30 C
Vientiane
Sunday, May 4, 2025
spot_img
Home Blog Page 670

Allianz Partners Announces Dominic Gantner as Managing Director for Greater Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Allianz Partners, a world leader in insurance and assistance services, has announced the appointment of Dominic Gantner as Managing Director for Greater Southeast Asia (GSEA), effective March 1, 2025. Dominic will succeed Steve Watkins, who will retire after more than 20 years of distinguished service with the company.

Dominic Gantner, Managing Director, Allianz Partners Greater Southeast Asia
Dominic Gantner, Managing Director, Allianz Partners Greater Southeast Asia

In his new role, Dominic will lead Allianz Partners’ operations across GSEA, which includes key markets such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. He will report to Vinay Surana, Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

Vinay Surana, Regional Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dominic Gantner as Managing Director for Greater Southeast Asia. Dominic brings extensive leadership experience and a proven track record of driving growth and innovation across diverse markets. I would also like to thank Steve for his long service and outstanding contribution to our business, culture, and colleagues in the region. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavors.”

Since joining Allianz Partners in 2019, Dominic has held key leadership positions, including Chief Sales Officer and Managing Director for Southeast Europe. He helped to transform this region from a traditional travel insurance operation into a multi-line business, delivering consistent growth across 12 markets, including Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Croatia.

Dominic brings extensive experience in expanding different business segments including Mobile Device and Digital Risk, Roadside Assistance, and Mobility businesses, particularly in collaboration with brokers, banks, and Allianz Operating Entities. Before joining Allianz Partners, he held leadership positions across the insurance and finance sector in Germany, the UK, and Austria. He holds a Master of Business Administration.

Dominic Gantner, Managing Director for Greater Southeast Asia, said: “I am honored to step into this role and continue Steve Watkins’ outstanding work in the region. My focus will be on building sustainable growth, fostering collaboration across markets, and delivering innovative solutions to meet the needs of our partners and customers.”

About Allianz Partners

Allianz Partners is a world leader in B2B2C insurance and assistance, offering global solutions that span international health and life, travel insurance, mobility and assistance. Customer driven, our innovative experts are redefining insurance services by delivering future-ready, high-tech high-touch products and solutions that go beyond traditional insurance. Our products are embedded seamlessly into our partners’ businesses, sold through intermediary channels or directly to customers through the Allianz brand. Present in over 75 countries, our 21,900 employees speak 70 languages, handle over 72.5 million cases each year, and are motivated to go the extra mile to offer peace of mind to our customers around the world. 

For more information, please visit: www.allianz-partners.com

Social media

Follow us on X @AllianzPartners
Follow us on LinkedIn Allianz Partners
Follow us on Youtube /allianzpartners
Follow us on Instagram @allianzpartners

Marketplace Shake-Up: Amazon Thrives, Catch Closes, Chinese Platforms to Stall

Pattern Releases 2025 Australian Marketplace Consumer Report

MELBOURNE, Australia , Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Australia’s marketplace sector is rapidly transforming, with Amazon strengthening its dominance, Wesfarmers closing Catch, and doubts growing around Temu and Shein, according to new research from ecommerce and marketplace accelerator, Pattern.

Amazon stock
Amazon stock

The findings, published in Pattern’s ‘2025 Marketplace Consumer Report, reveal that marketplaces are now an indispensable part of the online shopping ecosystem, with 94% of Australians purchasing from one in the past 12 months.

“Amazon’s increasing prominence in product discovery, its substantial Prime membership base, and the upcoming launch of the price-competitive platform called ‘Haul’ have solidified its position as Australia’s leading marketplace,” explains Merline McGregor, Managing Director for Pattern Australia. “Meanwhile, Catch has closed, Kogan and MyDeal are growing —although from smaller customer bases than the market’s frontrunners—and early enthusiasm for low-cost Chinese marketplaces appears to have peaked as they struggle to meet shopper expectations.”

Chinese marketplace growth to stall

New research indicates that high-profile Chinese marketplaces Temu and Shein risk losing shoppers in 2025. Although these platforms have rapidly captured market share, only 12% of consumers trust Temu for its product quality, leading to a predicted 7% drop in shoppers. Shein faces similar challenges, with trust levels at just 11%.

“Many Australians trialled Temu and Shein over the last eighteen months due to aggressive pricing and large marketing campaigns. Yet early adopters have found these marketplaces unreliable. Although they may still expand in the future, Temu and Shein face a significant challenge in legitimising themselves within the Australian market and delivering on the customer experience,” observed McGregor.

Alarmingly for the Chinese marketplaces, only 43% of shoppers would consider buying from Temu in 2025, and even this may hinge on improvements in quality and delivery. For Shein, expanding into categories like home and beauty is yet to offset concerns about its core offerings.

Amazon extends its lead

Amazon has cemented its position as Australia’s leading marketplace. The platform attracted 1.1 million new Australian users in 2024, bringing its total to 7.9 million shoppers, accounting for 10% of the country’s total online shopping spend1.

The outlook for Amazon is incredibly strong with a significant 63% of Australians planning to shop on the platform in 2025. Its appeal is particularly strong among younger shoppers (71% of those aged 18-24) and high-income households earning over $200,000 annually (78%).

“Amazon’s focus on fast delivery, quality products, and a seamless shopping experience sets it apart,” said McGregor. “While Chinese platforms have disrupted the market, Amazon’s trusted reputation and ability to adapt—such as the launch of its low-cost ‘Haul’ storefront—ensure it stays ahead.”

Consumers discover new products on marketplaces today 

Australian shoppers are also changing how they research and discover new products online, with traditional search giant, Google, experiencing a 7% decline in people using the platform for new product discovery.

At the same time, the share of consumers who begin their product research on Amazon has risen by 27% year on year, highlighting the platform’s growing impact on purchase decisions.

In 2024, 63% of shoppers bought a product that they had never purchased from Amazon before and 38% visited a brand’s website after discovering it on the platform.

“Online marketplaces play a pivotal role in how shoppers discover and evaluate new products,” said McGregor. “Their extensive variety, combined with transparent customer feedback empowers consumers to explore unfamiliar brands with greater confidence.”

What products will consumers buy from which marketplace in 2025?

Pattern’s research asked consumers what they were likely to buy in 2025 and through which marketplace, with the results indicating:

  • Amazon’s key shopper categories are Books & eBooks (37%), Electronics & Computer (24%) and Home & Kitchen (24%).
  • eBay is competitive across a range of categories, including Electronics & Computer (20%), Books & eBooks (17%) and Clothing, Shoes & Accessories (16%).
  • Temu attracts shoppers with Clothing, Shoes & Accessories (20%), Home & Kitchen (14%).
  • Shein maintains its appeal in Clothing, Shoes & Accessories (19%), while its expansion beyond fashion drives growth in categories like Skincare & Make-up (7%) and Home & Kitchen (6%).
  • Kogan remains strong in Electronics & Computer (11%) and Home & Kitchen (8%).
  • My Deal gains consumer interest for Home & Kitchen (5%) and Clothing, Shoes & Accessories (5%).

“Marketplaces in Australia are set for strong growth in 2025, driven by the strong consumer pull toward convenience, competitive pricing, and rapid delivery. With 94% of Australians already shopping on these platforms, brands can’t afford to sit on the sideline. They must be present where consumers shop. To attract new customers and succeed in a competitive online shopping environment, brands need a dedicated marketplace strategy and to collaborate with specialists like Pattern to maximise their impact,” concluded McGregor.

For more information and to download the full report please click here: ‘2025 Marketplace Consumer Report

About Pattern Inc

Pattern is the category leader in global ecommerce and marketplace acceleration. It is the number one reseller on Amazon globally, selling over $3 billion of product each year into 60 countries. Since 2013, Pattern has profitably grown to over 2,000 employees operating from 24 global locations – including Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast – to help leading brands achieve accelerated growth on D2C websites and global ecommerce marketplaces. Pattern is also present on Tmall, JD.com, eBay and other ecommerce marketplaces. We act as the authorised Amazon seller to more than 300 brands globally, buying their stock to sell on the marketplace and taking care of every aspect of their Amazon presence. For more information, visit https://au.pattern.com/

1 Roy Morgan. (August 2024). SHEIN and Temu Continue to Grow Strongly.

 

Lorikeet Secures $9 Million in Additional Funding as Market Demand Surges for its AI Customer Support Agents

New funding to be used to expand Lorikeet’s platform and market presence, helping more companies across complex and regulated industries use AI agents to offer human quality support at scale 

SYDNEY, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — AI customer experience pioneer Lorikeet today announces it has raised an additional AUD $9 million in funding from Blackbird and its existing investors Square Peg and Skip Capital, fueled by breakout growth in 2024 across key financial centers in Australia, Asia, and the US and just four months after announcing its USD $5 million seed round fundraise last year.

Since launching in October 2024, Lorikeet has increased bookings by 3.5 times, and added several unicorns and public companies in the US and Australia as customers and pilot partners, including market leaders such as Eucalyptus in healthcare, Step in banking, and MagicEden in Cryptocurrency. The new funding will be used to further enhance Lorikeet’s intelligent graph technology, expand the company’s enterprise capabilities, and accelerate go-to-market initiatives across key industries including healthcare, financial services, technology, and more.

Customer experience as we know it is broken. Support teams are scattered across time zones, struggling with sky-high turnover rates while customers wait hours or days for help. Basic AI chatbots have failed to fix the problem – they’re too rigid to handle anything beyond simple FAQ responses. Even highly funded Silicon Valley darling startups have failed to ship products that can reliably handle complex support cases. Lorikeet is changing that with an AI platform that doesn’t just match human agents, but can also uniquely handle complex support queries involving confidential patient information, movement of digital currencies, and more.

“We’re not satisfied with using AI to simply summarize FAQs, or implementing architectures passed on by OpenAI,” said Steve Hind, Lorikeet’s co-founder and CEO. “Our intelligent graph architecture is purpose-built ground up to enable AI agents to reliably handle complex workflows  in highly regulated industries that were previously impossible for AI to handle.”

The company’s proprietary intelligent graph technology orchestrates sophisticated workflows for tasks ranging from secure credit card replacements to effective triage of medical issues and cryptocurrency transaction verification. Lorikeet’s AI agents are distinctive in their ability to deliver high quality interactions on complex, multi-conditional customer problems, engage on highly sensitive or regulated topics, while knowing what they don’t know, so that they can avoid giving incorrect answers.

Eucalyptus, a global telehealth player, increased customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) by 10 points while doubling support volume in a year without growing the team. Magic Eden, a top NFT Hub who was facing surges in support volume due to the cryptocurrency bull market and increased interest and usage of their mobile app, adopted Lorikeet to handle the volume while seeing CSAT increase to 75%, up from 45% with their previous AI agent provider. Breeze, APAC-based fintech, was able to independently resolve 40% of their complex support volume with Lorikeet within 30 days, including questions about KYC reviews, transaction statuses and declines.

Global Growth From Down Under

“The Australian technology ecosystem continues to produce world-class innovations in artificial intelligence, and Lorikeet stands out as a prime example,” said Tom Humphrey, Partner at Blackbird. “The team’s product approach to solving complex customer support challenges through advanced AI workflows is differentiated. Support is perhaps the highest impact and lowest hanging fruit opportunity for enterprise adoption of AI, and the market scale is absolutely enormous.”

Lorikeet has seen strong traction globally, with special momentum in the U.S. across healthcare providers, financial institutions, and technology companies. The company has plans to aggressively expand into the United States, while also growing its local team in Sydney.

“What sets Lorikeet apart is our fundamental understanding that effective customer support requires more than just conversational AI,” said Jamie Hall, Co-founder and CTO of Lorikeet. “Our intelligent graph technology is unique in its ability to both solve complex customer inquiries and know what it doesn’t know to avoid giving incorrect answers or engaging on highly sensitive or regulated topics.”

For more information about Lorikeet’s AI-powered customer support platform, visit www.lorikeetcx.ai.

About Lorikeet

Lorikeet is revolutionizing customer experience with the most powerful AI support platform on the market. Through its pioneering intelligent graph technology, Lorikeet enables enterprises to deliver consistent, high-quality customer support at scale. Founded in Sydney, Australia, Lorikeet serves global customers across healthcare, financial services, technology, and other industries where complex, secure customer interactions are mission-critical. Learn more at www.lorikeetcx.ai.

match.asia Redefines the M&A Process with Launch of AI Agent, match NAVI

SINGAPORE, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — match.asia, Southeast Asia’s premier M&A platform, has launched match NAVI, its proprietary AI Agent that leverages cutting-edge technology to automate key aspects of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process. With a curated marketplace model and a success-fee-only structure, match.asia is revolutionizing how M&A is conducted across the region, currently connecting over 250 sellers with a global network of 1,000+ investors.

Initially, match NAVI addresses two major challenges in the M&A process: investor outreach and marketing material preparation.

“Our mission is to connect every seller and adviser on our platform with the best global buyers for their business,” said Patrick Linden, Co-Founder of match.asia. “With match NAVI, what used to take weeks—manually researching, identifying, and reaching out to a curated investor list—can now be accomplished in a fraction of the time, ensuring greater speed and precision.”

The platform also utilizes AI to create high-quality M&A marketing materials, such as teasers and investment memorandums. “By leveraging advanced AI automation, we’ve significantly enhanced efficiency and quality, saving time and reducing costs while delivering better outcomes,” added Marcus Yeung, Co-Founder of match.asia.

These innovations solidify match.asia’s position as an industry leader, committed to making the M&A process better, more efficient, and accessible to a wider range of sellers, advisers, and investors.

For more information, visit www.match.asia.

About match.asia
match.asia is an AI-driven M&A platform that connects sellers, advisers, and buyers of Southeast Asian companies. By combining advanced AI with a marketplace model, match.asia simplifies and accelerates the M&A process, making it more cost-effective, efficient, and successful for all parties involved.

Databricks Acquires BladeBridge Technology and Talent to Accelerate Data Warehouse Migrations

Together, Databricks and the BladeBridge team will support enterprise migrations to Databricks SQL, which has surpassed a $600 million revenue run rate

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Databricks, the Data and AI company, today announced that it has welcomed the team behind BladeBridge, a leading provider of AI-powered enterprise data warehouse migration solutions, to Databricks. Together, Databricks and BladeBridge will help organizations streamline the code assessment and conversion process vital to data warehouse migrations to Databricks SQL from Snowflake, Teradata and other sources with a proven, LLM-driven approach. Ultimately, this enhanced migration process will help customers quickly and seamlessly transition to the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.

Organizations are increasingly looking to modernize their siloed, legacy data warehouses to Databricks SQL, Databricks’ intelligent data warehouse. This shift allows them to capitalize on Databricks SQL’s industry-leading price-performance, efficiency and AI innovations. Powered by AI, Databricks SQL auto-optimizes workloads to improve efficiency and performance and delivers intelligent experiences that help anyone gain insights from their data, with no SQL or technical expertise required. In the past year, Databricks SQL revenue grew more than 150%, surpassing $600 million run rate.

BladeBridge + Databricks
BladeBridge has become one of the most advanced and popular automation solutions for migrating from existing data warehouses, including Snowflake, Redshift, and Teradata, to Databricks SQL. Now, organizations migrating to Databricks will gain access to BladeBridge’s proven AI-driven solution to automate code analysis and conversion across more than 20 enterprise data warehouses and ETL tools, significantly reducing manual effort and ensuring consistent, high-quality code output. This transaction supports Databricks’ strategy to help enterprises quickly achieve data intelligence across their entire data estate.

A key technology partner to system integrators like Accenture, Capgemini, Celebal Tech, Ness Digital and Tredence, BladeBridge provides customers with clear insight into the scope of conversion, LLM-powered code refactoring, and easy validation of migrated systems. To date, BladeBridge has successfully supported hundreds of customers in their Databricks SQL migration journeys.

“Databricks SQL is the fastest-growing data warehouse on the market. Over ten thousand organizations have chosen Databricks SQL thanks to its price performance and AI innovations. As more and more companies choose Databricks as the foundation for an open, flexible data architecture, we want to make it easier than ever to move from legacy data warehouses to the Data Intelligence Platform,” said Ali Ghodsi, Co-founder and CEO of Databricks. “By joining forces with the BladeBridge team, we can help every organization accelerate their move to Databricks with significantly lower migration cost and effort.”

“At BladeBridge, we set out to solve frustrating challenges for companies looking to modernize their data stack, and today we’ve helped hundreds of organizations successfully migrate to cloud data platforms,” said Simon Eligulashvili, Co-founder and Executive Vice President of BladeBridge. “We are thrilled to join the Databricks team to continue our mission — to help companies reach their data modernization goals — faster and at a far greater scale.”

“As a trusted data engineering specialist, we understand that meeting customers’ aggressive project timelines is a key success metric,” said Ranjit Tinaikar, CEO at Ness Digital. “Over the years, we have built a strong partnership with BladeBridge, collaborating on over a hundred enterprise data warehouse migrations. We look forward to deepening this relationship with Databricks as a strategic partner and delivering many more successful projects in the future.”

This announcement follows Databricks’ recent $15 billion financing, which values the data intelligence leader at $62 billion. The company expects to cross $3 billion revenue run rate and be free cash flow positive in the fourth quarter ending January 31, 2025.

About Databricks
Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 10,000 organizations worldwide — including Block, Comcast, Condé Nast, Rivian, Shell and over 60% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform to take control of their data and put it to work with AI. Databricks is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe and was founded by the original creators of Lakehouse, Apache Spark™, Delta Lake and MLflow. To learn more, follow Databricks on X, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact: Press@databricks.com

ReTo Announces Receipt of Nasdaq Delisting Determination and Plan to Appeal

BEIJING, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: RETO) (“ReTo” or the “Company”), a manufacturer of equipment for production of eco-friendly materials in China, today announced that the Company received a delisting determination notice from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) on January 29, 2025, notifying the Company that given its Class A shares, par value US$0.10 per share (the “Class A Shares”), had a closing bid price at less than $1 over the previous 30 consecutive business days, the Company is not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement as set forth in Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). Further, because the Company is not eligible for any compliance period since the Company has effected a reverse stock split over the prior one-year period, pursuant to Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A)(iv), the Class A Shares will be scheduled for delisting from Nasdaq at the opening of business on February 7, 2025, unless the Company requests an appeal of such determination to a hearings panel (the “Panel”).

The Company intends to timely request a hearing before the Panel. The request will stay the suspension of the Company’s securities and the delisting process pending the Panel’s decision. While the appeal is pending, the Class A Shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbols “RETO.” There can be no assurance that the Panel will grant the Company an extension period or that the Company will ultimately regain compliance with all applicable requirements for continued listing on Nasdaq.

About ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc.

Founded in 1999, ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc., through its operating subsidiaries in China, is engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sales of equipment used for production of eco-friendly construction materials. The Company provides consultation, design, implementation and installation of its equipment and   related parts, as well as engineering support and  technical advice and services. For more information, please visit: http://en.retoeco.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. These statements include, among others, statements regarding the Company’s plans to regain compliance with the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement. The Company’s actual results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and uncertainties. The reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission discuss these and other important factors and risks that may affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial conditions. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

For more information, please contact:

ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc.
Tel: +86-10-64827328
Email: ir@retoeco.com or 310@reit.cc

Neutrogena® Introduces Tate McRae as Global Brand Ambassador

On the Heels of its 10th Anniversary, the Brand’s Iconic Hydro Boost Collection Is
Revealing a Juicy, Fresh Take

SKILLMAN, N.J., Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Kenvue Inc. (NYSE: KVUE) announces global sensation Tate McRae as the newest face of Neutrogena®. This announcement marks the debut campaign under Neutrogena’s bold new positioning, ‘Beauty to a Science,’ which exemplifies the brand’s 90-year history of developing advanced clinical science while designing incredible product experiences.

 

Global Brand Ambassador, Tate McRae and Global Innovation Partner, Dr. Muneeb Shah start in latest Neutrogena® Hydro Boost Water Gel Campaign

Neutrogena’s new campaign highlights products from its award-winning Hydro Boost range, including the Water Gel. This commemorates Hydro Boost’s 10th anniversary as one of the brand’s top-selling facial moisturizers, which jumpstarted the hyaluronic acid ingredient category. On average, a jar of Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel is sold every two seconds worldwide1.

At just 21 years old, McRae has captivated audiences as a chart-topping artist and dancer.  Now, as she prepares to release her third album, So Close to What, and hit the road for a world tour, the campaign shares her must-have secret to juicy skin: Neutrogena Hydro Boost.

“I’m thrilled to partner with Neutrogena – a brand I’ve trusted since I was young. What I love about this campaign is how real it feels. We’ve all been there—those moments where your brain just won’t stop spiraling, and the last thing you need is the overthinking messing up your skin,” said McRae, Neutrogena® Global Brand Ambassador. “That’s why I’m obsessed with Hydro Boost. It keeps my skin hydrated and is the perfect reminder that skincare doesn’t have to be complicated to work.”

Neutrogena engages best-in-class scientists and partners with leading dermatologists to develop breakthrough solutions that both advance clinical efficacy and provide incredible product experience. In the upcoming campaign, McRae stars alongside Neutrogena® Global Innovation Partner, Dr. Muneeb Shah, to highlight how stress and overthinking can affect skin.

“By featuring Tate and her infectious energy, alongside Dr. Shah, whose expertise helped to make him the most followed dermatologist on social media, we’re bridging the gap between beauty and science, creating a powerful message for the next generation,” said Andrew Stanleick, Kenvue’s President of Skin Health & Beauty in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “With Neutrogena Hydro Boost, we’re redefining hydration and showing how skincare can empower you to feel your best every day.”

As a Neutrogena® Global Ambassador, McRae will be featured in marketing initiatives across multiple platforms, including TV, social, digital, point of sale, and will also integrate the brand into her own future projects. The campaign emphasizes Hydro Boost’s ability to enhance skincare routines with a weightless formula that magnifies the power of hyaluronic acid for juicy, deeply hydrated skin.

About Kenvue
Kenvue Inc. is the world’s largest pure-play consumer health company by revenue. Built on more than a century of heritage, our iconic brands, including Aveeno®, BAND-AID® Brand, Johnson’s®, Listerine®, Neutrogena® and Tylenol®, are science-backed and recommended by healthcare professionals around the world. At Kenvue, we realize the extraordinary power of everyday care. Our teams work every day to put that power in consumers’ hands and earn a place in their hearts and homes. Learn more at www.kenvue.com.

About Neutrogena®
For over 90 years, Neutrogena® has been developing breakthrough skincare solutions that both advance clinical efficacy and provide incredible product experience. From science-led innovation to accessible education, we are driven by a mission to democratize skin health & beauty. Our products address skin needs across ages, skin types and tones. Neutrogena® is a brand of Kenvue Brands LLC, a subsidiary of Kenvue Inc.

About Tate McRae:
Singer, songwriter, and dancer triple threat Tate McRae has garnered over 12.6 billion career streams and multiple #1 Top 40 hits. Her versatility as a performer has captivated audiences around the world. Whether she’s delivering a powerful vocal performance or executing high-energy choreography, Tate brings a unique blend of artistry and authenticity to every stage. Her highly anticipated third album So Close To What is releasing February 21st.

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding Neutrogena’s introduction of Tate McRae as Global Brand Ambassador. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “plans,” “expects,” “will,” “anticipates,” “estimates” and other words of similar meaning. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Kenvue and its affiliates.

A list and descriptions of risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Kenvue’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings, available at www.kenvue.com or on request from Kenvue. Kenvue and its affiliates undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise.

1 *Based on global unit sales data for L52W ending Oct 2024

Media Contact: 
Jenni Évora 
Communications Lead, Neutrogena
jevora@kenvue.com 

New Global Brand Ambassador is the face of latest Neutrogena® Hydro Boost Water Gel campaign.
New Global Brand Ambassador is the face of latest Neutrogena® Hydro Boost Water Gel campaign.

 

 

SunCar Technology Group Announces Follow-On Public Offering

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — SunCar Technology Group Inc. (“SunCar”) (Nasdaq: SDA), an innovative leader in cloud-based B2B auto services and auto e-insurance in China, today announced a firm commitment underwritten follow-on public offering of an aggregate of up to $50 million of Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Ordinary Shares”). In connection with the offering, SunCar intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an aggregate of up to $7.5 million additional Class A Ordinary Shares at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The net proceeds from this offering will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.

BTIG, LLC is acting as lead book-running manager for the offering, and Macquarie Capital Limited and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. are acting as joint bookrunners. The closing of the proposed offering is subject to market and other conditions and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the proposed offering.

The securities described are being offered by SunCar pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form F-3 (No. 333-279916) that was previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on June 3, 2024 and declared effective by the SEC on June 14, 2024. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to and describing the terms of the proposed offering will be filed with the SEC.

Before you invest, you should read the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus in that registration statement and other documents filed with the SEC for more information about SunCar and this offering. You may obtain these documents free of charge by visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus and the accompanying prospectus relating to the securities being offered may also be obtained from BTIG, LLC, Attention: ECM, General Counsel, 65 East 55th Street, New York, New York 10022, by email at IBLegal@btig.com or by email at btig-ibd-equitycapitalmarkets@btig.com; or Macquarie Capital Limited, Attention: MacCap US-Asia ECM Execution, Level 22, One International Finance Centre 1 Harbour View Street, Central Hong Kong, by email at: maccap.usasiaecmexecution@macquarie.com; or Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Attention: Syndicate Prospectus Department, 85 Broad Street, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10004, by email at EquityProspectus@opco.com.

This press release does not and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of SunCar’s Class A Ordinary Shares, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of such shares, in any state or 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.

About SunCar Technology Group Inc.

Founded in 2007, SunCar is transforming the customer journey for auto services and auto insurance in China, the largest passenger vehicle market in the world. SunCar develops and operates cloud-based platforms that seamlessly connect drivers with a wide range of auto services and insurance coverage options through a nationwide network of sales partners. As a result, SunCar has established itself as the leader in China in the B2B auto services market and the auto eInsurance market for electric vehicles. SunCar’s intelligent cloud platform empowers its enterprise clients to access and manage their customer database and offerings optimally, and drivers gain access to hundreds of services from tens of thousands of independent providers in a single application. For more information, please visit: https://suncartech.com.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding the offering and the anticipated use of the net proceeds from the offering, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were first issued and are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond SunCar’s control. SunCar’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the risks related to the offering of the shares and uncertainties related to market conditions. These and other potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted are more fully detailed in SunCar’s filings and reports with the SEC, including the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as well as other filings and reports that are filed by SunCar from time to time with the SEC. SunCar anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change and you should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements and not place undue reliance on such statements. SunCar undertakes no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing SunCar’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Contact Information:

SunCar:

Investor Relations: Ms. Hui Jiang
Email: IR@suncartech.com
Legal: Ms. Li Chen
Email: chenli@suncartech.com

U.S. Investor Relations:

Matthew Abenante, IRC
President
Strategic Investor Relations, LLC
Tel: 347-947-2093
Email: matthew@strategic-ir.com