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ISTANBUL- GE (NYSE: GE) and Gama Energy (Gama) signed an agreement to operate the first digital power plant in Turkey. This deal marks the first use of industrial cloud software applications in a power plant in Turkey to improve efficiency and productivity. GE will install GAMA’s 840 megawatt İç Anadolu Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant in the city of Kırıkkale with its advanced digital solutions, Asset Performance Management (APM) and Operations Optimization (OO) solutions using Predix™, the operating system for the Industrial Internet. Installation of these digital solutions is planned for Q1 2017.

Sıtkı Şerifeken, Gama Energy General Manager said “We’re proud to be the first digital power plant adopter in Turkey through our collaboration with GE. GE’s enhanced total plant capabilities, advanced digital competencies and our 15 year history together give us great confidence in these new solutions to help us reduce maintenance costs and increase operational efficiency in the plant furthermore.”

Today’s announcement builds upon last year’s multi-year agreement between GE and Gama to provide planned and unplanned maintenance services under availability and performance guarantees for two GE 9F.05 gas turbines and a GE D11 steam turbine. These services, combined with digital solutions, provide Gama’s plant operators with greater insight to predict and diagnose asset failures with enough lead time to effectively plan maintenance schedules with more reliability, while ensuring high availability and a steady revenue flow from power plant operations. As part of the 15-year agreement, GE is deploying its Fleet360* platform of customized plant solutions to help improve performance and extend maintenance intervals.

“Unplanned outages in power plants correspond to 3-8% of a plant’s capacity” said Murat Demirel, GE’s Power Services Eastern Europe and Turkey General Manager. “GE’s APM solution will bring a significant efficiency boost through early detection of such outages at power plants currently using this solution. We estimate these solutions have the potential to save up to USD 3 million annually through early detection of outages.”

The APM and OO software applications slated for implementation at GAMA’s power plant can provide numerous operational benefits such as improved reliability and availability via enhanced predictivity, accurate performance monitoring and forecasting capability, dispatch optimization via better visibility into plant capability, and lower production costs and asset generation forecasting capability for improved asset dispatch.

Natural gas has the leading position in power generation with its share of 33% in Turkey. Murat Demirel noted these digital solutions can help yield more plant operational efficiencies associated with limited natural gas resources.

$1.3 trillion value from digital transformation of the Electricity Industry
The global power generation industry is preparing for a more efficient future with digital transformation. The World Economic Forum in 2016 estimated the digital transformation of electricity represents a $1.3 trillion opportunity by 2025. Equipping power plants with service platforms and utilizing cloud computing and Industrial Internet facilities offers significant advantages in terms of efficient power generation and uninterrupted delivery to customers.

GE’s Industrial Internet platform Predix™ supports digital transformation with its solutions in energy as with many others. Predix™ has already established an ecosystem for digitalization with more than 19,000 developers onboard. This ecosystem is expanding continuously with customers’ demands and GE’s collaborations.

GAMA Energy’s İç Anadolu Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant, based in Kırıkkale with a capacity of 840 MW, can alone provide 2.5% of power consumed in Turkey and more than 50% of power consumed in the capital Ankara.

GE has worked with GAMA Holding over the past 15 years on a variety of projects from combined cycle to thermal to renewable power plants focusing both on contracting and investment schemes.

About GE
With more than 300,000 people operating in 175 countries, GE is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge that we call the GE Store. It’s through the GE Store that each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. At GE, each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry.

About GE Power
GE Power is a world leader in power generation with deep domain expertise to help customers deliver electricity from a wide spectrum of fuel sources. We are transforming the electricity industry with the digital power plant, the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine, full balance of plant, upgrade and service solutions as well as our data-leveraging software. Our innovative technologies and digital offerings help make power more affordable, reliable, accessible and sustainable. For more information, follow us on:

http://geturkiyeblog.com

About GAMA Holding
GAMA, founded in 1959, builds power plants, refineries, cement, petro-chemical and gas plants, factories, high-rise buildings, water treatment plants and transmission lines, bridges, and other infrastructural projects along with funding various energy investments. GAMA is a leading international contractor who have successfully completed 400 projects in 25 countries extending from Ireland in the west to Russia’s Sakhalin Island in the east. GAMA Holding

About GAMA Energy
GAMA Enerji A.Ş. develops and invests in power and water infrastructure projects in Turkey and the surrounding region with it’s 200 employees and 2.3 billion dollars of net investment. GAMA Enerji A.Ş. owns shares in plants which have total electricity capacity of 1088,80MW (equity capacity of 1050,50 MW), and water conveyance capacity of 100 million m3/year. For more information, visit www.gama.com.tr/en/energy.

NISKAYUNA, NY and SUWON, KOREA – GE Ventures and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO), a world leader in electronic components, announced today a multi-year, worldwide patent license agreement. With this partnership, SEMCO will license GE microelectronics packaging patent portfolio, covering the fabrication of substrates embedded with electronic circuits.

Developed by GE Global Research and Imbera Electronics Oy (now GE Embedded Electronics Oy) as part of a major GE focus in power electronics research over the last decade, the patent portfolio is of particular value for high performance communication and mobility products.

“GE is extremely pleased that SEMCO has recognized the significance of GE’s IP in this space,” says Lawrence Davis, Vice President and MicroElectronics Packaging Program Director at GE Ventures. “As the demand for increased power efficiency and higher performance in mobility products continues to expand, GE is positioned to be a strong partner for embedded electronics technology in the power and consumer electronics space.”

GE Ventures accelerates innovation and growth for partners by providing access to GE technologies through licensing and joint development partnerships. This advanced microelectronics packaging technology is being licensed to leading global manufacturing partners to provide advanced solutions to businesses worldwide.

About SEMCO
SEMCO is a global leader supplying passive components in multiple industry sectors. SEMCO has three divisions: Digital Module, Advanced Circuit Interconnect and LCR; a manufacturing presence in five countries and direct sales presence in over fifteen countries.

About GE Ventures
GE Ventures identifies, scales and accelerates ideas that will help make the world work better. Focused on the areas of software, advanced manufacturing, energy and healthcare, GE Ventures combines equity investing, new business creation, licensing and technology transfer to deliver an innovation platform designed to drive growth for partners and GE. For more information, visit http://www.geventures.com, or follow on Twitter (@GE_Ventures) and LinkedIn.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y.—— GE (NYSE: GE) today announced a collaboration with Power Costs, Inc. (PCI), a privately-owned independent software company, to connect plant asset and operational generation data from GE’s Digital Power Plant solutions with PCI’s energy planning and trading tools for more accurate and profitable energy trading and scheduling. GE will offer PCI’s suite of solutions, used in more than half of energy trading transactions in North America, on the Predix* operating system for the Industrial Internet.

The collaboration signals GE Power’s continued commitment to deliver digital energy solutions to every part of the electricity value network, from machines to the market. Energy applications that address everything from machine reliability and uptime to fleet-wide operations are sold and delivered on GE’s Predix platform, a cloud-based platform purpose-built for developing, deploying, operating and monetizing Industrial Internet applications.

Collaborating with PCI to better integrate asset performance as well as commercial and operations-level data offers a more comprehensive view of important data to energy producers and an end-to-end set of Predix-enabled software solutions for power, from operations to bidding to billing.

PCI’s solutions are used by generating companies, utilities and independent power producers to simplify and automate the energy trading processes, including asset valuation and bid formation. GE Power’s existing Digital Power Plant software suites address machine and fleet performance. GE’s Asset Performance Management (APM) application suite improves the reliability of power generating machines, reducing unplanned downtime by up to 5 percent, reducing false positive alerts by up to 75 percent and reducing operations and maintenance costs by up to 25 percent. GE Power’s Operations Optimization for Power application helps power producers increase plant capacity and revenue generation by increasing megawatt output and ensuring that plant operators can respond quickly to market opportunities.

Offering PCI’s solution as an additional business optimization application on Predix removes the barriers between the machine, operations and commercial sides of energy businesses, giving a comprehensive view of how much energy can be generated and at what cost. The integrated business, operations and asset-level software applications will allow for better planning, trading, and day-ahead and real-time bidding in the energy and ancillary services market.

Using operations data to understand a plant’s energy generation capacity and connecting that information to energy market trading can further improve the process for traders by reducing the risk of penalties levied when generating businesses overcommit to the market or by increasing revenue when the companies undercommit and do not fully use potential generating capacity. Existing GE and PCI customers can also benefit from the collaboration, with operations and trading solutions delivered on Predix as a single platform available globally.

“Integrating PCI’s market forecasting and trading solution with GE’s Digital Power Plant offerings gives our customers an even more comprehensive software portfolio to address the asset, operations and industry levels of power generation and trading,” said Jay Allardyce, chief operating officer of GE Power’s Digital Solutions business. “GE is offering leading industrial applications such as PCI on the Predix platform as part of expanding our software and solutions ecosystem, helping customers on their journey to digitizing their energy businesses.”

“PCI has delivered world-class solutions to the energy industry for more than two decades,” said Jason Kram, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, PCI. “Partnering with GE will enable us to deliver these solutions on the Predix platform built for industrial customers, and extend our reach worldwide.”

About Power Costs, Inc. (PCI)
PCI is the leading provider of generation supply management software, superior customer support and value-added services for energy focused companies. Founded in 1992 by Dr. Fred Lee, PCI continues to refine and develop new software solutions that meet the ever-evolving needs of its clients which include investor-owned, municipal and cooperative utilities, independent power producers as well as energy marketing and trading organizations. More than half of all the power generated in the United States is optimized using PCI software solutions and over 60% of the Fortune 500 Energy and Utility firms in the U.S. are PCI clients. PCI is a privately held company based in Norman, Oklahoma with offices in Houston, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina. To learn more about PCI, please visit www.powercosts.com.

About GE Power
GE Power is a world leader in power generation with deep domain expertise to help customers deliver electricity from a wide spectrum of fuel sources. We are transforming the electricity industry with the digital power plant, the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine, full balance of plant, upgrade and service solutions as well as our data-leveraging software. Our innovative technologies and digital offerings help make power more affordable, reliable, accessible and sustainable.

MINNEAPOLIS, – Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced a $15 million smart grid project with Connexus Energy, Minnesota’s largest customer-owned electric cooperative, to deploy advanced smart grid technology to improve electricity service and reliability, and help the utility’s 130,000 members better manage their energy consumption.

Under the project, Honeywell will install more than 138,000 of its EnergyAxis® connected meters and its new SynergyNet™ mesh networking platform for the utility. When completed in 2018, the fully integrated system will provide Connexus Energy with real-time data on customer’s energy consumption for more accurate billing, better management of usage, and the ability to more accurately detect meter tampering and outages for faster recovery.

Instead of relying on time-consuming manual meter data collection, Connexus Energy, whose service territory spans seven counties and covers 1,000 square miles in the northern part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, will be able to gather meter data at any time for a more accurate view of territory-wide usage. The system also provides two-way connectivity for additional energy management measures, giving the utility more options for future efforts, including demand response programs and time-of-use pricing.

 “Our mission is simple: keep the lights on for our members by providing electricity in the most cost-effective, reliable and environmentally responsible manner,” said Greg Ridderbusch, chief executive officer of Connexus Energy. “Honeywell’s smart grid technology will help us continue to meet these goals while providing a path for greater efficiencies and innovations in how we deliver electricity to one of Minnesota’s fastest-growing corridors — and how customers use it.”

 “Together, Honeywell and customers like Connexus Energy are fundamentally changing the way the world and our communities manage and use energy,” said Rob Tupker, president of Smart Energy, Honeywell Home and Building Technologies. “This smart grid project supports the utility’s priority of sound energy management and delivery, while preparing the cooperative to take advantage of future opportunities and innovations to drive deeper savings for customers.”

This project builds on Honeywell’s other work with Connexus, which includes providing thermostats to Connexus Energy’s Wi-Fi Thermostat Rebate Program. The program provides customers with monetary incentives to install Wi-Fi programmable thermostats that enable users to adjust settings from anywhere, at any time, and can help them save on their heating and cooling costs.

Honeywell provides complete smart grid and energy management solutions that drive energy efficiency, operational improvements and cost savings for utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and consumers. It has more than 120 active EnergyAxis deployments worldwide, including 77 in the United States.
Visit www.honeywellsmartenergy.com for more information on company’s broad smart grid technology and services.

About Honeywell Home and Building Technologies
Honeywell Home and Building Technologies (HBT) is a global business with more than 44,000 employees worldwide. HBT creates products, software and technologies found in more than 150 million homes and 10 million buildings worldwide. We help homeowners stay connected and in control of their comfort, security and energy use. Commercial building owners and occupants use our technologies to ensure their facilities are safe, energy efficient, sustainable and productive. Our advanced metering hardware and software solutions help electricity, gas and water providers supply customers and communities more efficiently. For more news and information on Honeywell Home and Building Technologies, please visit http://www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

Palo Alto, Calif., and Suwon, South Korea, — HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ), the world leader in printing, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.’s (005930.KS) printer business in a deal valued at $1.05 billion.

The acquisition positions HP to disrupt and reinvent the $55 billion copier industry, a segment that hasn’t innovated in decades. Copiers are outdated, complicated machines with dozens of replaceable parts requiring inefficient service and maintenance agreements. Customers are frequently frustrated with the number of visits needed to keep copier machines functioning. Today, HP is investing to disrupt this category by replacing copiers with superior multifunction printer (MFP) technology.

Samsung has built a formidable portfolio of A3 MFPs that deliver the performance of copiers with the power, simplicity, reliability and ease-of-use of printers and with as few as seven replaceable parts. Integrating the Samsung printer business’ products, including their mobile-first and cloud-first user experience, with HP’s next-generation PageWide technologies will create a breakthrough portfolio of printing solutions with the industry’s best device, document, and data security.

This is the largest print acquisition in HP’s history and accelerates its growth opportunities in the copier segment, strengthens its leading laser printing portfolio that has been established with Canon, and paves the way for future printing innovation. It also creates new avenues for growth and greater profitability for partners as they expand managed print services as sales models shift from transactional to contractual.

“When we became a separate company just 10 months ago, it enabled us to become nimble and focus on accelerating growth and reinventing industries,” said Dion Weisler, president and CEO of HP. “We are doing this with 3D printing and the disruption of the $12 trillion traditional manufacturing industry, and now we are going after the $55 billion copier space. The acquisition of Samsung’s printer business allows us to deliver print innovation and create entirely new business opportunities with far better efficiency, security, and economics for customers.”

Samsung’s printer business also brings a compelling intellectual property portfolio of more than 6,500 printing patents and a world-class workforce that includes nearly 1,300 researchers and engineers with advanced expertise in laser printer technology, imaging electronics, and printer supplies and accessories to support continued innovation in print market solutions.

“HP Inc. has been a valued partner and customer of Samsung,” said Dr. Oh-Hyun Kwon, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. “We can now leverage our combined capacity for innovation to further enhance the value of our relationship.”

Acquiring Samsung’s printer business will also strengthen HP’s ability to service customers in global laser printing, a category where it has enjoyed a strong, mutually beneficial partnership with Canon for more than three decades. HP is confident this transaction will provide new opportunities to further strengthen and accelerate this highly valued relationship.

“HP and Canon have long discussed print innovation to create customer value in business printing and in the growing MPS market,” said Fujio Mitarai, chairman and CEO of Canon Inc. “This transaction will further evolve our collaboration and bring about growth for both of our companies.”

The acquisition is expected to be accretive in the first full year following closing, with cost synergies and a strong financial model. The transaction is expected to close within 12 months pending regulatory review and other customary closing conditions. After closing, Samsung has agreed to make a $100 million to $300 million equity investment in HP through open market purchases.

HP will host a conference call to discuss the transaction today, Sept. 12, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. ET/5:00 a.m. PT. To register, go to www.hp.com/investor/HPupdateSeptember2016.

About HP Inc.
HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of printers, PCs, mobile devices, solutions, and services, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at http://www.hp.com.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.’s printer business

Since 1982, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.’s printing business has been exploring and delivering digital revolution to the printing industry with solutions that transform workplaces into smart offices. More information about Samsung’s printer business is available at http://samsungprintingsolutions.com/ .

ATLANTA — The records of this year’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be measured by how fast, how high or how long, with the difference between a Gold medal and a Silver medal often marked in fractions of seconds or inches. GE (NYSE: GE) is using its own set of metrics — sometimes measured in milliseconds — to monitor critical power quality and protection systems it is deploying across all 32 Olympic venues and facilities at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

To help keep the electric power connected and flowing to all of the Olympic facilities and operations and to provide 24/7 backup power capabilities, GE Energy Connections is providing more than 3,000 of its three-phase and single-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, including the TLE and SG Series, as part of an extensive power protection system. At the center of this vast system is a dedicated power monitoring facility built by GE and staffed by a team of more than 40 GE Energy Connections service experts who will monitor as many as 110 large kilovolt-ampere three-phase UPS systems and most of the 2,954 single-phase UPS units used for Games.

Power Protection and Monitoring
GE has a long history of power protection at the Olympic Games, having supplied UPS systems for all of the Olympic Games since Torino 2006. For the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, GE drew on its experience of these past deployments to design a dedicated power protection monitoring facility, located in the Technology Operations Center in Maracanã, that is connected to each of the three-phase units.

The networked communications between the UPS systems and the monitoring center provides ongoing, real-time status of UPS condition “alarms” (i.e., system performance that might require maintenance) or power “events” (i.e., when the UPS responds to power quality shifts or power failures). This data is constantly analyzed to help ensure each UPS is delivering the power quality and protection required to keep the Olympic Games up and running.

“During the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, we monitored 1,800 incidents, which involved input voltage drops on the single-phase and three-phase UPS units (299 events) or UPS alarms that signaled output load threshold incidents (150 events),” said Giovanni Capua, a lead service manager at GE. “For these incidents, we monitored the event and the performance of the UPS systems using a real-time dashboard.”

When the monitoring center is operational in August 2016, a team of eight power experts from GE and its channel partner network in Brazil will staff the center 24/7 during the Games.

“From my experience at past Games, commissioning the monitoring infrastructure and working with the entire Olympic team to help protect and maintain the power for these Games provides a great source of pride,” Capua continued.

The value of the data collected at the monitoring center doesn’t end when the Games are finished. Power load data gathered from these Games is later sent to the International Olympic Committee as a part of GE’s cooperation in the Games Transfer of Knowledge Program. This data will help future organizers better understand how power is used by the venues and in various applications during the Olympic Games.

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the “GE Store,” through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

About GE Energy Connections
GE Energy Connections designs and deploys industry-leading technologies that turn the world on. We transport, convert, automate and optimize energy to ensure we provide safe, efficient and reliable electrical power. Uniting all the resources and scale of the world’s first digital industrial company, we connect brilliant machines, grids, and systems to power utility, oil & gas, marine, mining and renewables customers, that keep our world running. www.GEEnergyConnections.com

SAN MATEO, Calif. – SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY), best known as the nation’s number one provider of rooftop solar to consumers and businesses, today announced a collaboration with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to demonstrate how the coordinated use of solar smart inverters and behind the meter energy storage could provide enhanced benefits to the grid.

PG&E is teaming up with SolarCity to install smart inverters and battery storage systems for residential rooftop solar customers. The demonstrations will evaluate how PG&E can enhance the stability and power quality of the grid and optimize solar generation and power-flow management through the coordinated use of distributed energy resources like solar with smart inverters and battery storage.

This new project demonstrates a portion of SolarCity’s Grid Services product suite, which leverages aggregated distributed energy resources (DERs) – including solar PV with smart inverters, battery storage, and controllable loads – to provide benefits for grid operators including voltage and reactive power support, dynamic capacity, and peak shaving. As part of the project, SolarCity is deploying a portfolio of aggregated DERs to provide PG&E with increased grid flexibility and control as they work to demonstrate a more modern, customer-centric grid.

To support the project, up to 150 residential customers in San Jose will receive smart inverters and/or residential battery storage systems. The project will demonstrate how smart inverters and behind the meter battery storage can be coordinated by the utility to optimize electric distribution planning and operations. The demonstration is expected to commence this September and end in December 2017.

To learn more about SolarCity’s Grid Services offerings, visit www.solarcity.com/utilities.

About SolarCity
SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) provides clean energy. The company has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. SolarCity gives customers control of their energy costs to protect them from rising rates. The company makes solar energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. Visit the company online at www.solarcity.com and follow the company on Facebook & Twitter.

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.

San Diego, CA – GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) showcased new molecular imaging technologies at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2016 that will enable clinicians to deliver personalized, quantitative results to patients. The Discovery MI system and Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT will help clinicians guide treatment, support patients with sensitive care and create an environment for compelling research. Both systems feature state-of-the-art, groundbreaking digital detectors that represent the next generation of molecular imaging systems. XelerisTM 4.0 is the new nuclear medicine workstation supporting Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT and other nuclear medicine systems; its quantitative applications help clinicians achieve greater confidence in customizable, easy-to-read reports across multiple care areas.

Discovery MI was created to help clinicians continue efforts to diagnose and stage disease earlier and better guide treatment strategies while also enabling more compelling research with more novel, faster decaying tracers. Discovery MI is the industry’s only PET/CT system that brings together the sensitivity of digital detection, with the most innovative reconstruction technology available: the combination of Time-of-Flight (TOF) and Q.Clear. The result is outstanding resolution to improve the detection of small lesions.

This system will enable clinicians to conduct more compelling research, such as quantitative brain studies, facilitated by an expanded field-of-view (FOV). Discovery MI may also expand clinicians’ diagnostic service offerings by enhancing their clinical excellence in oncology or by pushing the boundaries of PET in neurology, cardiology and beyond. These expanded capabilities are enabled by the ability to increase low-yield tracer capability with protocols that reduce dose by up to 50 percent; this will allow clinicians to pursue groundbreaking research without impacting image quality.

Discovery MI’s new LightBurst Digital Detector represents the next-generation for GE Healthcare’s vision for a digital future for PET. With this new detector, the system delivers up to two times improvement in volumetric resolution[ii] enabling small lesion detectability and has the highest NEMA sensitivity of any TOF/PET system in the industry. This system also features the latest diagnostic CT innovations with 100 percent better spatial resolution, with no increase in image noise with ASiR-VTM[v]. And Smart Metal Artifact Reduction (MAR) virtually eliminates streaks and shadows from metal artifacts, saving valuable time previously spent correcting images, increasing the number of successful scans for patients.

Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT was engineered to deliver improvements in lesion detection[iv], image quality and patient comfort and combined with advanced quantitative applications provided through Xeleris 4.0, it can help clinicians better diagnose and monitor diseases earlier. The new SPECT/CT is the world’s first general purpose SPECT/CT imaging system with a new digital detector powered by cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) technology. This enables direct conversion of photons into a digital signal that eliminates the signal loss and noise inherent in conventional SPECT/CT detection technology, therefore making the technology more efficient. Until now, CZT technology has been limited to organ-dedicated devices, whereas Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT is the first to allow doctors to perform exams on every organ, including whole-body exams.

This system is intended to help improve the clinicians’ confidence and patient experience. The combined capabilities will allow clinicians to detect smaller lesions[iv] and quantify them more accurately[iii] due to the increased spatial and contrast resolution. This may have a significant role in assessing and monitoring responses to therapies. Having the ability to complete multiple scans in a single visit and reduce the injected dose or the scan time by 50 percent[vi] will improve patient experience. Optimizing the duration of the exams or the injected dose represents not only an improvement for the patient experience, but also could provide economic and clinical benefits.

Researchers have identified clinical scenarios where the combination of multiple SPECT tracers could aid physicians in diagnosing and giving much better and more specific reports in difficult patient conditions. However, performing such multi-isotope exams is quite challenging on conventional cameras. Multiple isotope exams could offer a greater insight into the diagnosis and monitoring responses to treatments. With GE’s new Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT, clinicians will be able to simultaneously visualize and analyse multiple physiological processes in a patient, gaining insights into multiple dimensions of the patient’s anatomy and physiology at the same time.

The Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT is powered by the new Xeleris 4.0 workstation. In the past, Xeleris led the way with mobilized applications that gave you accessible, easy-to-use tools to enhance productivity. Now, Xeleris 4.0 is leading the way with modern, quantitative applications for nuclear medicine. For example, Q.Brain can accurately diagnose neurodegenerative diseases, Q.Lung enables the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism by identifying V/Q mismatch, Q.Lung can also confidently classify patients eligible for lung resection surgeries, and Q.Metrix can quantify tracer uptake across any lesion or organ.

[i]Discovery MI is 510(k) pending at FDA. Not available for sale in the United States. Not yet CE marked. Cannot be placed on the market or put into service until it has been made to comply with CE Marking or otherwise obtained all required regulatory authorizations.

[ii]Improved detectability as demonstrated in phantom testing.

[iii]In clinical practice, the use of Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT may improve quantification of lesions larger than 5.5mL, depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose or scan time to obtain the claimed quantification accuracy for the particular clinical task.

[iv]In clinical practice, the use of Discovery NM/CT 670 CZT may improve lesions detectability depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose or scan time to obtain diagnostic image quality for the particular clinical task.

[v]In clinical practice, the use of ASiR-V may reduce CT patient dose depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location, and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose to obtain diagnostic image quality for the particular clinical task. Low Contrast Detectability (LCD), Image Noise, Spatial Resolution and Artifact were assessed using reference factory protocols comparing ASiR-V and FBP. The LCD measured in 0.625 mm slices and tested for both head and body modes using the MITA CT IQ Phantom (CCT183, The Phantom Laboratory), using model observer method.

[vi]Together with Evolution technology*.
*In clinical practice, Evolution options6a (Evolution for Bone, Evolution for Cardiac, Evolution for Bone Planar) and Evolution Toolkit6b are recommended for use following consultation of a Nuclear Medicine physician, physicist and/or application specialist to determine the appropriate dose or scan time reduction to obtain diagnostic image quality for a particular clinical task, depending on the protocol adopted by the clinical site.

6aEvolution Options – Evolution claims are supported by simulation of count statistics using default factory protocols and imaging of 99mTc based radiotracers with LEHR collimator on anthropomorphic phantom or realistic NCAT – SIMSET phantom followed by quantitative and qualitative images comparison.

6bEvolution Toolkit – Evolution Toolkit claims are supported by simulation of full count statistics using lesion simulation phantom images based on various radiotracers and collimators and by showing that SPECT image quality reconstructed with Evolution Toolkit provide equivalent clinical information but have better signal-to-noise, contrast, and lesion resolution compare to the images reconstructed with FBP / OSEM.

NISKAYUNA, NY & NAGANO, JAPAN – Today, GE Ventures and SHINKO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CO., LTD. (SHINKO) announced that SHINKO has been granted a patent license and technology transfer of an advanced embedded packaging solution for power electronics called Power Overlay (POL).This patent license and technology transfer deal, signed in early 2015, is a strategic collaboration between GE and SHINKO in both technology and business development.

Developed by GE Global Research as part of a major GE focus in power electronics research over the last decade, POL has been licensed to SHINKO to industrialize the packaging platform to transition POL for manufacturing efforts to be utilized by GE and others. The platform enables higher efficiency and power density with reduced parasitics, and greatly impacting the power, telecommunications and consumer electronics industries. Power modules designed with POL have proven to have power densities up to 50% higher and efficiency improved up to 10%.

“GE is extremely pleased to work with SHINKO on the commercialization of the POL technology – SHINKO brings world class manufacturing process and ability to transition new technologies to production,” said Pat Patnode, President of Licensing for GE Ventures.

GE Ventures accelerates innovation and growth for partners by providing access to GE technologies and inventions through licensing and joint development partnerships. This advanced microelectronics packaging technology is being licensed to leading global manufacturing partners to provide advanced solutions back to businesses worldwide and also to GE, as part of the GE Store.

“Through SHINKO’s extensive manufacturing knowledge, we will be able to achieve value added solutions in order to positively impact the power electronics industry,” said Masato Tanaka, Corporate Officer, General Manager – Research and Development Div. of SHINKO. “We look forward to these outcomes and collaborating with GE in the future.”

SHINKO is a worldwide semiconductor packaging supplier with diverse technology driven initiatives and industry leading manufacturing capabilities. The company is currently testing the POL packaging platform, with plans to release solutions in 2016.

About GE Ventures
GE Ventures is committed to identifying, scaling and accelerating ideas that will make the world work better. Focused on the areas of software, advanced manufacturing, energy and healthcare, GE Ventures helps entrepreneurs and start-ups succeed by providing access to GE’s technical expertise, capital and opportunities for commercialization through GE’s global network of business, customers and partners. GE Ventures offers an unparalleled level of resources through its Global Research Center, including: 35,000 engineers; 5,000 research scientists; 8,000 software professionals; as well as 40,000 sales, marketing and development resources in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit geventures.com.

LEXINGTON, Ky., Lexmark International, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with a consortium of investors led by Apex Technology Co., Ltd. (Apex) and PAG Asia Capital (PAG), under which Lexmark will be acquired for $40.50 per share in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $3.6 billion, net of cash. Legend Capital Management Co., Ltd. (Legend Capital) is also a member of the Consortium.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by Lexmark’s Board of Directors and represents a 30 percent premium to Lexmark’s undisturbed closing stock price on Oct. 21, 2015, the date prior to the news of Lexmark’s exploration of strategic alternatives becoming public.

The transaction is the result of a thorough review of strategic alternatives undertaken by Lexmark’s Board of Directors, with the assistance of outside advisors, to maximize value for shareholders and unlock the company’s intrinsic value.

The Consortium intends to maintain Lexmark’s corporate headquarters in Lexington, Ky. Paul Rooke, chairman and chief executive officer of Lexmark, is expected to continue to lead Lexmark after the transaction closes.

Lexmark’s two business groups, Imaging Solutions and Services and Enterprise Software, as well as the company’s regional and country operations, are expected to continue unaffected and benefit strategically and financially from the transaction.

The merger will be financed through equity contributions by the Consortium and debt financing. The merger is not subject to a financing condition.
Upon the close of the transaction, Lexmark’s common stock will cease to be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The merger, which is expected to close in the second half of 2016, is subject to approval by Lexmark shareholders, regulatory approvals in the U.S., including the Committee on Foreign Investment, China and certain other foreign jurisdictions, and other customary closing conditions.

Lexmark’s Board of Directors also declared its regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.36 per share of Lexmark Class A Common Stock. The dividend is payable on June 17, 2016, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 3, 2016.

Lexmark will not host a conference call with securities analysts and investors in conjunction with its upcoming first quarter 2016 earnings release and does not expect to do so for future quarters while the transaction is pending.

Supporting Quotes
“This is an exciting transaction that Lexmark’s Board of Directors believes is in the best interests of our shareholders following an exhaustive strategic alternatives review process to maximize value,” said Paul Rooke, Lexmark chairman and chief executive officer. “The transaction will benefit our customers and provide new opportunities for our employees.

“As part of the Consortium, Lexmark will be able to reach the next level of growth and innovation, to the benefit of our customers, business partners and suppliers, faster than we could achieve on our own,” added Rooke. “With the Consortium’s resources, we will be able to continue to invest in and grow the business to more fully penetrate the Asia Pacific market for hardware, software and managed print services.”

Jean-Paul Montupet, lead director of the Lexmark Board of Directors, said, “This transaction represents the culmination of an extensive review process by the Board of Directors and the next step in Lexmark’s growth and transformation. We anticipate that the transaction will cause no disruption to our operations or our ongoing cost-savings initiatives, and will only strengthen the business.”

“Lexmark is a recognized global leader in printing technology and enterprise software, with a proven track record of performance, a consistent annuity-based business model and a talented workforce,” said Weijian Shan, group chairman and CEO of PAG. “We look forward to working with Lexmark’s management team and focusing on expanding the business in the Asia Pacific region.”

“Lexmark’s passion for excellence and unwavering commitments to customers, employees and communities represent a tremendous cultural fit,” said Jackson Wang, Apex Technology chairman. “We are excited to work alongside Lexmark as it continues to invest in advanced technologies and solutions to best serve its customers and business partners while simultaneously pursuing additional untapped opportunities for future growth.”

Apex
Apex Technology Co., Ltd. designs, manufactures, and markets inkjet and laser cartridge components for remanufacturers and distributors and is the largest manufacturer and solution provider for the global aftermarket imaging supplies channel. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China. Apex is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (002180). Zhuhai Seine Technology Co., Ltd., (“Seine”), is the largest shareholder of Apex holding approximately 70% of the voting shares of Apex. Apex shareholders also control Pantum International, China’s first printer and printing solutions provider.

PAG
PAG Asia Capital is the private equity buyout arm of PAG, one of Asia’s largest private equity firms with funds under management across private equity, real estate and absolute return strategies. Founded in 2002, PAG currently has US$15 billion in capital under management, with 380 staff across Asia.

Legend Capital
Legend Capital is the venture capital arm of Legend Holdings (SEHK:3396), one of the largest diversified holding corporations in China, and has been a shareholder of Seine since 2007. Legend Capital focuses on China-related innovation and growth opportunities, and has been investing in the technology sector for the past 15 years.

Lexmark
Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) creates enterprise software, hardware and services that remove the inefficiencies of information silos and disconnected processes, connecting people to the information they need at the moment they need it. Open the possibilities at www.Lexmark.com.

22 March 2016 – With nearly half of the world’s workers employed in water-related sectors, sustainable access to safe water can change lives and livelihoods, the United Nations today said, underscoring the link between water and jobs, this year’s theme for World Water Day.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that despite its paramount importance, water as a sector does not generally receive the attention it deserves.

“Water is central to human survival, the environment and the economy,” the Secretary-General said on the Day, an opportunity for everyone to learn more about water related issues, be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference.

Mr. Ban pointed out in his message that people with the least access to water and sanitation often also lack access to health care and stable jobs, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

“The basic provision of adequate water, sanitation and hygiene services at home, at school and in the workplace enables a robust economy by contributing to a healthy and productive population and workforce,” he said, expressing concern in gaps in accessing water and sanitation between men and women, cities and countryside, and the rich and the poor.

He called for bold action to address water inequality, as parts of effort to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development whose Goal 6 aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The importance of water in the job sector is marked with an official World Water Day event at the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, convened on behalf of the UN inter-agency mechanism on all freshwater-related issues, UN-Water.

In his video message, Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General and Chair of UN-Water, calls for “better water and better jobs.” He highlighted the situation of some 1.5 billion people who work in water-related sectors, many of whom are not recognized for the work they do, nor protected by basic labour rights.

Guy Ryder highlights the situation of the 1.5 billion people who work in water, many of whom are not recognized for the work they do, or protected by basic labour rights. Credit: ILO

As an example, he spoke about a woman from The Gambia who would spend much of her day fetching water, when she could have been working in the formal sector, had that water delivery been provided.

“Water is work,” Mr. Ryder said. “It requires workers for its safe and clean delivery, and at the same time, it can create and improve conditions of work.”

As part of the celebration, the UN today is launching the UN World Water Development Report, focused on the advancement of the prospect of decent work for all.

Among its findings, the report estimated that some 2 billion people require access to improved sanitation, particularly women and girls.

Meeting the challenge of creating and preserving decent jobs in the face of climate change and water scarcity will require far greater investments in science, technology and innovation, said Irina Bokova, the head the UN agency that leads water sciences and education—the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In her message for the Day, Ms. Bokova called for Governments, civil society and the private sector to work together to promote “high-quality jobs, while preserving the environment and ensuring sustainable water management will help to eradicate poverty, promote growth and craft a future of decent work for all.”

To mark the Day, UNICEF kicked off its #ClimateChain Instagram campaign, highlighting the link between water, climate change and the environment. The campaign will run until 22 April, when the Paris Agreement will open for signature.

TREVOSE, PA.—March 22, 2016—GE (NYSE: GE) and American Water today announced they have formed a new digital initiative to identify and explore advances in the Industrial Internet of Things to help solve pressing challenges in the water industry and help lead the country toward a smarter water future.

GE is the world’s leading digital industrial company, and American Water is the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. Together, they are collaborating on a digital alliance that will enable the water industry to harness the power of data and analytics to improve national water infrastructure. The digital collaboration announcement is being made in conjunction with today’s World Water Day celebration.

The GE-American Water initiative will include the use of GE’s Predix*, the world’s first and only cloud platform built exclusively for industry that powers the Industrial Internet. The companies will collaborate to develop the next generation of software and data analytics solutions to help the industry reduce the environmental impacts and operating costs associated with water production, treatment, transportation and delivery.

“We are excited to launch our new digital collaboration with American Water by combining our collective expertise in software, water technologies and utility management to help the United States build a more sustainable and secure water future,” said Heiner Markhoff, president and CEO—water and distributed power for GE Power. “We are developing software, advanced predictive analytics and diagnostic tools that will give operators the real-time data they need to better manage their critical water infrastructure assets 24 hours a day.”

“These are critical times for our nation’s water infrastructure. For 130 years, American Water has been a trusted guardian of water sources and a leader in the industry, providing capital resources, research, innovation and new technologies,” said Susan Story, president and CEO, American Water. “We’re proud to collaborate with GE in seeking new and innovative ways to use data analytics to continue our tradition of providing solutions to our nation’s water challenges.”

About American Water
Founded in 1886, American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. Marking its 130th anniversary this year, the company employs more than 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found at www.amwater.com.

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the “GE Store,” through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

About GE Power
GE Power is a world leader in power generation with deep domain expertise to help customers deliver electricity from a wide spectrum of fuel sources. We are transforming the electricity industry with the digital power plant, the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine, full balance of plant, upgrade and service solutions as well as our data-leveraging software. Our innovative technologies and digital offerings help make power more affordable, reliable, accessible and sustainable.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) today unveiled an ambitious new program called “Natural Leader” to ensure its business operations, suppliers and products increasingly contribute to a more sustainable world.

Sustainability goals have had a significant impact on UTC over the years. In the last 20 years alone, UTC has cut its water usage by more than half, and its greenhouse gas emissions by more than a third in absolute terms – even as the company’s sales tripled.

This latest program targets a 25 percent reduction in water usage and 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from current levels over the next five years. It also extends sustainability incentives to UTC’s supply chain and places the company on track for an 80 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2050, in line with United Nations targets.

The new program and its goals were announced today at “Growing Cities: An Atlantic Forum on Sustainable Urbanization” in New York City.

“Our strategy is straightforward and effective,” said UTC President and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Hayes. “We will innovate to meet growing demand for sustainable products, implement sustainable solutions in our own operations, and actively encourage suppliers, customers and employees to achieve sustainable outcomes.”

As the world’s largest provider of building systems, United Technologies is already actively engaged in making urban centers more sustainable places to live and work. The company’s long-lived aerospace products also play a vital role in the sustainability of commercial air travel between cities.

“At our core, UTC is an engineering and manufacturing leader that solves big problems and does big, complex things,” Hayes said. “Our world is changing and trends in urbanization and population growth require more sustainable products and behaviors. We’re embracing those opportunities across the board.”

UTC’s new sustainability program is the latest in a long-running series of efforts to eliminate waste and increase efficiency. Starting three decades ago, UTC was among the very first companies to begin tracking resource usage with the aim of lowering consumption and emissions.

Worldwide interest in more sustainable building systems has never been higher. A recent study by Dodge Data & Analytics shows global demand for sustainable buildings is expected to double by 2018, as global green construction continues on its pace of doubling every three years. At the same time, the world’s leading airframers have record backlogs for energy-efficient commercial aircraft.

In the new Natural Leader program, UTC for the first time is extending sustainability goals to its supply chain by incentivizing suppliers to integrate sustainability practices in their own business operations. UTC’s sustainability focus also works for shareowners by delivering millions of dollars in savings from reduction of energy, water and other resources.

For more information on United Technologies’ sustainability efforts, visit www.NaturalLeader.com.

United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. Our businesses include Pratt & Whitney, UTC Aerospace Systems, UTC Climate, Controls & Security and Otis. For more information, visit our website at www.utc.com or follow us on Twitter: @UTC.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Pellion Technologies, a leader in battery technology, announces today an investment by Motorola Solutions.

Pellion’s next-generation technology enables novel, high-energy-density batteries delivering twice the energy of lithium-ion cells in a comparable weight and volume. Pellion’s batteries are now being tested in select demonstration devices in the mobile, wireless and robotics spaces.

“Motorola Solutions has a long and consistent track record of driving innovations in mobility and partnering with leaders in the battery field. The company has a deep understanding of battery technologies and capabilities and perhaps the most exacting performance and quality standards in the space,” said David Eaglesham, CEO, Pellion Technologies. “We are delighted and honoured that they have chosen to invest in Pellion.”

“Our public safety and commercial customers have to keep their workers out in the field where they are needed, and where they are increasingly reliant on mobile technology that has to be powered and ready to use at all times,” said Motorola Solutions Chief Technology Officer Paul Steinberg. “While the promising battery technology developed by Pellion is still in the early stages of deployment, we believe it has exciting potential to substantially benefit our products and, ultimately, our customers.”

About Pellion Technologies
Pellion is developing the world’s next-generation battery with proven performance at twice the energy of today’s Li-ion.

NORWALK, Conn. — Transaction to create $11 billion Document Technology company and $7 billion Business Process Outsourcing company in tax free structure Separation, expected to be complete by end of 2016, will maximize return to shareholders and align with current market dynamics
Announces strategic transformation program anticipated to deliver $2.4 billion in savings over next 3 years across both companies
Xerox (NYSE: XRX) announced today the results of its review of the company’s portfolio and capital allocation options announced in October 2015. The Board of the company has unanimously approved management’s plan to separate Xerox into two independent publicly- traded companies, each of which will be a leader in its respective industry.

“Today Xerox is taking further affirmative steps to drive shareholder value by announcing it will separate into two strong, independent, publicly traded companies,” said Ursula Burns, chairman and chief executive officer of Xerox. “These two companies will be well positioned to lead in their respective rapidly evolving markets and capitalize on the opportunities that now exist to expand margins and increase market share.”

“I am confident that the extensive structural review we conducted over the last few months has produced the right path forward for our company. We will now position the companies for success and execute our plan to separate them in the shortest possible timeframe while continuing to focus on achieving our 2016 goals,” added Burns.

New Company Details
The Document Technology company will continue to be a global leader in document management and document outsourcing with approximately $11 billion in 2015 revenue. It will lead the market with superior technology, solutions and innovations that optimize document management in an increasingly interconnected, digital world. Its strong profitability and free cash flow generation will enable significant capital return and provide for selective investments in attractive growth areas.

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company will be an industry leader that helps clients improve the flow of work by leveraging its expertise in managing transaction-intensive processes and applying innovations to automate and simplify business processes. With approximately $7 billion in 2015 revenue – more than 90% of which is annuity based – the company is focused on attractive growth markets including transportation, healthcare, commercial and government services. As an independent company, BPO will have the focus and flexibility needed to continue to adapt to the changing needs of its clients, further refine its portfolio of services and pursue significant growth and margin expansion opportunities.

The leadership and names of the two companies will be determined as the separation process progresses.

Separation Rationale
Today’s market realities require greater agility and flexibility, the ability to innovate and adapt technology to address clients’ fast-evolving needs, and a more focused and efficient approach to operations and capital allocation. As a result, it has become increasingly clear that the Document Technology and BPO businesses serve distinct client needs, have different growth drivers, and require customized operating models and capital structures. Thus, the separation of the two businesses will enhance their competitive positions and create significant value creation opportunities, including:

Enhanced strategic and operational focus. Each company will leverage its areas of strength and differentiation to address distinct market trends and opportunities. The Document Technology company will invest selectively in growth areas while ensuring continued operational discipline and capturing transformative productivity. The BPO company will focus on leadership in attractive market segments to deliver differentiated solutions to its clients and drive profitable revenue growth.
Simplification of organizational structure and resources. Each company will be able to adapt faster to clients’ changing needs, address specific market dynamics, target innovation and investments in select growth areas and accelerate decision making processes.
Distinct and clear financial profiles. The separation will enable each company to leverage its distinct growth profile and cash flow characteristics to optimize its capital structure and capital allocation strategy.
Compelling equity investment cases. As standalone companies, both companies will offer distinct and compelling investment propositions with differentiated financial profiles, growth drivers and business prospects.
Strategic Transformation
Xerox also announced today a three year strategic transformation program targeting a cumulative $2.4 billion savings across all segments. The program is inclusive of ongoing activities and $600 million of incremental transformation initiatives. The company expects $700 million in annualized savings in 2016.

“A core tenet of the strategic transformation we are embarking on today is changing and improving the way we operationalize our businesses. We have identified a plan to deliver cumulative reductions of $2.4 billion over the next three years as part of this process. I have instructed our teams to begin work immediately to deliver the efficiencies needed to achieve our goal,” Burns added.

Next Steps
Xerox will begin the process to separate into the two companies while it finalizes the transaction structure. Xerox’s objective is to complete the separation by year-end, subject to customary conditions, receipt of regulatory approvals, tax considerations, securing any necessary financing and final approval of the Xerox Board.

The transaction is intended to be tax-free to Xerox shareholders for federal income tax purposes.

Until the separation is complete, Xerox will continue to operate as a single company and it will continue to be business as usual for our customers and employees.

Advisors
Lazard and Goldman Sachs & Co are serving as financial advisors and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is serving as legal advisor to Xerox. Centerview Partners is serving as financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal advisor to the Board of Directors.

Conference Call Details
Xerox will be hosting a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. ET. The live event can be accessed online at http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/rykhkkz7.

An archived audio webcast of this event will be available shortly following the conference call.

Additional information regarding the separation can be found on www.XeroxPathForward.com.

About Xerox
Xerox is helping change the way the world works. By applying our expertise in imaging, business process, analytics, automation and user-centric insights, we engineer the flow of work to provide greater productivity, efficiency and personalization. We conduct business in 180 countries, and our more than 140,000 employees create meaningful innovations and provide business process services, printing equipment, software and solutions that make a real difference for our clients – and their customers.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y.— GE (NYSE: GE) today announced that it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire Metem Corporation, a U.S.-based provider of precision cooling hole manufacturing technologies that enable turbine engines to function more efficiently, saving costs, increasing operation time and reducing emissions.

Heavy-duty gas turbines are subject to very high temperatures during operations, making metals weaker. With heavy-duty gas turbine blades operating under high temperatures and experiencing significant centrifugal stresses, turbine blade cooling is an important component of GE’s next generation of advanced gas turbines. To realize supply chain efficiencies and reduce costs, GE made the decision to bring cooling hole-drilling capability in-house by acquiring Metem.

GE and Metem have had a very strong relationship since the 1970s, driven by Metem’s record of innovation and technology development and the strength of its world-class workforce. As a result, GE is Metem’s largest customer today. This acquisition is very strategic for GE Power, as demand for advanced manufacturing technologies significantly increases as products evolve. GE envisions building out the capabilities and capacity of the Metem network.

Until the transaction closes, the two companies will continue to operate as separate businesses, and Metem will continue to be managed by the existing leadership team. GE and Metem expect the deal to close in the first quarter of 2016.

“Gas turbines coupled with services are the core of GE Power. Our acquisition of Alstom’s power business has significantly improved our competitiveness, particularly in our technology leadership position and global presence. But we have not stopped there,” said Mike Chanatry, VP of Gas Power Systems Supply Chain. “In addition to adding to the GE Store capabilities, acquiring Metem would help achieve synergies by improving the overall cost base of products.”

About Metem
Metem Corporation is a specialized global supplier of turbine super-alloy component machining for leading companies in the power generation and aerospace industries. Over the past 50 years, Metem has grown into one of the largest machining companies in the world by emphasizing innovation, advanced technologies, operational excellence, and continuous focus on strategic, long-term relationships with customers.

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the “GE Store,” through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

About GE Power
GE Power is a world leader in power generation with deep domain expertise to help customers deliver electricity from a wide spectrum of fuel sources. We are transforming the electricity industry with the digital power plant, the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine, full balance of plant, upgrade and service solutions as well as our data-leveraging software. Our innovative technologies and digital offerings help make power more affordable, reliable, accessible and sustainable.

SEATTLE– (NASDAQ:AMZN) — Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced that it has contracted with EDP Renewables to construct and operate a 100 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Paulding County, Ohio, called the Amazon Wind Farm US Central. This new wind farm is expected to start generating approximately 320,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of wind energy annually starting in May 2017, or enough to power more than 29,000 US homes[1] in a year. The energy generated will be delivered into the electrical grid that supplies both current and future AWS Cloud data centers. For more information go to http://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainable-energy/.

In November 2014, AWS shared its long-term commitment to achieve 100 percent renewable energy usage for the global AWS infrastructure footprint. In April 2015, AWS announced that approximately 25 percent of the power consumed by its global infrastructure was from renewable energy sources with a goal of increasing that percentage to at least 40 percent by the end of 2016. As part of its renewable energy push, AWS continues to work on ways to increase the energy efficiency of its facilities and equipment, and to launch projects aimed at increasing the availability of renewable energy resources on the electrical grid that supplies power to current and future AWS Cloud data centers in Virginia and Ohio.

Specifically, in January 2015, Amazon announced a renewable project with the Amazon Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge) in Benton County, Indiana, which is expected to generate 500,000 MWh of wind power annually. In April 2015, Amazon announced a pilot of Tesla’s energy storage batteries that are designed to help bridge the gap between intermittent production, from sources like wind, and the datacenter’s constant power demand. Also in April 2015, AWS joined the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and the U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (US PREF) to work with state and federal policymakers and other stakeholders to enable more renewable energy opportunities for cloud providers. In June 2015, the company announced Amazon Solar Farm US East in Virginia, which is expected to generate 170,000 MWh of solar power annually. In July 2015, AWS announced Amazon Wind Farm US East in North Carolina, which is expected to generate more than 670,000 MWh of energy annually.

Now with Amazon Wind Farm US Central announced today, Amazon’s renewable projects will be responsible for delivering more than 1.6 million MWh of additional renewable energy into electric grids across the central and eastern US, or roughly the equivalent amount of energy required to power 150,000 US homes. [1]

“We continue to pursue projects that help to develop more renewable energy sources to the grids that power AWS datacenters and bring us closer to achieving our long term goal of powering our global infrastructure with 100 percent renewable energy,” said Jerry Hunter, Vice President of Infrastructure at Amazon Web Services. “Our previously announced renewable energy projects put AWS on track to surpass our goal of 40 percent renewable energy globally by the end of 2016. This latest project, Amazon Wind Farm US Central, pushes our renewable energy percentage ever higher.”

“Ohio continues to benefit from the strong relationship that JobsOhio and its business development partners have fostered with Amazon,” said John Minor, President and Chief Investment Officer of JobsOhio. “Building upon news from earlier this year that AWS would develop cloud data centers in Ohio, we are excited that AWS is making another significant investment here and look forward to partnering with Amazon as it continues to grow in our state.”

EDP Renewables is a global leader in the renewable energy sector and the fourth largest producer of wind power in the world. The company operates in 12 markets around the world (Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Spain, United States, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Romania and Mexico). For more information please visit www.edpr.com.

“We are very excited to be working with AWS on this important project in Ohio,” said João Manso Neto, CEO of EDP Renewables. “The fact that businesses such as AWS are playing such an active part in renewable energy projects is a very clear indicator that the future lies in additional generation of this type of energy. The support for this project shows the industry’s confidence in our delivery capacity, experience, and know-how.”

About Amazon Web Services
Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services offers a robust, fully featured technology infrastructure platform in the cloud comprised of a broad set of compute, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services from datacenter locations in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Singapore. More than a million customers, including fast-growing startups, large enterprises, and government agencies across 190 countries, rely on AWS services to innovate quickly, lower IT costs and scale applications globally. To learn more about AWS, visit http://aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

MOLINE, Illinois, November 2, 2015 – Deere & Company said today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Monosem, the European market leader in precision planters. The purchase includes the company’s four facilities in France and two in the United States.

“Through this action, we continue to build on our leadership position in precision agriculture,” said John May, president, Agricultural Solutions and Chief Information Officer. “Monosem is admired for its innovation and success in precision planter technology that helps farmers increase production. Acquiring this market leader positions John Deere to serve more customers worldwide.”

Deere does not plan to change the independent nature of Monosem. May said the business will retain its own brand and trademark and will leverage its own operational strengths. Monosem has been a family-owned enterprise through three generations since it was founded in 1948.

The acquisition of Monosem, May added, helps accelerate John Deere’s market reach in precision planting equipment and adds engineering expertise to further develop planting technology. “We remain focused on helping our customers increase their productivity,” he said.

Deere & Company is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land – those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world’s dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. Since 1837, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit www.JohnDeere.com.

WASHINGTON,– Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced nearly $2.3 billion in loans to build and improve rural electric infrastructure in 31 states.

“Improving our rural electric utility systems will help us continue to provide reliable and affordable electricity to rural customers,” Vilsack said. “By financing these improvements, USDA helps increase efficiencies, reduce carbon emissions and improve the quality of life in rural areas.”

USDA is awarding loans to 77 utilities and cooperatives in 31 states. The funding includes more than $108 million for smart grid technology, $41 million for renewable energy improvements and $9 million for storm damage repairs. These loans will help build or improve 12,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines.

The funding is being provided through USDA Rural Development’s Electric Program, which makes loans and loan guarantees to non-profit and cooperative associations, public bodies and other utilities, primarily for electric distribution in rural areas.

For example, Midwest Energy Cooperative in Michigan, which serves more than 35,000 customers in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, is receiving a $59 million loan to improve service to its customers. It will use $33 million to finance smart grid technologies.

Smart grid increases the reliability of electric power by helping utilities better manage the electric grid to improve operational efficiencies. It includes metering, substation automation, computer applications, two-way communications, geospatial information systems and other improvements.

In Iowa, USDA is providing a $59.8 million loan to the Central Iowa Power Corporation to fund more than 126 miles of new or upgraded power lines. The utility distributes power to more than 125,000 residential customers and 17,000 businesses in 51 Iowa counties.

The Cornelius, N.C., firm O2 EMC Portfolio 1, LLC is receiving three loans totaling nearly $23 million to build several solar farms. The company develops, owns and operates solar farms across the Southeast.

Funding of each award announced today is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the loan or grant agreement.

Since 2009, USDA has funded $34 billion in electric loans and more than $1 billion for smart grid technologies. This assistance has helped build more than 185,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines serving approximately 8.5 million rural customers.

USDA has been committed to improving the production and transmission of electricity in rural communities since the creation of the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935.

President Obama’s plan for rural America has brought about historic investment and resulted in stronger rural communities. Under the President’s leadership, these investments in housing, community facilities, businesses and infrastructure have empowered rural America to continue leading the way – strengthening America’s economy, small towns and rural communities.

PEORIA, Ill. – Building on its 90-year history of providing unmatched product support around the world, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced a reorganization in its dealer and customer support divisions. These changes are designed to improve and speed the delivery of customer support while simplifying the way Caterpillar interacts with its global dealer network.

“These organizational changes will drive needed simplicity to the business, further enabling us to meet customer and dealer needs by becoming more nimble, lean and responsive,” said Rob Charter, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Customer & Dealer Support. “Our dealers are the best in the industry when it comes to knowing and serving our customers. These changes will help Caterpillar increase accountability at the divisional level and continue to differentiate the Caterpillar business model from our competitors.”

The company is also placing added executive office emphasis on three strategic initiatives – data analytics, digital and innovation capabilities; Lean Transformation; and the Across the Table initiative. Having this additional, executive office focus complements the new structure of Caterpillar’s customer and dealer-facing divisions.

Mining Division Changes
As previously announced, Chris Curfman, vice president with responsibility for Caterpillar’s Mining Sales & Support Division is retiring, effective December 31, 2015. His division will be integrated into the existing Global Mining machine business divisions. Bringing product, operations, sales and marketing organizations together in both the surface and underground mining applications aligns well with our customers and will also enable a more effective cost structure in a challenging mining environment.

The surface mining sales and support teams will join the Hauling & Extraction Division, which will be renamed the Surface Mining & Technology Division, led by Caterpillar Vice President Tom Bluth.

The underground mining sales and support teams will join the Material Handling and Underground Division, led by Caterpillar Vice President Denise Johnson.

Customer and Dealer-Facing Organizational Changes
The company is reorganizing divisions across the company into a new structure that will improve efficiency and reduce complexity. This new organizational structure will enable the company to more quickly deliver on its previously announced Across the Table goals.

“Our team will be more responsive, agile and better positioned to work with our dealers as we serve our customers,” Charter said.
•Distribution Services Divisions – the primary interface with our dealers, these divisions will remain but be reduced to two from three. The two groups will maintain sole responsibility for dealer development and performance, succession and continuity, along with portfolio management, operational excellence and Across the Table strategy execution.•Asia Pacific, CIS, Africa & Middle East Distribution Division, Vice President Raymond Chan – covers dealers in Asia-Pacific, CIS, Africa and the Middle East.
•Americas & Europe Distribution Division, Vice President Phil Kelliher – covers dealers in North and South America and Europe.

•Global Aftermarket Solutions Division, Vice President Nigel Lewis – new organization created to accelerate the growth of aftermarket sales and service solutions. This organization combines the aftermarket sales and marketing resources, with a focus on improving and growing aftermarket sales and service for Resource Industries, Construction Industries and Energy & Transportation, including Cat Work Tools and Cat Reman products.
•Wear Components & Aftermarket Distribution Division, Vice President Doug Hoerr – new division that merges the design and manufacturing of components and aftermarket distribution into one division to enhance the company’s focus on components availability and inventory improvements. This organization will be closely aligned with the Global Aftermarket Solutions Division to ensure product offerings meet or exceed customer and dealer expectations.
•Marketing and Digital Division, Vice President George Taylor – newly created division that builds on the current Analytics & Innovation Division. Taylor, who has also been named Caterpillar’s Chief Marketing Officer, and his team will establish a go-to-market strategy for the integration of data analytics, providing state-of the-art solutions and support for customers and dealers. In addition to the digital transformation of the dealer and customer experience, the division’s functions include global brand management, marketing, rental services and retail sales development.

•Sustainable, Work Tools & Industry Solutions Division, Vice President Greg Folley – new division that brings together the sustainable businesses of Cat Reman and Caterpillar Safety Services with the company’s machine attachment business – Cat Work Tools (design and manufacture). The new division also includes two external sales groups, Cat OEM Solutions and Defense and Federal Products.

Construction Industries Update

In addition to these changes, the Global Construction & Infrastructure Division, led by Vice President Paolo Fellin, has added responsibilities. As part of the company’s move to improve its dealer and customer coverage model, the division will also assume sales responsibilities for work tools, industrial and waste, paving and forestry products, as well as responsibility for heavy rentals.

The above moves will be effective November 1, 2015.

About Caterpillar
For 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets. With 2014 sales and revenues of $55.184 billion, Caterpillar is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates through its three product segments – Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation – and also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.