation of Ascent. Further, if the restructuring of Monitronics occurs without the participation of Ascent, Ascent will be obligated to make a $3.5M cash contribution to Monitronics and Ascent's equity interests in Monitronics will be cancelled without Ascent recovering any property or value on account of such equity interests. A new Monitronics Board of Directors will be appointed at the completion of the reorganization.

07:39 EDT L3Harris Technologies announces 10% quarterly dividend increase to 75c per share - The board of L3Harris Technologies (LHX) has approved a 10% increase in the company's per share quarterly cash dividend rate from 68.5c to 75c, corresponding to an increase in the annualized rate from $2.74 to $3.00. This represents an increase of 15% for legacy L3 (LLL) shareholders. The increase is effective third quarter calendar year 2019, and the company expects to further review its annual cash dividend rate in the first quarter of calendar year 2020, as it transitions to calendar year financial reporting.

07:38 EDT L3Harris Technologies appoints Jay Malave as CFO - L3Harris Technologies (LHX) has named Jay Malave, Jr. Senior Vice President and CFO, reporting to L3Harris Chairman and CEO William Brown, effective June 29. Malave was elected CFO of the new L3Harris following the close of the merger between L3 (LLL) and Harris (HRS), and succeeds former L3 and Harris CFOs, Ralph D'Ambrosio and Rahul Ghai, who have decided for personal reasons to pursue new opportunities. Both D'Ambrosio and Ghai will actively support a transition period.

07:36 EDT Bicycle Therapeutics announces topline results from THR-149 Phase I trial - Bicycle Therapeutics announced the "successful completion" of Oxurion's Phase I clinical trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of a single intravitreal injection of THR-149, a novel Bicycle-based plasma kallikrein inhibitor, in patients with diabetic macular edema, or DME. No dose-limiting toxicities or drug-related adverse events were reported. Activation of the PKal enzyme has been shown to increase retinal vascular permeability, microaneurysm and inflammation in DME. In 2013, Bicycle entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Oxurion related to the discovery and development of novel human plasma kallikrein inhibitors for use in ophthalmic indications.

07:35 EDT Strongbridge Biopharma added to Russell 3000, Microcap Indexes - Strongbridge Biopharma announced that it has been added to the U.S. broad-market Russell 3000 and Microcap Indexes at the conclusion of the Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective upon the U.S. market open on Monday, July 1, 2019.

07:34 EDT Astronics acquires Freedom Communication Technologies for $22M in cash - Astronics announced that it has acquired Freedom Communication Technologies, or FCT. Astronics has acquired 100% of the equity of FCT for $22M in cash.

07:33 EDT Biogen announces new data from NURTURE study of SPINRAZA - Biogen announced new results from the NURTURE study, adding data to the longest study of spinal muscular atrophy in pre-symptomatic infants. These data reported, after up to 45.1 months of analysis, continue to demonstrate efficacy and safety in patients treated pre-symptomatically with SPINRAZA in comparison to the natural history of this disease. These new data also showed that patients treated with SPINRAZA had continuous improvement with the overwhelming majority of patients achieving motor milestones in a normal timeframe. Results from NURTURE, an ongoing, Phase 2, open-label study of 25 pre-symptomatic patients with SMA who received their first dose of SPINRAZA before six weeks old, demonstrated unparalleled results in comparison to the natural history of SMA. As of March 2019: 100 percent were alive without a need for permanent ventilation. The median age of the study participants was nearly three years old. The majority of untreated patients with SMA Type 1 never reach their second birthday without permanent ventilation. 100 percent of the infants were sitting independently, in comparison to the natural history of this disease where no patients with SMA Type 1 would be able to do so and patients with SMA Type 2 would need assistance. 88 percent of the infants were walking independently with many of them doing so in the normal timeframe for a toddler. In the natural history of SMA, patients with SMA Type 1 or Type 2 are never able to walk independently. Patients were approaching the maximum mean score of 64 on the CHOP INTEND measure of motor function- 63.4 for patients with 3 SMN 2 copies and 62.1 for those with 2 SMN 2 copies, demonstrating the powerful impact of early SPINRAZA treatment. SPINRAZA demonstrated longer term efficacy up to nearly 4 years, with participants continuing to make progress and showing no signs of loss of motor function. Additional presentations at the two meetings highlight results from the ongoing open-label SHINE extension study of children with infantile and later-onset SMA as well the CS2/CS12 analysis of older patients. Biogen also continues to explore the scientific value of phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain and will present new data on the ongoing evaluation of its potential as a biomarker in SMA.

07:30 EDT Pioneer Power trading resumes

07:25 EDT Glass Lewis recommends shareholders vote for EQT Corporation director nominees - EQT Corporation announced that Glass Lewis recommended EQT shareholders vote for all 12 of EQT's director nominees on the gold universal proxy card in connection with the company's 2019 annual meeting of shareholders, scheduled for July 10. Glass Lewis said in a report, "We do not believe further change is warranted at this time given the significant board and management turnover that has already occurred at the Company in the last year, including a new CEO, CFO and COO and eight new directors, representing 75% of the board as proposed on the management slate. We see no cause for concern with the qualifications or experience of the Management Nominees and find that management and the board are taking appropriate steps to improve operating efficiency at the Company, including identifying material cost savings and delivering favorable performance in the first two quarters with Robert McNally at the helm as CEO. Given the new management team's focus on driving efficiencies and the progress it has demonstrated thus far, we are not convinced the Rice Group plan offers a credible path to achieving material incremental savings above what EQT is already targeting. We find that EQT has raised reasonable doubt about the credibility of the Rice Group's plan to achieve lower well costs per foot relative to EQT's plan, including given that the Rice Group is projecting well costs that are materially lower than the costs actually achieved by Rice Energy prior to the merger, as well as service cost inflation and differences in water logistics applicable to EQT. We have outstanding concerns regarding the Rice Group's ability to replicate Rice Energy's success at EQT, particularly given that the former CEO of Rice Energy already sits on the EQT board. We also see meaningful execution risks associated with the Rice Group plan, including the challenges of effectively recreating the Rice Energy management team at EQT and replicating Rice Energy's success on EQT's asset base, particularly given that key assumptions in the Rice Group well cost plan have not been proven on EQT's asset base, in our view. Having reviewed the arguments presented by both sides in this proxy fight, we find that the newly appointed board and executive team at EQT are taking appropriate steps to oversee the Company and we believe management should be provided with additional deference and a reasonable amount of time to execute the current strategic plan and deliver on targets communicated to investors. The Company has experienced significant board and management turnover in recent years and the new board appears well qualified, highly engaged and responsive to shareholders, in our view."

07:22 EDT EyePoint added to Russell 3000, 2000 Indexes - EyePoint Pharmaceuticals announced that the company has joined the broad-market Russell 3000 and Russell 2000 Indexes. The newly reconstituted indexes took effect after the close on Friday, June 28, 2019.

07:19 EDT BioCryst appoints Megan Sniecinski as CBO - BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) announced the appointment of Megan Sniecinski as chief business officer. Sniecinski joins BioCryst from PTC Therapeutics (PTCT), where she served as SVP of business operations and program management since June 2017.

07:18 EDT WidePoint subsidiary awarded $6M contract renewal - WidePoint announced that a global communications service provider, or CSP, has renewed its contract with WidePoint's subsidiary, Soft-ex Communications. The contract renewal is scheduled to last three years and is valued at $6M. Under the agreement, Soft-ex will deliver its Optimiser solution, which consists of both cloud and onsite telecom analytics solutions, to all business segments of the CSP's global client base. This client base includes government and multinational corporations and consists of new as well as current clients already benefiting from deployments of the Soft-ex hosted solution.

07:16 EDT CareTrust REIT acquires skilled nursing facility in Nampa, Idaho for $12.8M - CareTrust REIT announced that it has acquired Cascadia of Nampa, a newly constructed 99-bed transitional rehabilitation facility located one block from the 152-bed Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Nampa, Idaho. The facility was added to CareTrust's existing master lease with Idaho-based Cascadia Healthcare, LLC, bringing the total facility count under the Cascadia master lease to 12 facilities with 1,013 licensed beds. CareTrust's investment for Cascadia of Nampa was approximately $12.8M, inclusive of transaction costs and after receiving credit for CareTrust's original equity investment and preferred returns thereon. Initial annual cash rent will be approximately $1.45M. The master lease carries annual CPI-based escalators and has approximately twelve years remaining on the initial term, plus three five-year renewal options. The acquisition was funded using cash on hand.

07:14 EDT GCP Applied Technologies appoints COO Randall Dearth CEO - The board of GCP Applied Technologies announced a leadership transition plan. Randall Dearth, President and COO, has been appointed CEO and a member of the board, effective August 1. Gregory Poling will be assuming the role of Executive Chairman, with a particular focus on ongoing evaluation of strategic opportunities. Elizabeth Mora will be assuming the role of Lead Independent Director. Ronald Cambre, the current Chairman, will retire from the board effective August 1.

07:13 EDT Texas Pacific Land Trust shareholder group sends letter to the company - SoftVest, Horizon Kinetics and ART-FGT Family Partners, the investor group which collectively beneficially owns over 25% of the outstanding shares of Texas Pacific Land Trust announced that Murray Stahl, chairman of Horizon Kinetics, sent a letter to David Barry and John Norris highlighting the need for corporate governance reform at the trust for the benefit of all shareholders. The letter said, "I have reviewed your most interesting press release of June 27, 2019. In this document, you call attention to the possibility that a certain large but nonetheless minority shareholder might gain control of two trustee positions and thereby control the enterprise. This investor would then be in a position to act in a manner detrimental to the interest of the majority of the shareholders. Of course, this is only possible because the current corporate structure concentrates very substantial powers in two lifetime trustees should these trustees undertake to act in unison. Accordingly, based upon the force and substance of your example, one would think that you would be in favor of a transition to the contemporary conception of corporate governance in which power is diffused in a board composed of a multiplicity of members representing a multiplicity of backgrounds and perspectives. Term limits are an important part of such a governance structure as it further diffuses power to the majority of shareholders. Unfortunately, you have come to the conclusion that the best way to prevent the concentration of power is to perpetuate the governance rules that make possible such a concentration of power. If it is right and proper that you should be fearful of a potential concentration of power, then surely it must be right and proper that I should be fearful of an actual concentration of power. A conventional, although by no means the only solution to the problem of the unwanted sale of the company, would be to require a supermajority of the shares to consent to any such transaction. It is worthwhile observing that some months ago you undertook asset and sale purchase transactions that were not subject to the consent of any shareholders. The basic principle of modern corporate governance is that governance occurs with the consent of the governed. It is principally for that reason that I have advocated change to the current 19th century form of corporate governance. Your press release and the examples you cite simply calls attention with clarity to the range of abuses possible within the current framework. It is for that reason that the other day I called upon you to provide each shareholder with an updated shareholder list to facilitate the formation of open discussion groups among shareholders with a view of developing a consensus regarding alternative governance structures.Incidentally, I declined to join your exploratory committee since I would have been required to sign a confidentiality agreement regarding governance discussions. I wished to retain the liberty of open discourse and I hope that the shareholders who read this letter will find it to be a constructive effort to promote discussion."

07:11 EDT Ritchie Bros. sells $93M of equipment in two-day auction - Ritchie Bros., held "the pipeline construction event of the year in Columbus, OH," selling more than 5,000 items for $93M+ over two days. "The big highlight of the event: 138 pipelayers sold for $45M in just two hours!" Approximately 1,800 of the items in the auction were sold as part of a complete dispersal for Welded Construction LP.

07:09 EDT NovaBay plan of compliance accepted by NYSE - NovaBay Pharmaceuticals announces that the New York Stock Exchange has accepted the company's plan to regain compliance with the NYSE American's continued listing standards. As previously disclosed, the NYSE notified the company on April 12 and May 16 that it was out of compliance with Exchange listing requirements.

07:08 EDT Axovant names David Nassif CFO, expands board of directors - Axovant Gene Therapies announced the appointment of David Nassif as CFO, effective July 1, 2019. In addition, Axovant announced the expansion of its Board of Directors with the addition of Senthil Sundaram. Prior to joining Axovant, Mr. Nassif was EVP and CFO of SteadyMed Therapeutics. Sundaram was most recently the CFO at Nightstar Therapeutics.

07:06 EDT Seven Seas Water announces update to Curacao contract - Seven Seas Water, an operating segment of AquaVenture, announced that it has received a formal notice from Curacao Refinery Utilities B.V. that it is exercising its right to purchase the company's desalination facilities pursuant to the existing water supply agreement. The contractual buy-out right requires payment to be made at the contract expiration date. The applicable buy-out amount, if consummated, will be either $3.5M or, if CRU's contract with RdK is extended as mentioned above, $2.5M.

07:05 EDT Performance Food Group to acquire Reinhart Foodservice - Performance Food Group announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Reinhart Foodservice from Reyes Holdings, L.L.C. in a transaction valued at $2B, or approximately $1.7B net of an estimated tax benefit to PFG of approximately $265M. With annual net sales of over $6B, Reinhart is the second largest privately held foodservice distributor in the U.S. and is headquartered in Rosemont, IL. PFG expects to achieve approximately $50M in annual run-rate cost synergies in the third year following the close of the transaction. Cost synergies have been identified primarily in procurement, operations, and logistics. PFG estimates one-time capital expenditures of $90M in IT upgrades and integration over the next five years. Reinhart's ongoing maintenance capital expenditures are approximately $50M which is in-line with PFG's capital expenditures to net sales ratio. On a percentage basis, excluding transaction-related depreciation and amortization, PFG expects the transaction to be low-single digit accretive to Adjusted Diluted EPS in year one after the close and double-digit accretive to Adjusted Diluted EPS in the third year following the close. PFG is targeting a net debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA ratio of less than 4.0x within 24 months following closing of the transaction. The transaction, which has been approved by the Board of Directors of PFG and the governing body of Reinhart, is subject to U.S. federal antitrust clearance and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the calendar year. The transaction is not subject to PFG shareholder approval.

07:03 EDT Uniti Group says Windstream has continued to make rent payments - Uniti Group (UNIT) issued a statement in response to the motion filed in the bankruptcy cases of Windstream Holdings (WIN) and its subsidiaries by UMB Bank, National Association and U.S. Bank National Association, as indenture trustees for certain unsecured notes issued by certain of Windstream Holdings' subsidiaries, seeking to prevent Windstream's continued payment of rent under its master lease agreement with Uniti. Windstream Holdings makes monthly rent payments to Uniti under the master lease in exchange for access to Uniti's network, which Windstream uses to serve its customers. Federal bankruptcy law requires that Windstream continue to make regular rent payments to Uniti during its bankruptcy in order to maintain access to the network, and throughout its bankruptcy, Windstream has continued to make the required timely rent payments to Uniti. Kenny Gunderman, President and CEO of Uniti, commented, "Uniti's relationship with Windstream is simple: Uniti owns the network that Windstream uses to service its customers, and Windstream must continue to pay rent in order to maintain access to the network - otherwise it will not be able to operate its business. This latest effort by out-of-the money junior creditors of Windstream to extract value from Uniti does nothing to change that essential fact. Consistent with the views of Windstream's counsel and advisors when the lease was established, we believe that the lease is a true lease and will be respected and enforced as such, and we will vigorously contest any argument to the contrary."

07:02 EDT Brookfield Infrastructure to acquire Genesee & Wyoming for $112 per share, cash - Genesee & Wyoming (GWR) together with Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP), GIC and Brookfield Infrastructure's institutional partners, are announcing an agreement pursuant to which affiliates of Brookfield Infrastructure and GIC will acquire G&W in a transaction valued at approximately $8.4B including debt. The Transaction will result in G&W becoming a privately held company. Under the new ownership, G&W will continue to focus on world class safety and outstanding service, while pursuing the company's strategic goals. Pursuant to the agreement, each issued and outstanding share of G&W will be converted into the right to receive $112 per share in cash. The Transaction price of $112 per share of G&W common stock represents a 39.5% premium to the unaffected per share price of $80.28 on March 8, the day prior to initial media speculation of a potential transaction. The Transaction is expected to close by year end or early 2020 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by G&W stockholders holding 66 2/3% of the outstanding common stock, required regulatory approvals that include approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, and certain competition and antitrust approvals. Due to the pending sale, G&W will cease reporting monthly carloads and will not hold a conference call for its second quarter 2019 financial results.

07:00 EDT Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ADR) trading halted, news pending

06:59 EDT Warren Buffett to convert 11,250 Class A Berkshire Hathaway shares into Class B - Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, will convert 11,250 of his Class A shares into 16,875,000 Class B shares. Of these Class B shares, 16,811,941 will be donated to five foundations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation. These shares have a current value of about $3.6B. This contribution is pursuant to the June 26, 2006 pledge letters, subsequently modified upward for three of the foundations. Buffett has never sold any shares of Berkshire. With the current gift, however, about 45% of his 2006 holdings have been given to the five foundations. Their value at the time of the gifts, including the 2019 gift, totals about $34B. Buffett intends to have all of his Berkshire shares given to philanthropy through annual gifts that will be completed ten years after his estate is settled. In all cases, his A shares will be converted into B shares immediately prior to the gift.

06:56 EDT Applied Materials to acquire Kokusai Electric for $2.2B in cash from KKR

06:54 EDT AstraZeneca reports positive EU CHMP opinion for Forxiga - AstraZeneca announced that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, has recommended a change to the European marketing authorization for Forxiga in patients with type-2 diabetes to include cardiovascular outcomes data from the Phase III DECLARE-TIMI 58 trial. Regulatory reviews and submissions are ongoing in several countries, including the US, China and Japan. Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, said: "We are pleased with this positive opinion for the cardiovascular outcomes and renal data for Forxiga and this recommendation acknowledges that even more people with type-2 diabetes could benefit from this medicine."

06:23 EDT Santander Consumer amends agreement with FCA US LLC - Santander Consumer (SC), which does business as Chrysler Capital, announced it has reached an agreement with FCA US LLC, a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) to amend the master private label financing agreement, or the Chrysler Agreement. Under the Chrysler Agreement, which is in year seven of a 10-year term, SC is FCA's preferred provider for consumer loans, leases and dealer loans.

06:15 EDT Rio Tinto says Barbara Levi to succeed Philip Richards as general counsel - Rio Tinto (RIO) has appointed Barbara Levi to succeed Philip Richards as Group executive, Group General Counse. Levi, who is currently Group Legal Head, M&A and Strategic Transactions for Novartis (NVS) will join Rio Tinto on January 1, 2020. Richards will retire from Rio Tinto on December 31, 2019. Rio Tinto CEO J-S Jacques said "Barbara has extensive legal experience across corporate, commercial and compliance matters gained within a complex multinational organisation which makes her an ideal choice to lead Rio Tinto's legal and compliance team. I am delighted to welcome her to Rio Tinto and look forward to having her join the executive team."

06:02 EDT CNA Financial appoints Jose Ramon Gonzalez as General Counsel - CNA announced the appointment of Jose Ramon Gonzalez as Executive Vice President & General Counsel. In this role, Gonzalez will serve as the principal counsel for CNA, leading the company's Law department responsible for legal affairs, compliance, regulatory and government affairs, securities and litigation, and legal consultation to CNA's business operations. He reports to Dino Robusto, Chairman & CEO, CNA. Prior to joining CNA, Gonzalez served as Chief Legal Officer for QBE North America.

05:27 EDT ObsEva appoints Dr. Elizabeth Garner as Chief Medical Officer - ObsEva SA (OBSV) announced the appointment of Dr. Elizabeth Garner as its new Chief Medical Officer and member of the company's Executive Committee, effective July 15. Dr. Garner will be based in the U.S. Most recently, Dr. Garner served as Chief Medical Officer, Senior Vice President Clinical Development at Agile Therapeutics (AGRX). Dr. Elke Bestel, current Chief Medical Officer and Head of Pharmacovigilance for ObsEva since September 2015, will be nominated as ObsEva Vice President, Head of Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance and remain on the company's Executive Committee.