Confluent Announces the General Availability of Tableflow

Confluent Announces the General Availability of Tableflow

Tableflow brings real-time business context to analytical systems to make AI and next-generation applications enterprise-ready

BENGALURU, India–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT), the data streaming pioneer, today announced significant advancements in Tableflow, the easiest way to access operational data from data lakes and warehouses. With Tableflow, all streaming data in Confluent Cloud can be accessed in popular open table formats, unlocking limitless possibilities for advanced analytics, real-time artificial intelligence (AI), and next-generation applications. Support for Apache Iceberg™ is now generally available (GA). And as a result of an expanded partnership with Databricks, a new early access program for Delta Lake is now open. Additionally, Tableflow now offers enhanced data storage flexibility and seamless integrations with leading catalog providers, including AWS Glue Data Catalog and Snowflake’s managed service for Apache Polaris™, Snowflake Open Catalog.

“At Confluent, we’re all about making your data work for you, whenever you need it and in whatever format is required,” said Shaun Clowes, Chief Product Officer at Confluent. “With Tableflow, we’re bringing our expertise of connecting operational data to the analytical world. Now, data scientists and data engineers have access to a single, real-time source of truth across the enterprise, making it possible to build and scale the next generation of AI-driven applications.”

The Downfall of AI Projects: Disconnected Data

“By 2027, after suffering multiple AI project failures, 70% of IT teams will return to basics and focus on AI-ready data infrastructure platforms,” claimed IDC in the IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Digital Infrastructure 2025 Predictions. The report added, “Many IT organizations rely on scores of data silos and a dozen or more different copies of data. These silos and redundant data stores can be a major impediment to effective AI model development.”

AI projects are failing because old development methods cannot keep pace with new consumer expectations. These applications are expected to know the current status of a business and its customers and take action automatically. For example, an AI agent for inventory management should be able to identify if a particular item is trending, immediately notify manufacturers of the increased demand, and provide an accurate delivery estimate for customers. This level of hands-free efficiency is simply not possible if business data is not getting to the analytics and AI systems in real time. The old ways of batch processing lead to inaccurate results, and manually copying over data is unstable, not scalable, and proliferates the silo problem.

Bridging the Data Gap for Enterprise-Ready AI

“Transportation companies love us because we make sales, operations, and dispatching super simple, but that’s only possible with real-time data analytics,” said Brady Perry, Co-founder at Busie. “Tableflow offers a promising path for our analytics engine to seamlessly consume operational data in Kafka in real time as Apache Iceberg tables, eliminating the need for additional preprocessing. By integrating Tableflow with Snowflake, we could prevent raw, unclean data from being ingested while reducing complexity and storage costs. This approach would simplify workflows and accelerate time to insight while ensuring a more efficient and cost-effective data architecture.”

Tableflow simplifies the integration between operational data and analytical systems. It continuously updates tables used for analytics and AI with the exact same data from business applications connected to Confluent Cloud. Within Confluent, processing and governance happen as data is generated, shifting these tasks upstream to ensure that only high-quality, consistent data is used to feed data lakes and warehouses. This is a breakthrough for AI, as it’s only as powerful as the data that shapes it.

Today, Confluent announces significant updates to Tableflow:

  • Support for Apache IcebergTM is ready for production workloads. Teams can now instantly represent Apache Kafka® topics as Iceberg tables to feed any data warehouse, data lake, or analytics engine for real-time or batch processing use cases. Expensive and error-prone table maintenance tasks, such as compaction, are automatically handled by Tableflow, giving time back to data engineers to deliver more business value. It also provides a single source of truth for one of the most widely adopted open-format storage options, enabling data scientists and data engineers to scale AI innovation and next-generation applications.
  • New Early Access Program for Delta Lake is now open. This open-format storage layer, pioneered by Databricks, processes more than 10 exabytes of data daily and is used alongside many popular AI engines and tools. With this integration, customers will have a consistent view of real-time data across operational and analytic applications, enabling faster, smarter AI-driven decision-making. Apply for the Tableflow Early Access Program here.
  • Increase flexibility through Bring Your Own Storage. Store fresh, up-to-date Iceberg or Delta tables once and reuse them many times with the freedom to choose a storage bucket. Customers now have full control over storage and compliance to meet their unique data ownership needs.
  • Enhance data accessibility and governance with partners. Direct integrations with Amazon SageMaker Lakehouse via AWS Glue Data Catalog (GA) and Snowflake Open Catalog (GA) enable seamless catalog management for Tableflow’s Iceberg tables. They also streamline access for analytical engines such as Amazon Athena, Amazon EMR, and Amazon RedShift, and leading data lake and warehouse solutions including Snowflake,Dremio, Imply, Onehouse, and Starburst. Additionally, Confluent has strengthened enterprise adoption for Tableflow with support from global and regional system integrators, including GoodLabs Studio, Onibex, Psyncopate, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

These announcements will be spotlighted on the main stage of Current Bengaluru on March 19 at 10:00 a.m. Indian Standard Time. Register here to attend virtually.

Additional Resources

About Confluent

Confluent is the data streaming platform that is pioneering a fundamentally new category of data infrastructure that sets data in motion. Confluent’s cloud-native offering is the foundational platform for data in motion—designed to be the intelligent connective tissue enabling real-time data from multiple sources to constantly stream across an organization. With Confluent, organizations can meet the new business imperative of delivering rich, digital front-end customer experiences and transitioning to sophisticated, real-time, software-driven back-end operations. To learn more, please visit www.confluent.io.

As our road map may change in the future, the features referred to here may change, may not be delivered on time, or may not be delivered at all. This information is not a commitment to deliver any functionality, and customers should make their purchasing decisions based on features that are currently available.

Confluent® and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Confluent, Inc.

Apache®, Apache Kafka®, Kafka®, Apache Flink®, Flink®, Apache Iceberg™, Iceberg™, Apache Polaris™, and Polaris™ are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. No endorsement by the Apache Software Foundation is implied by the use of these marks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Lyn Eyad

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States India North America Asia Pacific California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Software Technology Artificial Intelligence Data Management

MEDIA:

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New Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink® Capabilities Simplify Real-Time AI Development

New Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink® Capabilities Simplify Real-Time AI Development

Flink Native Inference seamlessly runs AI models directly in Confluent Cloud for streamlined development

Flink search delivers a unified interface for querying vector databases, simplifying the data enrichment process

Built-in ML functions open the full potential of AI-driven analytics to non-data science specialists

BENGALURU, India–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT), the data streaming pioneer, announced new capabilities in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink® that streamline and simplify the process of developing real-time artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Flink Native Inference cuts through complex workflows by enabling teams to run any open source AI model directly in Confluent Cloud. Flink search unifies data access across multiple vector databases, streamlining discovery and retrieval within a single interface. And new built-in machine learning (ML) functions bring AI-driven use cases, such as forecasting and anomaly detection, directly into Flink SQL, making advanced data science effortless. Together these innovations redefine how businesses can harness AI for real-time customer engagement and decision-making.

“Building real-time AI applications has been too complex for too long, requiring a maze of tools and deep expertise just to get started,” said Shaun Clowes, Chief Product Officer at Confluent. “With the latest advancements in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink, we’re breaking down those barriers—bringing AI-powered streaming intelligence within reach of any team. What once required a patchwork of technologies can now be done seamlessly within our platform, with enterprise-level security and cost efficiencies baked in.”

The AI boom is here. According to McKinsey, 92% of companies plan to increase their AI investments over the next three years. Organizations want to seize this opportunity and capitalize on the promises of AI. However, the road to building real-time AI apps is complicated. Developers are juggling multiple tools, languages, and interfaces to incorporate ML models and pull valuable context from the many places that data lives. This fragmented workflow leads to costly inefficiencies, slowdowns in operations, and AI hallucinations that can damage reputations.

Simplify the Path to AI Success

“Confluent helps us accelerate copilot adoption for our customers, giving teams access to valuable real-time, organizational knowledge,” said Steffen Hoellinger, Co-founder and CEO at Airy. “Confluent’s data streaming platform with Flink AI Model Inference simplified our tech stack by enabling us to work directly with large language models (LLMs) and vector databases for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and schema intelligence, providing real-time context for smarter AI agents. As a result, our customers have achieved greater productivity and improved workflows across their enterprise operations.”

As the only serverless stream processing solution on the market that unifies real-time and batch processing, Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink empowers teams to effortlessly handle both continuous streams of data and batch workloads within a single platform. This eliminates the complexity and operational overhead of managing separate processing solutions. With these newly released AI, ML, and analytics features, it enables businesses to streamline more workflows and unlock greater efficiency. These features are available in an early access program, which is open for signup to Confluent Cloud customers.

  • Flink Native Inference: Run open source AI models in Confluent Cloud without added infrastructure management.

    When working with ML models and data pipelines, developers often use separate tools and languages, leading to complex and fragmented workflows and outdated data. Flink Native Inference simplifies this by enabling teams to run open source or fine-tuned AI models directly in Confluent Cloud. This approach offers greater flexibility and cost savings. Plus, the data never leaves the platform for inference, adding a greater level of security.
  • Flink search: Use just one interface to access data from multiple vector databases.

    Vector searches provide LLMs with the necessary context to prevent hallucinations and ensure trustworthy results. Flink search simplifies accessing real-time data from vector databases, such as MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and Pinecone. This eliminates the need for complex ETL processes or manual data consolidation, saving valuable time and resources, while ensuring that data is contextual and always up to date.
  • Built-in ML functions: Make data science skills accessible to more teams.

    Many data science solutions require highly specialized expertise, creating bottlenecks in the development cycles. Built-in ML functions simplify complex tasks, such as forecasting, anomaly detection, and real-time visualization, directly in Flink SQL. These features make real-time AI accessible to more developers, enabling teams to gain actionable insights faster and empowering businesses to make smarter decisions with greater speed and agility.

“The ability to integrate real-time, contextualized, and trustworthy data into AI and ML models will give companies a competitive edge with AI,” said Stewart Bond, Vice President, Data Intelligence and Integration Software at IDC. “Organizations need to unify data processing and AI workflows for accurate predictions and LLM responses. Flink provides a single interface to orchestrate inference and vector search for RAG, and having it available in a cloud-native and fully managed implementation will make real-time analytics and AI more accessible and applicable to the future of generative AI and agentic AI.”

Additional Confluent Cloud Features

Confluent also announced further advancements in Confluent Cloud, making it easier for teams to connect and access their real-time data, including Tableflow, Freight Clusters, Confluent for Visual Studio (VS) Code, and the Oracle XStream CDC Source Connector. Learn more about these new features in this blog post.

About Confluent

Confluent is the data streaming platform that is pioneering a fundamentally new category of data infrastructure that sets data in motion. Confluent’s cloud-native offering is the foundational platform for data in motion—designed to be the intelligent connective tissue enabling real-time data from multiple sources to constantly stream across an organization. With Confluent, organizations can meet the new business imperative of delivering rich, digital front-end customer experiences and transitioning to sophisticated, real-time, software-driven back-end operations. To learn more, please visit www.confluent.io.

As our road map may change in the future, the features referred to here may change, may not be delivered on time, or may not be delivered at all. This information is not a commitment to deliver any functionality, and customers should make their purchasing decisions based on features that are currently available.

Confluent® and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Confluent, Inc.

Apache®, Apache Kafka®, Kafka®, Apache Flink®, and Flink® are registered trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. No endorsement by the Apache Software Foundation is implied by the use of these marks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Natalie Mangan

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States India North America Asia Pacific California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Data Management Technology Professional Services Security Apps/Applications Data Analytics Software Artificial Intelligence Networks Internet Mobile/Wireless

MEDIA:

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UPDATE — NVIDIA, Alphabet and Google Collaborate on the Future of Agentic and Physical AI

Joint Initiatives Span Infrastructure and Open Model Optimizations, Offer Major Strides in Robotics, Drug Discovery and More

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GTC — Building on their longstanding partnership, NVIDIA, Alphabet and Google today announced new initiatives to advance AI, democratize access to AI tools, speed the development of physical AI and transform industries including healthcare, manufacturing and energy.

Engineers and researchers throughout Alphabet are working closely with technical teams at NVIDIA to use AI and simulation to develop robots with grasping skills, reimagine drug discovery, optimize energy grids and more. Employing the NVIDIA Omniverse™, NVIDIA Cosmos™ and NVIDIA Isaac™ platforms, teams from Google DeepMind, Isomorphic Labs, Intrinsic and X’s moonshot Tapestry will discuss milestones from their respective collaborations at the NVIDIA GTC global AI conference.

To power research and AI production efforts for its customers, Alphabet’s Google Cloud will be among the first to adopt the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 rack-scale solution and NVIDIA RTX PRO™ 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPU, also announced today at GTC.

NVIDIA will be the first industry partner to adopt SynthID, a Google DeepMind AI technology that embeds digital watermarks directly into AI-generated images, audio, text or video.

“I’m proud of our ongoing and deep partnership with NVIDIA, which spans the early days of Android and our cutting-edge AI collaborations across Alphabet,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “I’m really excited about the next phase of our partnership as we work together on agentic AI, robotics and bringing the benefits of AI to more people around the world.”

“Alphabet and NVIDIA have a longstanding partnership that extends from building AI infrastructure and software to advancing the use of AI in the largest industries,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “It’s a great joy to see Google and NVIDIA researchers and engineers collaborate to solve incredible challenges, from drug discovery to robotics.”

Developing Responsible AI and Open Models

Google DeepMind and NVIDIA are working to build trust in generative AI through content transparency.

NVIDIA will be the first external user of Google DeepMind’s SynthID, which embeds digital watermarks directly into AI-generated images, audio, text and video. SynthID helps preserve the integrity of outputs from NVIDIA Cosmos world foundation models, available on build.nvidia.com, helping to safeguard against misinformation and misattribution — all without compromising video quality.

Google DeepMind and NVIDIA also partnered to optimize Gemma, Google’s family of lightweight, open models, to run on NVIDIA GPUs. The recent launch of Gemma 3 marks a significant leap forward for open innovation.

NVIDIA has played a key role in making Gemma even more accessible for developers. Supercharged by the NVIDIA AI platform, Gemma is available as a highly optimized NVIDIA NIM™ microservice, harnessing the power of the open-source NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM library for exceptional inference performance.

In addition, this deep engineering collaboration will extend to optimizing Gemini-based workloads on NVIDIA accelerated computing via Vertex AI.

The Age of Intelligent Robots


Intrinsic is
an Alphabet company focused on making intelligently adaptive AI for robotics usable and valuable for manufacturers across industries. Today, the majority of the world’s installed industrial robots are manually programmed, with every movement hard-coded in a complex, expensive process.

Partnering with NVIDIA, the teams have built deeper and more intuitive developer workflows for Intrinsic Flowstate to support NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator foundation models for a universal robot grasping capability. Using foundation models for robotics will significantly reduce application development time and improve flexibility, with AI that can adapt effortlessly. At GTC, Intrinsic will also share an early OpenUSD framework streaming connection between Intrinsic Flowstate and NVIDIA Omniverse — enabling real-time visualization of robot workcells across platforms.

Concurrently, NVIDIA and Google DeepMind are announcing a collaboration with Disney Research to develop Newton, an open-source physics engine accelerated by the NVIDIA Warp framework that is compatible with MuJoCo. Powered by Newton, MuJoCo will accelerate robotics machine learning workloads by more than 70x compared with MuJoCo’s existing GPU-accelerated simulator, MJX.

Applying Innovation to Real-World Challenges


Isomorphic Labs
, founded by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, is reimagining drug discovery with AI. It has built a state-of-the-art drug design engine housed on Google Cloud with NVIDIA GPUs to enable the scale and performance needed to continue developing groundbreaking AI models that can help advance human health.


Tapestry
, X’s moonshot for the electric grid, is building AI-powered products for a greener and more reliable future grid. Tapestry and NVIDIA are exploring methods for increasing the speed and accuracy of electric grid simulations.

This joint effort will focus on the challenges of integrating new energy sources and expanding grid capacity to meet the growing demands of data centers and AI, while helping ensure grid stability. The companies will evaluate potential solutions, including using AI to optimize the interconnection process, with the goal of enhancing the planning and modernization of energy infrastructure for a more sustainable future.

The Next Generation of AI-Optimized Infrastructure

Building on its commitment to provide customers with the most advanced AI infrastructure, Google Cloud will be one of the first companies to offer the latest instances of NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs — NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition.

Built on the groundbreaking Blackwell architecture introduced a year ago, Blackwell Ultra includes the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 rack-scale solution and the NVIDIA HGX™ B300 NVL16 system. The GB300 NVL72 delivers 1.5x more AI performance than the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72, as well as increases Blackwell’s revenue opportunity by 50x for AI factories, compared with those built with NVIDIA Hopper™. NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell is the ultimate universal GPU for both AI and visual computing workloads across healthcare, manufacturing, retail, live broadcast and other industries.

With last month’s preview launches of its A4 and A4X virtual machines, Google Cloud became the first cloud provider to offer both NVIDIA B200- and GB200-based instances. Now, A4 is generally available — with A4X coming soon — so customers can take advantage of Blackwell’s powerful performance with the added benefits of Google Cloud’s AI Hypercomputer.


Google Cloud and NVIDIA
have worked together to optimize popular open-source frameworks like JAX, a popular Python library for machine learning, and MaxText to run efficiently on NVIDIA GPUs at scale. MaxText, an advanced framework for scaling large models across massive GPU clusters, uses optimizations codeveloped with NVIDIA to enable efficient training on tens of thousands of GPUs.

GTC attendees interested in learning more about Alphabet and NVIDIA’s work can visit the Google Cloud booth 914.

About Alphabet Inc.

Alphabet is a collection of companies, the largest of which is Google. Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998 and the company is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. Billions of people use its wide range of popular products and platforms each day, like Search, Ads, Chrome, Cloud, YouTube and Android.

About NVIDIA


NVIDIA
(NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in accelerated computing.

For further information, contact:

Cliff Edwards
NVIDIA Corporation
+1-415-699-2755
[email protected]


[email protected]

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, impact, availability, and performance of NVIDIA’s products, services, and technologies; and the collaboration between NVIDIA and Alphabet and the benefits and impact thereof are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners’ products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2025 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, NVIDIA Cosmos, NVIDIA HGX, NVIDIA Hopper, NVIDIA Isaac, NVIDIA Omniverse, and NVIDIA RTX PRO are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/611ce8d4-bb5c-47ff-85d5-591363b25467



INVESTIGATION ALERT: Edelson Lechtzin LLP Announces Investigation of Hesai Group (NASDAQ: HSAI) and Urges Investors with Substantial Losses to Contact the Firm

PR Newswire


NEWTOWN, Pa.
, March 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Edelson Lechtzin LLP is investigating potential violations of the federal securities laws involving Hesai Group (NASDAQ: HSAI) resulting from allegations of providing potentially misleading business information to the investing public.

If you have information that could assist in the Hesai Group Investigation or if you are a Hesai Group investor who suffered a loss and would like to learn more, you can provide your information

HERE

.

You can also contact attorney Eric Lechtzin of Edelson Lechtzin LLP by calling 844-563-5550 ext. 1 or by e-mail at

[email protected]

.

THE COMPANY: Hesai Group calls itself global leader in three-dimensional light detection and ranging (lidar) solutions.

THE ALLEGED WRONGDOING
: On March 18, 2025, Blue Orca Capital issued a report announcing that it has a short position in Hesai Group. The rationale for Blue Orca’s short position is that Hesai is a “Nasdaq-listed Chinese scam actively lying to investors, the Department of Defense, and a United States federal court.” Blue Orca believes that Hesai is falsely attempting to escape its designation as a “Chinese military company” by claiming that it has no involvement with the Chinese military.

Blue Orca claims to have found “clear smoking-gun photographic and video evidence that Chinese military vehicles are outfitted with Hesai LiDAR systems.” Moreover, Blue Orca contends that Hesai’s financial disclosures are false and misleading, stating, “It claims revenues that, in our opinion, do not appear to be consistent with the purchasing volumes of its largest customer. It claims industry leading margins which defy the laws of financial physics.”

While Hesai claims that its business has finally turned the corner to sustained profitability, it has failed to disclose to investors that it lost its largest customer and has laid off up to 30% of its employees. In sum, Blue Orca’s opinion is that Hesai is “completely untrustworthy as a business and uninvestable as a stock.”

Hesai Group stock declined 10% on this news.

ABOUT EDELSON LECHTZIN LLP: Edelson Lechtzin LLP is a national class action law firm with offices in Pennsylvania and California. In addition to cases involving securities and investment fraud, our lawyers focus on class and collective litigation in cases alleging violations of the federal antitrust laws, employee benefit plans under ERISA, wage theft and unpaid overtime, consumer fraud, and catastrophic injuries.

For more information, please contact:

Eric Lechtzin, Esq.

EDELSON LECHTZIN LLP
411 S. State Street, Suite N-300
Newtown, PA 18940
Phone: 844-696-7492 ext. 1
Email: [email protected]
Web:  www.edelson-law.com 

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions. No class has been certified in this case, so counsel does not represent you unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing now. Your ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

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SOURCE Edelson Lechtzin LLP

Better Home & Finance Holding Company Announces 2024 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

Better Home & Finance Holding Company Announces 2024 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

  • Betsy AI Loan Agent doing over 115k customer interactions per month, potential to drive $2,000 in sales labor savings per fund
  • Approximately 40% of Loan Files receiving Tinman AI underwriting review, potential to drive $1,400 in fulfillment savings per fund
  • 2024 Funded Loan Volume of $3.6 billion, up 19% year-over-year, with D2C Loan Volume of $2.6 billion up 55% year-over-year, and Revenue of $108 million up 50% year-over-year
  • Q4’24 Funded Loan Volume of $936 million, up 77% year-over-year driven by growth across all three main product categories, with HELOC and home equity loans growing 416% year-over-year
  • Q4’24 Funded Loan Volume down 10% quarter-over-quarter given normal seasonal decline in purchase market compared to Q3’24
  • Making early progress in the first quarter of 2025 towards diversifying Better’s distribution channels and increasing topline revenue by leveraging Tinman to power local loan officers through ‘NEO Powered by Better’
  • Increased penetration of Betsy™, the first voice-based AI loan assistant for the US Mortgage Industry, to enhance customer experience, improve loan-team efficiency, and further accelerate our end-to-end technology platform Tinman
  • Expect 2025 Funded Loan Volume to increase compared with 2024 given continued growth initiatives including ‘NEO Powered by Better’
  • Remain focused on managing towards profitability in the midterm. Expect to drive growth through technology efficiency, diversified distribution channels, and optimized marketing, while balancing growth expenses with corporate cost reductions

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Better Home & Finance Holding Company (NASDAQ: BETR; BETRW) (“Better” or the “Company”), a New York-based digitally native homeownership company, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year 2024.

“We are pleased with the growth we achieved in 2024 through a challenged environment and the early traction our AI and ‘NEO Powered by Better’ initiatives are seeing. Our team delivered growth and continued improvements towards profitability despite another year of continued macro headwinds,” said Vishal Garg, CEO and Founder of Better.

Full Year 2024 Financial Highlights:

GAAP Results:

  • Revenue of $108 million, compared to $72 million in 2023
  • Net loss of $206 million, compared to a loss of $536 million in 2023

Key Operating Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

  • Adjusted EBITDA loss of $121 million, compared to a loss of $163 million in 2023
  • Funded Loan Volume of approximately $3.6 billion, compared to $3.0 billion in 2023
  • Approximately 11,800 Total Loans, compared to approximately 8,600 in 2023
  • Purchase loan volume of $2.7 billion comprised approximately 74% of Funded Loan Volume; HELOC loan volume (which includes home equity lines of credit and closed-end second lien loans) of $479 million comprised approximately 13% of Funded Loan Volume; and refinance loan volume of $463 million comprised the remainder of Funded Loan Volume
  • D2C loan volume of $2.6 billion, an increase of 55% year-over-year, comprised approximately 71% of Funded Loan Volume, with B2B comprising the remainder

Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights:

GAAP Results:

  • Revenue of $25 million, compared to $18 million in Q4’23 and $29 million in Q3’24
  • Net loss of $59 million, compared to a loss of $51 million in Q4’23 and a loss of $54 million in Q3’24

Key Operating Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

  • Adjusted EBITDA loss of $28 million, compared to a loss of $27 million in Q4’23 and a loss of $39 million in Q3’24
  • Funded Loan Volume of $936 million, compared to $531 million in Q4’23 and $1.0 billion in Q3’24
  • Approximately 3,300 Total Loans, compared to 1,600 in Q4’23 and 3,400 in Q3’24
  • Purchase loan volume of $591 million comprised 63% of Funded Loan Volume; HELOC loan volume (which includes home equity lines of credit and closed-end second lien loans) of $172 million comprised 18% of Funded Loan Volume; and refinance loan volume of $174 million comprised the remainder of Funded Loan Volume
  • D2C loan volume of $757 million, an increase of 191% year-over-year and decrease of 2% quarter-over-quarter, comprised 81% of Funded Loan Volume, with B2B comprising the remainder

“We believe we are moving in the right direction from a profitability perspective, with the improvements in Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of 2024. Looking forward, while we remain hopeful for an improved rate environment, there remains a great deal of uncertainty, and our operational plan includes limited rate relief in 2025. As such, we remain focused on driving operating leverage through continued investments in efficiency, corporate cost management, and diversifying our distribution channels.” said Kevin Ryan, CFO of Better.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights:

  • In Q4’24, year-over-year Funded Loan Volume growth was driven by increases in all three main product categories, purchase (25% growth), refinance (611% growth) and home equity products (416% growth, including HELOCs and closed-end second lien loans) versus Q4’23.
  • On a quarter-over-quarter sequential basis, Funded Loan Volume from refinance and home equity products grew in Q4’24, however, due to the seasonal slowness of the fourth quarter and continued market volatility, this growth was offset by declines in purchase Funded Loan Volume as well as reduced volume from the Ally business winding down.
  • Total Expenses remained approximately flat quarter-over-quarter sequentially, however, included in Q4’24 Total Expenses were approximately $17 million of non-recurring restructuring expenses attributed primarily to the wind-down of our U.K. businesses, as well as approximately $4 million associated with the termination of certain facility leases. Excluding these restructuring expenses, Total Expenses decreased approximately 24%.
  • As a result of expense management initiatives in all major categories (i.e. Compensation and benefits, General and administrative, Technology, Marketing and advertising, Loan origination expense, and Depreciation and amortization), quarter-over-quarter Adjusted EBITDA losses were reduced by approximately $11 million or 28% sequentially compared to Q3’24 even with lower revenue due to a seasonally slower quarter.
  • We continue to see increased productivity resulting from AI program investments, including further expansion of Betsy™, which leverages AI and large language models to take a customer through pre-approval, rate quote, and rate lock autonomously. Betsy™ is programmed to verbally communicate with customers to answer mortgage application inquiries and to collect and verify outstanding application data.
  • We are making early progress toward the goal of diversifying Better’s offering, and leveraging Tinman™ to power local loan officers through ‘NEO Powered by Better’:

    • Onboarded approximately 110 NEO loan officers across 53 branches
    • Since beginning production in January 2025, ‘NEO Powered by Better’ has served a total of approximately 220 families equating to approximately $95 million of Funded Loan Volume
    • For loans funded to-date, average Gain on Sale Margin for ‘NEO powered by Better’ loans of approximately 365 bps, compared to Better’s Gain on Sale margin of 217 bps in 2024
    • Seeing traction in proving out Tinman’s efficiency in the distributed retail channel by providing leading technology to local loan officers to remove friction from their fulfillment process and expand their capacity to serve more customers
    • Leveraging Better’s AI technology and digital lead funnel to empower NEO’s Loan Officer teams, who have demonstrated track records in customer service excellence and strong reputations within the communities they serve
    • Continue to see a unique opportunity to expand our distribution capabilities and unlock key parts of the market that have historically been challenging for direct-to-consumer digital originators without established local footprints to serve (i.e. Purchase, FHA, VA, Downpayment Assistance Programs, Buydown programs)
  • We are undergoing efforts to exit non-core U.K. assets while continuing to focus on growing the Bank of Birmingham. We are in active disposition on three smaller U.K. businesses, and expect Adjusted EBITDA loss to improve starting in the second half of 2025 as a result of these dispositions.

For more information, please see the detailed financial data and other information available in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and the investor presentation on the investor relations section of the Company’s website at https://investors.better.com.

Webcast

Better will host a live webcast of its earnings conference call beginning at 8:30am ET on March 19, 2024. To access the webcast and the related presentation, or to register to listen to the call by phone, go to the investor relations section of the Company’s website at investors.better.com or click the “Attendee Registration Link” below. Please join the webcast at least 10 minutes prior to start time. A replay will be available on the investor relations website shortly after the call ends.

* Webcast Details *

Event Title: Better Home & Finance Holding Company 2024 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

Event Date: March 19, 2025 08:30 AM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Attendee Registration Link:

https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/885679637

About Better Home & Finance Holding Company

Since 2016, Better Home & Finance Holding Company (NASDAQ: BETR; BETRW) has leveraged its industry-leading AI platform, Tinman™, to fund more than $100 billion in mortgage volume. Tinman™ allows customers to see their rate options in seconds, get pre-approved in minutes, lock in rates, and close their loan in as little as three weeks. In addition, Betsy™, the first voice-based AI loan assistant built exclusively for the mortgage industry, is revolutionizing the homebuying journey by delivering timely application status updates to consumers, as well as answering questions and helping move their loan application along 24/7. Better’s mortgage offerings include GSE-conforming mortgage loans, FHA and VA loans, and jumbo mortgage loans. Better launched its “One Day Mortgage” program in January 2023, which allows eligible customers to go from click to Commitment Letter within 24 hours. Better was named Best Online Mortgage Lender by Forbes and Best Mortgage Lender for Affordability by WSJ in 2023, ranked #1 on LinkedIn’s Top Startups List for 2021 and 2020, #1 on Fortune’s Best Small and Medium Workplaces in New York, #15 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 2020 list, and was listed on Forbes FinTech 50 for 2020. Better serves customers in all 50 US states and the United Kingdom.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than those of historical fact, and include predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this communication. These risks and uncertainties include: our ability to operate under and maintain or improve our business model; the effect of interest rates on our business, results of operations, and financial condition; our ability to expand our customer base, grow market share in our existing markets and enter into new markets; our ability to respond to general economic conditions, particularly elevated interest rates and lower home sales and refinancing activity; our ability to restore our growth and our expectations regarding the development and long-term expansion of our business; our ability to comply with laws and regulations related to the operation of our business, including any changes to such laws and regulations; our ability to achieve and maintain profitability in the future; our ability and requirements to raise additional financing in the future; our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital and additional financing requirements; our ability to maintain, expand and be successful in our strategic relationships with third parties; our ability to remediate existing material weaknesses and implement and maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting; our ability to develop new products, features and functionality that meet market needs and achieve market acceptance; our ability to retain, identify and hire individuals for the roles we seek to fill and staff our operations appropriately; the involvement of our CEO in litigation related to prior business activities, our business activities and associated negative media coverage; our ability to recruit and retain additional directors, members of senior management and other team members, including our ability in general, and our CEO’s ability in particular, to maintain an experienced executive team; our ability to successfully manage our international and banking operations our ability to maintain and improve morale and workplace culture and respond effectively to the effects of negative media coverage; and our ability to maintain, protect, assert and enhance our intellectual property rights. More information on these risks and other potential factors that could affect the Company’s business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition, and stock price can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available, free of charge, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov . New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for Better to predict these events or how they may affect us. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, and Better undertakes no obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, changes in expectations, future events or otherwise.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA, NON-GAAP MEASURES AND DEFINITIONS

Following are tables that present selected financial data of the Company. Also included are reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP measures and definitions of certain key metrics used herein.

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, Quarter Ended December 31, Quarter Ended September 30,
(Amounts in $ thousands)

2024

2023

2024

2023

2024

Revenues:
Gain on loans, net

78,098

58,796

16,714

8,018

21,503

Other revenue

12,888

16,109

4,120

2,445

3,070

Net interest income
Interest income

38,990

29,031

11,090

11,025

9,867

Interest expense

(21,488)

(31,596)

(6,943)

(3,815)

(5,446)

Net interest income/(loss)

17,502

(2,565)

4,147

7,210

4,421

Total net revenues

108,488

72,340

24,981

17,673

28,994

Expenses:
Compensation and benefits

141,089

181,735

30,010

25,298

37,752

General and administrative

52,230

60,150

10,417

17,632

12,611

Technology

26,110

39,431

6,821

7,473

7,249

Marketing and advertising

33,984

19,523

8,798

3,599

12,101

Loan origination expense

9,864

9,476

2,722

(970)

3,774

Depreciation and amortization

33,227

42,891

7,904

10,100

8,259

Other expenses/(Income)

17,424

253,556

17,154

5,946

1,332

Total Expenses

313,928

606,762

83,826

69,077

83,078

 
Loss before income tax (benefit)/expense

(205,440)

(534,422)

(58,845)

(51,404)

(54,084)

 
Income tax expense (benefit)

850

1,998

378

(533)

126

 
Net loss

(206,290)

(536,420)

(59,223)

(50,872)

(54,210)

Use of Non-GAAP Measures and Other Financial Metrics

We include certain financial measures not presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and other key metrics.

We calculate Adjusted Net Income (Loss) as net income (loss) adjusted for the impact of stock-based compensation expense, change in the fair value of warrants, change in the fair value of bifurcated derivative, and other non-core operational expenses. We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted for the impact of stock-based compensation expense, change in the fair value of warrants, change in the fair value of bifurcated derivative, and other non-recurring or non-core operational expenses, as well as interest and amortization on non-funding debt (which includes interest on the Convertible Note (as defined in our Form 10-K)), depreciation and amortization expense, and income tax expense. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation and are not intended to be a substitute for any GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures provide supplemental information that we believe helps investors better understand our business, our business model and how we analyze our performance. We also believe these non-GAAP financial measures improve investors’ and analysts’ ability to compare our results with those of our competitors and other similarly situated companies, which commonly disclose similar performance measures.

However, our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) may not be comparable to similarly titled performance measures presented by other companies. Further, although we use these non-GAAP measures to assess the financial performance of our business, these measures exclude certain substantial costs related to our business, and investors are cautioned not to use such measures as a substitute for financial results prepared according to GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in their usefulness to investors because they have no standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and are not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. As a result, non- GAAP financial measures should be viewed as supplementing, and not as an alternative or substitute for, our financial results prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Metrics

(Amounts in $ thousands) Year Ended December 31, Quarter Ended December 31,

Quarter Ended September 30,

Adjusted Net Loss

2024

2023

2024

2023

2024

Net (loss) income

(206,290)

(536,420)

(59,223)

(50,872)

(54,210)

Stock-based compensation expense

26,753

54,160

4,547

5,694

5,487

Change in fair value of warrants and equity related liabilities

(924)

507

3

1,368

(206)

Change in fair value of convertible preferred stock warrants

(266)

Change in fair value of bifurcated derivative

236,603

Restructuring, impairment, and other expenses

17,659

17,459

16,711

5,956

43

Adjusted Net Loss

(162,802)

(227,957)

(37,962)

(37,853)

(48,886)

 
 
Year Ended December 31, Quarter Ended December 31,

Quarter Ended September 30,

Adjusted EBITDA

2024

2023

2024

2023

2024

Net (loss) income

(206,290)

(536,420)

(59,223)

(50,872)

(54,210)

Income tax expense / (benefit)

850

1,998

378

(533)

126

Depreciation and amortization expense

33,227

42,891

7,904

10,100

8,259

Stock-based compensation expense

26,753

54,160

4,547

5,694

5,487

Interest and amortization on non-funding debt

7,722

19,916

1,759

1,679

1,631

Restructuring, impairment, and other expenses

17,659

17,459

16,711

5,956

43

Change in fair value of warrants and equity related liabilities

(924)

507

3

1,368

(206)

Change in fair value of convertible preferred stock warrants

(266)

Change in fair value of bifurcated derivative

236,603

Adjusted EBITDA

(121,003)

(163,152)

(27,921)

(26,607)

(38,870)

Key Metrics

This press release refers to the following key metrics:

Funded Loan Volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of all loans funded in a given period based on the principal amount of the loan at funding. Purchase Loan Volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of purchase loans funded in a given period based on the principal amount of the loan. Refinance Loan Volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of refinance loans funded in a given period based on the principal amount of the loan. D2C Loan Volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of loans funded in a given period based on the principal amount of the loan at funding that have been generated from direct interactions with customers using all marketing channels other than our B2B partner relationships. HELOC loan volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of HELOC loans funded in a given period based on the principal amount of the loan at funding. B2B Loan Volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of loans funded in a given period based on the principal amount of the loan at funding that have been generated through one of our B2B partner relationships. Total Loans represents the total number of loans funded in a given period, including purchase loans, refinance loans and HELOC loans.

For Investor Relations Inquiries please email [email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America New York

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Professional Services Other Professional Services Other Construction & Property Residential Building & Real Estate Finance Construction & Property Banking

MEDIA:

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Celanese Announces Early Results and Upsize of Tender Offers for 4.777% Senior Notes due 2026 and 6.415% Senior Notes due 2027

PR Newswire


DALLAS
, March 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) (“Celanese”), a global chemical and specialty materials company, today announced the early results of offers by its direct wholly-owned subsidiary Celanese US Holdings LLC (the “Company”) to purchase for cash any validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted notes in an aggregate principal amount equal to (i) €552,082,000 of 4.777% Senior Notes due 2026 (the “EUR Notes”) and (ii) $500,000,000 of 6.415% Senior Notes due 2027 (the “USD Notes,” and together with the EUR Notes, the “Notes”) (such amounts represent an increase in size from the previously announced Series Cap as further described herein) as described in the table below (the “Tender Offers”).

Additionally, the Company is amending the Tender Offers to increase each Series Cap (as defined below), so as to accept for purchase (i) up to €552,082,000 aggregate principal amount of EUR Notes, which is an amount sufficient to accept all EUR Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to the Early Tender Time, and (ii) up to $500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of USD Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn as of the Early Tender Time (such amounts, the “Series Caps”). 

The Tender Offers have been made upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated March 5, 2025, as amended and supplemented by this press release (as so amended and supplemented and as it may be further amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Offer to Purchase”). Capitalized terms not defined in this announcement have the meanings given to them in the Offer to Purchase.

According to information provided by D.F. King, the Information and Tender Agent for the Tender Offers, €552,082,000 aggregate principal amount of the EUR Notes and $1,354,646,000 aggregate principal amount of the USD Notes were validly tendered prior to or at the Early Tender Time and not validly withdrawn.

The following table indicates, among other things, the principal amount of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn as of the Early Tender Time:


Title of
Security(a)


ISIN / CUSIP


Outstanding
Principal
Amount


Series Cap(c)


Principal Amount
Tendered as of
Early Tender Time


Principal Amount
Expected to be
Accepted as of Early
Tender Time


Proration Factor

4.777% Senior Notes
due 2026

XS2497520705

€1,000,000,000

€552,082,000

€552,082,000

€552,082,000

N/A

6.415% Senior Notes
due 2027(b)

US15089QAM69 /
15089QAM6

$2,000,000,000

$500,000,000

$1,354,646,000

$500,000,000

36.40%(d)

(a)

The Notes are guaranteed on a senior basis by Celanese and by each of the Company’s current and future domestic subsidiaries that guarantee the Company’s obligations under its senior credit facilities. As of the next interest payment date, the interest rate payable on the EUR Notes will be 5.277% and the interest rate payable on the USD Notes will be 6.665%.

(b)

As of the date of the Offer to Purchase, the interest rate payable on the USD Notes has increased by 0.250% from the original stated coupon of 6.165%.

(c)

The Tender Offers are subject to a Series Cap equal to €552,082,000 aggregate principal amount of the EUR Notes and $500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of the USD Notes, subject to the terms and conditions described in the Offer to Purchase. The Series Cap represents the maximum aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes that will be purchased. 

(d)

The USD Notes will be purchased on a pro rata basis up to the Series Cap in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference to the “Proration Factor” referenced in the table above.  The Proration Factor is rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percentage point.

Since the Tender Offers were fully subscribed as of the Early Tender Time, the Company does not expect to accept for purchase any Notes validly tendered after the Early Tender Time.

Except for the increase in the Series Caps with respect to the Notes as described in this press release, the terms and conditions of the Tender Offers set forth in the Offer to Purchase remain unchanged.

The Total Consideration for each €1,000 or $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offers will be determined in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference to the sum of the applicable fixed spread for the Notes specified on the front cover of the Offer to Purchase and the applicable Reference Yield based on (i) for the EUR Notes, the Interpolated Mid-Swap Rate and (ii) for the USD Notes, the bid side price of the Reference Security specified on the front cover of the Offer to Purchase, in each case, as calculated by the Lead Dealer Managers at 10:00 a.m., New York City time (which, for the avoidance of doubt, is 2:00 p.m.London time, due to daylight savings time), on March 19, 2025 (the “Price Determination Time”), in accordance with standard market practice. The Total Consideration includes the Early Tender Premium. The Company expects to announce the pricing of the Tender Offers and the amount of Notes accepted for purchase, subject to the applicable Series Cap, promptly following the Price Determination Time.

The Company expects to pay for the Notes that were validly tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Time and that are accepted for purchase on March 21, 2025 (such date, the “Early Settlement Date”).

The Tender Offers are subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, as set forth in the Offer to Purchase. The Financing Condition for the Tender Offers as described in the Offer to Purchase has been satisfied.  

The Offeror has retained J.P. Morgan Securities plc as Lead Dealer Manager for the EUR Notes and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as Lead Dealer Manager for the USD Notes, and BofA Securities and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. as Co-Dealer Managers for the Tender Offers (collectively, the “Dealer Managers”). The Offeror has retained D.F. King as the Information and Tender Agent for the Tender Offers.

For additional information regarding terms and conditions of the Tender Offers please contact: J.P. Morgan Securities plc at +44 20 7134 2468 (collect) or J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at +1 (866) 834-4666 (toll-free) or +1 (212) 834-3554 (collect). Requests for documents and questions regarding tendering of securities may be directed to D.F. King at +1 (212) 269-5550 (for banks and brokers only) or +1 (800) 207-3159 (for all others, toll-free) in New York, or +44 (0) 207 920 9700, in London, by email at [email protected] or to J.P. Morgan Securities plc or J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at their respective telephone numbers. Copies of the Offer to Purchase and other documents relating to the Tender Offers may also be obtained at https://clients.dfkingltd.com/CE.    

General

This announcement is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes. The Tender Offers are made only by the Offer to Purchase, and the information in this announcement is qualified by reference to the Offer to Purchase. There is no separate letter of transmittal in connection with the Offer to Purchase. None of the Company, Celanese, the Celanese Board of Directors, the Dealer Managers, the Tender Agent and Information Agent or the trustees with respect to any Notes is making any recommendation as to whether holders should tender any Notes in response to the Tender Offers, and neither Company nor any such other person has authorized any person to make any such recommendation. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their Notes, and, if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender.

Non-U.S. Distribution Restrictions


United Kingdom
.  The communication of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offers is not being made by and such documents and/or materials have not been approved by an “authorised person” for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the “FSMA”).  Accordingly, such documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom.  The communication of such documents and/or materials is exempt from the restriction on financial promotions under section 21(1) of the FSMA on the basis that it is only directed at and may only be communicated to:  (1) persons who are outside of the United Kingdom; (2) investment professionals falling within the definition contained in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”); (3) those persons who are existing members or creditors of the Company or other persons falling within Article 43(2) of the Order; or (4) any other persons to whom such documents and/or materials may lawfully be communicated in accordance with the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”).  This announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offers are only available to relevant persons.  Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.


Italy
.  None of the Tender Offers, this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offers have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (“CONSOB”) pursuant to applicable Italian laws and regulations.  The Tender Offers are being carried out in the Republic of Italy (“Italy“) as exempted offers pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended (the “Financial Services Act”) and article 35-bis, paragraph 4 of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May 1999, as amended.  Holders or beneficial owners of the Notes that are resident or located in Italy can tender their Notes for purchase through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of 15 February 2018, as amended, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, as amended) and in compliance with any other applicable laws and regulations and with any requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority.  Each intermediary must comply with applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-à-vis its clients in connection with the Notes or the Offer to Purchase.


France
.  The Tender Offers are not being made, directly or indirectly, in the Republic of France (other than to qualified investors as described below).  This announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other document or material relating to the Tender Offers have only been, and shall only be, distributed in the Republic of France to qualified investors as defined in Article 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the “Prospectus Regulation”).  None of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase nor any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offers have been or will be submitted for clearance to the Autorité des marchés financiers.


Belgium
.  None of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase nor any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offers have been, or will be, submitted or notified to, or approved or recognized by, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (“Autorité des services et marchés financiers”/”Autoriteit voor Financiële Diensten en Markten”).  The Tender Offers are not being made in Belgium by way of a public offering within the meaning of Articles 3, §1, 1° and 6, §1 of the Belgian Law of 1 April 2007 on public takeover bids (“loi relative aux offres publiques d’acquisition”/ “wet op de openbare overnamebiedingen”), as amended or replaced from time to time.  Accordingly, the Tender Offers may not be, and are not being, advertised and the Tender Offers will not be extended and this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offers (including any memorandum, information circular, brochure or any similar documents) may not, have not, and will not, be distributed or made available, directly or indirectly, to any person in Belgium other than to “qualified investors” (“investisseur qualifié”/”gekwalificeerde belegger”) within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation acting on their own account.  Insofar as Belgium is concerned, the Tender Offers are made only to qualified investors, as this term is defined above.  Accordingly, the information contained in this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or in any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offers may not be used for any other purpose or disclosed or distributed to any other person in Belgium.

Legal Notices

None of the Dealer Managers (nor any of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents or affiliates) has any role in relation to any part of the Tender Offers made to Holders that are not Relevant Holders, where “Relevant Holders” means:

(i)  a Holder of EUR Notes that is:

(a)  if resident or located in a member state of the European Union (the “EU”), an “eligible counterparty” or a “professional client”, each as defined in Directive No. 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments (as amended from time to time);

(b)  if resident or located in the UK, an “eligible counterparty”, as defined in the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook, or a “professional client” as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No. 600/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018; or

(c)  if resident or located in a jurisdiction outside of the EU and the UK, an institutional holder under applicable local law and not a retail holder; or

(ii)  a Holder of the USD Notes.

This announcement is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or purchase, a solicitation of an offer to purchase or a solicitation of consents with respect to any securities.  There will there be no sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

This announcement does not describe all the material terms of the Tender Offers and no decision should be made by any Holder on the basis of this announcement.  The terms and conditions of the Tender Offers are described in the Offer to Purchase.  This announcement must be read in conjunction with the Offer to Purchase.  The Offer to Purchase contains important information which should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Tender Offers.  If any Holder is in any doubt as to the contents of this announcement, or the Offer to Purchase, or the action it should take, it is recommended that the Holder seek its own financial and legal advice, including in respect of any tax consequences, immediately from its stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial, tax or legal adviser.  Any individual or company whose Notes are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee must contact such entity if it wishes to tender such Notes pursuant to the Tender Offers.

None of the Company, the Dealer Managers or their affiliates, their respective boards of directors, the Information and Tender Agent, the trustee with respect to the USD Notes or any of their respective affiliates makes any recommendation, or has expressed an opinion, as to whether or not Holders should tender their Notes, or refrain from doing so, pursuant to the Tender Offers.  Each Holder should make its own decision as to whether to tender its Notes and if so, the principal amount of the Notes to tender.

The Company has not filed this announcement or the Offer to Purchase with, and they have not been reviewed by, any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country.  No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Tender Offers, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary.

The Offer to Purchase does not constitute an offer to purchase Notes in any jurisdiction in which, or to or from any person to or from whom, it is unlawful to make such offer under applicable securities or blue sky laws.  The distribution of the Offer to Purchase in certain jurisdictions is restricted by law.  Persons into whose possession the Offer to Purchase comes are required by each of the Company, the Dealer Managers, the Information and Tender Agent to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions.


About Celanese


Celanese
Corporation is a global leader in chemistry, producing specialty material solutions used across most major industries and consumer applications. Our businesses use our chemistry, technology and commercial expertise to create value for our customers, employees and shareholders. We support sustainability by responsibly managing the materials we create and growing our portfolio of sustainable products to meet customer and societal demand. We strive to make a positive impact in our communities and to foster inclusivity across our teams. Celanese Corporation employs more than 11,000 employees worldwide with 2024 net sales of $10.3 billion.


Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement may contain “forward-looking statements,” which include information concerning the expected timing of the Tender Offers, our ability to complete the Tender Offers, other terms of the Tender Offers and the other conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, and other information that is not historical information. All forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. There can be no assurance that Company will realize these expectations or that these beliefs will prove correct. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. Numerous other factors, many of which are beyond Celanese’s control, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed as forward-looking statements. Other risk factors include those that are discussed in Celanese’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and neither the Company nor Celanese undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances.

Celanese Contacts:

Investor Relations


Bill Cunningham

Phone: +1 302 772 5231
[email protected] 

Media – U.S.

Jamaison Schuler

Phone: +1 972 443 4400
[email protected] 

Media – Europe
Petra Czugler
Phone: +49 69 45009 1206
[email protected] 

 

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SOURCE Celanese Corporation

iQIYI hosts Glittering Night to drive high-quality development in mini and short drama industry

PR Newswire


BEIJING
, March 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — On Mar. 14, iQIYI, China’s leading online entertainment platform, convened the country’s most comprehensive gathering of mini and short drama professionals at its inaugural Glittering Night ceremony in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, where industry leaders collectively endorsed the sector’s critical transition from quantity-driven output to premium content creation.

The dual-format occasion combined executive forums addressing content standardization with evening celebrations honoring premium productions like short- and mini-drama of the year, and revealed new strategic programs to elevate production values through 2025. With over 70 distinguished actors and more than 400 creators in attendance, the event presented 34 competitive honors while charting industry-wide quality benchmarks.

During his remarks at the forum, iQIYI Founder and CEO Yu GONG reiterated that iQIYI will continue to enhance the aesthetics and value of mini and short drama content, making full use of artificial intelligence and virtual production technology to improve the quality of short-form content produced. “Building a content ecosystem consisting of both long and short-form content is iQIYI’s firm development strategy. No matter the length, we hope that viewers will be able to find content they like on iQIYI,” Gong stated.

Strategic ecosystem development for premium productions

As part of its integrated long-form and short-form content strategy, iQIYI has structured its mini/short drama ecosystem through two standardized formats: the vertical-screen “Mini-Drama Theater” (1-5 minutes/episode) and the horizontal “Short-Drama Theater” (5-20 minutes/episode).

Previously, the industry norm heavily favored spending large budgets on advertising and marketing rather than quality content. However, the transition to high-quality content production is essential for the industry’s advancement. With its massive user base, expert production capabilities, mature membership model, and friendly revenue-sharing rules, iQIYI is well positioned to raise the standard for development of the mini and short drama industry under a clear strategy of creating a content ecosystem that includes both long and short-form.

iQIYI Senior Vice President Haitao YANG detailed the platform’s strategy for making premium short-form content by establishing an open content ecosystem and encouraging more creators to work together to create a diverse range of mini and short dramas through various models of cooperation. iQIYI has also further refined user segmentation through the different positioning of the iQIYI main app and iQIYI Lite app.

The strategic framework has already manifested in iQIYI’s latest production pipeline, with the forum serving as a launchpad for 47 new titles. The upcoming mini drama lineup spans multiple genres such as fantasy, costume, and comedy, incorporating youthful, internet culture-infused content. The short drama lineup includes sequels to popular IP series such as “Original Sin” and “A Ming Dynasty Mystery” among numerous other premium titles.

Additionally, iQIYI announced a new plan for cooperation based on its existing “Thousand Mini-Dramas Initiative” and “Hundred Short-Dramas Initiative.” The new project — the “Hundred Hong Kong Mini-Dramas Initiative” — is jointly launched by iQIYI and two partners, and will solicit IP adaptations and productions from upstream partners to recreate the craze for classic Hong Kong films.

Moreover, with the rollout of greater high-quality content, iQIYI aims to boost traffic of premium mini and short dramas through efficient content marketing, opening up greater commercialization opportunities and improving advertising monetization.

Honors to recognize premium content and creators

At the Glittering Night 2025 ceremony in the evening, several dramas, stars, and creative teams were recognized for their exceptional works. In the short drama category, 30 dramas and 42 actors and creators received 16 different honors, with dramas including “First Marriage” and “Blind Woman” receiving outstanding short drama, “Original Sin” receiving most popular short drama, and “The Great Nobody” receiving short drama of the year. Actors including Muchen LI, Jiayi WU, and Zhixin FAN received short drama star of the year.

In the mini drama category, 12 dramas and 47 actors and creators received 18 different honors, with dramas including “Deng Feng Tai” (translates as “Ascending the Phoenix Platform”) and “Palace of Schemes” receiving outstanding mini drama, and “The Emperor’s Dominance” receiving mini drama of the year. Actors including Yizhen XU and Xi ZHONG received mini drama star of the year.

CONTACT: iQIYI Press, [email protected]

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SOURCE iQIYI

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. Announces Pricing of Upsized Public Offering of Common Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. Announces Pricing of Upsized Public Offering of Common Stock

PRINCETON, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT; the “Company”) announced today the pricing of an upsized underwritten public offering of 8,200,000 shares of its common stock, all of which are being offered in connection with the forward sale agreements described below. The aggregate gross proceeds to the Company from the offering, before deducting estimated offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $254.2 million. The offering is expected to close on March 20, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

Wells Fargo Securities and BofA Securities are acting as the underwriters for the offering.

In connection with the offering, the Company entered into forward sale agreements with Wells Fargo Securities and BofA Securities (or affiliates thereof) (the “forward purchasers”), with respect to 8,200,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.

The underwriters have been granted a 30-day option, exercisable in whole or in part from time to time, to purchase up to an additional 1,230,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. If the option to purchase additional shares of the Company’s common stock is exercised, the Company expects to enter into one or more additional forward sale agreements with the forward purchasers in respect of the number of shares of the Company’s common stock that are subject to exercise of the option to purchase additional shares.

In connection with the forward sale agreements and any additional forward sale agreements, the forward purchasers (or their affiliates) are expected to borrow from third parties and sell to the underwriters an aggregate of 8,200,000 shares of the Company’s common stock (or an aggregate of 9,430,000 shares of the Company’s common stock if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares is exercised in full). However, a forward purchaser (or its affiliate) is not required to borrow and sell such shares if, after using commercially reasonable efforts, such forward purchaser (or its affiliate) is unable to borrow such shares, or if borrowing costs exceed a specified threshold or if certain specified conditions have not been satisfied. If a forward purchaser (or its affiliate) does not deliver and sell all of the shares of the Company’s common stock to be sold by it to the underwriters, the Company will issue and sell to the underwriters a number of shares of its common stock equal to the number of shares that such forward purchaser (or its affiliate) did not deliver and sell, and the number of shares underlying the relevant forward sale agreement or such additional forward sale agreement will be decreased by the number of shares that the Company issues and sells.

Pursuant to the terms of the forward sale agreements and any additional forward sale agreements, and subject to its right to elect cash or net share settlement, the Company intends to issue and sell, upon physical settlement of the forward sale agreements and any additional forward sale agreements, an aggregate of 8,200,000 shares of common stock (or an aggregate of up to 9,430,000 shares of common stock if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares is exercised in full) to the forward purchasers. The Company expects to physically settle the forward sale agreements and any additional forward sale agreements within approximately 18 months from the date of the prospectus supplement relating to the offering.

The Company will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of its common stock by the forward purchasers (or affiliates thereof). The Company intends to contribute any net proceeds from the settlement of the forward sale agreements to the Company’s operating partnership in exchange for OP Units, and the operating partnership intends to use such net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including potential future investments.

All of the shares of common stock are being offered pursuant to the Company’s effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering will be filed with the SEC. When available, a copy of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from Wells Fargo Securities, 90 South 7th Street, 5th Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55402, at 800-645-3751 (option #5) or email a request to [email protected]; or BofA Securities, NC1-022-02-25, 201 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attn: Prospectus Department, Email: [email protected]; or by visiting the EDGAR database on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. When used in this press release, the words “expect” and “will,” or the negative of these words, or similar words or phrases that are predictions of or indicate future events and that do not relate solely to historical matters, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions regarding strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and you should not rely on them as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise. The Company does not guarantee that the transactions and events described will happen as described (or that they will happen at all). You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. While forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s good faith beliefs, they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release might not occur as described, or at all.

Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. Copies of each filing may be obtained from the Company or the SEC. Such forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as reflections of the Company’s current plans and estimates. Actual results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in this press release.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc.

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. is an internally managed REIT that acquires, owns and manages primarily single-tenant properties that are net leased on a long-term basis to companies operating service-oriented or experience-based businesses. As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s portfolio consisted of 2,104 freestanding net lease properties with a weighted average lease term of 14.0 years and a weighted average rent coverage ratio of 3.5x. In addition, as of December 31, 2024, the Company’s portfolio was 99.7% leased to 413 tenants operating 592 different concepts in 16 industries across 49 states.

Source: Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc.

Investor/Media:

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc.

Robert W. Salisbury, CFA

Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Finance and Strategy

609-436-0619

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America New Jersey

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: REIT Finance Professional Services Commercial Building & Real Estate Construction & Property

MEDIA:

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Integer Holdings Corporation Enhances Capitalization Structure with the Closing of $1.0 Billion Convertible Senior Notes Offering

~ Strategic transaction to create revolver capacity ~

~ Immediately accretive to 2025 adjusted earnings on meaningfully lower interest expense ~

PLANO, Texas, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Integer Holdings Corporation (the “Company”) (NYSE: ITGR), a leading medical device contract development and manufacturing organization, announces the closing of its offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 1.875% convertible senior notes due 2030 (the “Notes”). In response to strong investor demand at attractive terms, the Company upsized the initial offering of $750 million aggregate principal amount of the Notes to $875 million and the initial purchasers fully exercised their option to purchase an additional $125 million aggregate principal amount of the Notes.

“This transaction creates revolver capacity to enable us to continue executing our strategy while reducing our interest costs by meaningfully increasing the percentage of our debt at substantially lower interest rates,” said Joe Dziedzic, president and CEO. “We believe the strong demand from investors for this convertible bond offering demonstrates investors’ confidence in Integer’s strategy and financial strength.”

“This transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to 2025 adjusted earnings from lower interest expense of approximately $12 million, based on today’s outstanding debt and current interest rates,” said Diron Smith, executive vice president and CFO. “We accomplished our strategic objective of enhancing our capitalization structure by creating revolver capacity to continue our tuck-in acquisition strategy. We remain committed to our targeted leverage range of 2.5 to 3.5 times adjusted EBITDA. In addition, the structure of the Notes and the associated capped calls also protect investors by mitigating potential dilution in the future.”

The Company estimates that the aggregate net proceeds from this offering will be $976.1 million after deducting the initial purchasers’ discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. The net proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay costs associated with capped call transactions related to the Notes, exchange a portion of the Company’s outstanding 2.125% convertible senior notes due 2028 (the “Existing Convertible Notes”), and to fully repay outstanding borrowings and accrued interest under the Company’s revolving credit facility. The Company intends to use the remainder of the net proceeds to repay outstanding borrowings and accrued interest under the Company’s “term A” loan.

Upon conversion, the principal amount of the Notes will be paid in cash. As a result of the related capped call transactions, dilution upon a conversion of the Notes will be mitigated by the increased effective conversion price of the Notes to $189.44, a premium of 60% over the closing sale price of the Company’s common stock of $118.40 per share on March 13, 2025. The Company will have the option to further minimize dilution in the future by electing to deliver the value of any conversion obligation owed in excess of the principal amount of the Notes in cash, or a combination of cash and shares.

About Integer®

Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE: ITGR) is one of the largest medical device contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMO) in the world, serving the cardiac rhythm management, neuromodulation, and cardio and vascular markets. As a strategic partner of choice to medical device companies and OEMs, the Company is committed to enhancing the lives of patients worldwide by providing innovative, high-quality products and solutions. The Company’s brands include Greatbatch Medical® and Lake Region Medical®

Investor Relations:

Kristen Stewart
551.337.3973
[email protected]

Media Relations:

Kelly Butler
469.731.6617
[email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this press release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, and these statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected impact of the offering on 2025 adjusted earnings, relating to the offering, the use of net proceeds from the offering, the capped call transactions, and the note exchange transactions.

You can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “assume,” “potential” or “continue” or variations or the negative counterparts of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and are no guarantee of future performance, and investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as predictive of future results. Actual events or results may differ materially from those stated or implied by these forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements and the Company’s prospects, you should carefully consider the factors set forth below. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary factors. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise the forward-looking statements made in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

While it is not possible to create a comprehensive list of all factors that may cause actual results to differ from results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or that may affect the Company’s future results, some of these factors and other risks and uncertainties that arise from time to time are described in Item 1A “Risk Factors” of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and in its other periodic filings with the SEC and include the following:

  • operational risks, such as the Company’s dependence upon a limited number of customers; pricing pressures and contractual pricing restraints the Company faces from customers; its reliance on third-party suppliers for raw materials, key products and subcomponents; interruptions in its manufacturing operations; its ability to attract, train and retain a sufficient number of qualified associates to maintain and grow its business; the potential for harm to its reputation and competitive advantage caused by quality problems related to its products; its dependence upon its information technology systems and its ability to prevent cyber-attacks and other failures; global climate change and the emphasis on environmental, social and governance matters by various stakeholders; its dependence upon its senior management team and key technical personnel; and consolidation in the healthcare industry resulting in greater competition;
  • strategic risks, such as the intense competition the Company faces and its ability to successfully market its products; its ability to respond to changes in technology; its ability to develop new products and expand into new geographic and product markets; and its ability to successfully identify, make and integrate acquisitions to expand and develop its business in accordance with expectations;
  • financial and indebtedness risks, such as the Company’s ability to accurately forecast future performance based on operating results that often fluctuate; its significant amount of outstanding indebtedness and its ability to remain in compliance with financial and other covenants under the credit agreement governing its senior secured credit facilities;
  • economic and credit market uncertainties that could interrupt the Company’s access to capital markets, borrowings or financial transactions; the conditional conversion feature of the Existing Convertible Notes or the Notes adversely impacting its liquidity; the conversion of the Existing Convertible Notes or the Notes diluting ownership interests of existing holders of the Company’s common stock; the counterparty risk associated with the capped call transactions and the existing option transactions entered into in connection with the Existing Convertible Notes; the financial and market risks related to its international operations and sales; its complex international tax profile; and its ability to realize the full value of its intangible assets;
  • legal and compliance risks, such as regulatory issues resulting from product complaints, recalls or regulatory audits; the potential of becoming subject to product liability or intellectual property claims; the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and proprietary rights; its ability to comply with customer-driven policies and third-party standards or certification requirements; its ability to obtain and/or retain necessary licenses from third parties for new technologies; its ability and the cost to comply with environmental regulations; legal and regulatory risks from its international operations; the fact that the healthcare industry is highly regulated and subject to various regulatory changes; and its business being indirectly subject to healthcare industry cost containment measures that could result in reduced sales of its products.



Fujitsu and FICO Partner to Accelerate Digital Transformation in Financial Services

Fujitsu and FICO Partner to Accelerate Digital Transformation in Financial Services

Financial services firms in Japan to gain enhanced decisioning and risk management capabilities through FICO solutions

KAWASAKI, Japan & BOZEMAN, Mont.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–FUJITSU (TSE:6702) & FICO (NYSE: FICO):

Highlights:

  • Fujitsu and FICO partner to expand FICO® Platform’s Omni-Channel Engagement Capabilities in Japan from July 2025, with future regional growth
  • Partnership to enhance financial services with advanced analytics, fraud prevention, and smarter decisioning
  • Fujitsu will provide end-to-end support, from consulting to system implementation, while FICO delivers technical expertise to meet Japan’s evolving financial needs.

Fujitsu Limited and FICO, a global analytics software leader, today announced they have entered into a partnership to expand FICO’s solutions to Japan, with plans to extend into other financial markets. Under the partnership, Fujitsu will provide FICO® Platform’s Omni-Channel Engagement Capabilities to Japanese financial institutions from July 2025, while also broadening the solution lineup and exploring opportunities for further regional expansion to support the financial industry’s digital transformation.

FICO’s technologies, including predictive analytics, fraud prevention and decision management, offer high-levels of accuracy, reliability and predictive power and are utilized by hundreds of leading companies around the world. By leveraging Fujitsu’s knowledge of the financial sector, technological capabilities, and customer base to accelerate the expansion of FICO’s services in Japan, the two companies will enable financial institutions to provide enhanced support to users and ensure the stability of the financial system.

Through this partnership, Fujitsu will support FICO services from consulting to full system implementation, with FICO providing technical expertise. The expansion of FICO’s services in Japan is expected to meet the increasing need for flexibility amid an aging population and evolving workstyles.

Masaru Yagi, Corporate Executive Officer, EVP, Fujitsu Limited comments:

“This partnership between Fujitsu and FICO is a critical step in broadening digital transformation support for financial institutions. By combining Fujitsu’s technological know-how with FICO’s highly rated range of data analytics solutions, we will offer a new level of advanced services to the financial institutions of Japan. In the future we will broaden the range of solutions and expand to other regions so that we can provide robust support for digital transformation in the financial sector.”

Alexandre Graff, Vice President, Global Partners & Alliances, FICO comments:

“Fujitsu’s deep industry expertise, trusted customer relationships and robust integration capabilities, combined with FICO’s advanced decisioning and analytics, create a powerful force for innovation in financial services. We’re excited about the opportunities this collaboration unlocks — enabling banks, card issuers and other FSIs in Japan to modernize customer engagement, enhance risk management, and accelerate growth. Together, we are delivering a future of smarter, more connected banking and payments.”

More information: https://www.fico.com/en/fico-platform

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu’s purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in over 100 countries, our 124,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: Computing, Networks, AI, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.7 trillion yen (US$26 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: www.fujitsu.com.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, insurance, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 80 countries do everything from protecting 4 billion payment cards from fraud, to improving financial inclusion, to increasing supply chain resiliency. The FICO® Score, used by 90% of top US lenders, is the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the US and has been made available in over 40 other countries, improving risk management, credit access and transparency.

Learn more at https://www.fico.com

Join the conversation at https://x.com/FICO_corp & https://www.fico.com/blogs/

For FICO news and media resources, visit https://www.fico.com/newsroom

FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

Press Contacts

Fujitsu Limited

Public and Investor Relations Division

Inquiries

FICO

RICE Communications for FICO

[email protected]

Saxon Shirley

FICO

+65 9171 0965

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States Japan North America Asia Pacific Montana

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Software Data Analytics Finance Artificial Intelligence Professional Services Technology Fintech Security

MEDIA: