The taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is risking a renewed political outcry by opposing the restructuring of a major British-based manufacturer that would preserve hundreds of UK jobs.
Sky News has learnt that RBS intends to vote against a proposed takeover of Ideal Stelrad, which makes boilers and radiators, by Bregal Capital, a private equity firm, in a move which will potentially prevent a transition to new ownership.
Bregal has tabled an offer valuing Ideal Stelrad's equity and debt at roughly $230m, a sum sufficient to enable the company's senior lenders to recover their original exposure to it.
RBS, which holds approximately 15% of Ideal Stelrad's shares, is understood to be holding out for a better offer despite the fact that the group's lenders have run an auction lasting well over six months.
Bank of Ireland, another major financial institution that was bailed out by taxpayers during the banking crisis of 2008, is also said to be opposing the deal, although it speaks for only around 5% of the company's shares.
The takeover bid from Bregal is understood to require the approval of at least 75% of Ideal Stelrad's shareholders, but with time running out ahead of an initial deadline on Friday evening, support for the deal is understood to have stalled at around the 70% mark.
Although it is possible for Ideal Stelrad's board to extend the deadline, many of the manufacturer's lenders are understood to be frustrated at RBS's stance and are concerned that Bregal could withdraw its interest.
A spokeswoman for RBS declined to comment, although a source close to the bank said that several options for the future of Ideal Stelrad remained under consideration. RBS did not have the power on its own to block a deal and the bank was intent upon remaining as an investor even after a transaction, they said.
RBS has frequently encountered a political backlash over its lending activities since it was rescued by taxpayers in 2008, with complaints ranging from its choice of customers to its perceived willingness to lend to British companies seeking funds to expand.
Headquartered in Newcastle, Ideal Stelrad has manufacturing facilities in Hull and Mexborough, south Yorkshire. It employs roughly 1,800 people in the UK and at its international operations in countries including Holland, Romania and Turkey, and Bregal is understood to have indicated that it would maintain the manufacturing capacity in the UK.
Ideal Stelrad is one of hundreds of companies in which RBS ended up holding a significant equity stake after the banking crisis and subsequent recession, with these shareholdings apportioned to dedicated teams within the taxpayer-backed bank.
Insiders said that relations between Ideal Stelrad's chairman, Richard Connell, and RBS had been strained for some time.
The bank is said to have been keen for the radiator and boiler divisions of the company to be sold separately in an effort to maximise value. Insiders said on Friday, however, that profits had been in decline at the radiator unit while trade buyers had not made compelling bids for the boiler business.
Bregal is a private equity firm whose investors include the billionaire Brenninkmeijer family, founders of the high street retailer C&A. Its investments in the UK include the fast-growing education company Cognita, and Zephyr, a wind-power generator.
The prospective buyer is understood to have structured its offer to allow existing shareholders to remain owners of up to 24.9% of the company if they wish to remain exposed to it.
If Bregal does succeed in acquiring Ideal Stelrad, it would become the third private equity firm to own the manufacturer in less than a decade.
Previously called Caradon Plumbing, the company was acquired by Montagu, formerly HSBC’s buyout division, for $496m in 2000. The new owners decided to break up the business, selling Twyford Bathrooms for $85m and Mira Showers for $301m, and selling the rump of the group to Warburg Pincus for $227m in 2005.
That investment went awry after Warburg Pincus refinanced Ideal Stelrad at the height of the debt boom in 2007. The company then breached its borrowing agreements and underwent a financial restructuring that culminated in a debt-for-equity swap.
Read the full story at scfwindturbine.com web! If you love wind generator
, welcome to contact us!
2013年8月12日 星期一
Polar explorer on first green expedition
The 57-year-old polar explorer is preparing for an Antarctic expedition in 2015 where he will survive solely on renewable energy during the two-month-long trip.
Swan, who first took the Antarctic journey in 1986, wants to prove that if someone can survive on renewable energy in extreme climatic conditions in the polar region, then it can be replicated anywhere else in the world.
“It will be the first expedition to the South Pole on renewable energy. The whole purpose of undertaking this expedition is to tell the world to switch to environment-friendly sources of energy,” Swan told IANS in an interview. He is in India as part of the Great Himalayan Expedition to open the ‘Third Pole E base’ at Ladakh as part of his ’2041 Campaign’.
“Every year when I go to Antarctic, I find ice of the size of Delhi has broken and is drifting due to the rising temperature … this shouldn’t happen,” said Swan, who has cleaned an entire island in the the South Pole in the last eight years.
Swan says his team is working with experts in the US to devise technology for his green expedition.
“We will be carrying solar panels, a wind turbine and batteries to cook, melt drinking water, run GPS systems, headlamps, charge batteries of electrical devices and instruments. It is a tough task but we are up for it,” said the Englishman, who has been appointed the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth.
All expeditions to the poles till now use fossil fuels like gas and coal to survive in temperature as low as minus 70 degrees Celsius.
Speaking about the ’2041 Campaign’, Swam said: “It an effort to raise awareness about the date (2041) when world leaders will start reviewing the moratorium on drilling and mining for rich minerals in the South Pole.”
“As part of the campaign I have been involving youngsters across the world and inspiring them to take sustainable and environment friendly tasks. These young people will become the future leaders who will take forward my task of saving the planet,” said Swan.
Swan has opened third E-Base station at Ladakh after the Antarctic and Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
The E-Base is a sustainable green building that serves as a model for educational, environmental and energy issues.
“Its purpose is to inspire the world to tackle the issue of climate change. It shows that if we can survive using renewable energy at the remotest locations of earth, then we can all take such measures,” said Swan.
In India, he has been working with The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) and food processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pack on two projects SEARCH and LEADearthSHIP.
Project SEARCH is to create awareness among school students, teachers and the school community at large about waste and the habit of refusing, reducing, reusing and recycling.Read the full story at scfwindturbine.com web! If you love wind turbine, welcome to contact us!
Swan, who first took the Antarctic journey in 1986, wants to prove that if someone can survive on renewable energy in extreme climatic conditions in the polar region, then it can be replicated anywhere else in the world.
“It will be the first expedition to the South Pole on renewable energy. The whole purpose of undertaking this expedition is to tell the world to switch to environment-friendly sources of energy,” Swan told IANS in an interview. He is in India as part of the Great Himalayan Expedition to open the ‘Third Pole E base’ at Ladakh as part of his ’2041 Campaign’.
“Every year when I go to Antarctic, I find ice of the size of Delhi has broken and is drifting due to the rising temperature … this shouldn’t happen,” said Swan, who has cleaned an entire island in the the South Pole in the last eight years.
Swan says his team is working with experts in the US to devise technology for his green expedition.
“We will be carrying solar panels, a wind turbine and batteries to cook, melt drinking water, run GPS systems, headlamps, charge batteries of electrical devices and instruments. It is a tough task but we are up for it,” said the Englishman, who has been appointed the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth.
All expeditions to the poles till now use fossil fuels like gas and coal to survive in temperature as low as minus 70 degrees Celsius.
Speaking about the ’2041 Campaign’, Swam said: “It an effort to raise awareness about the date (2041) when world leaders will start reviewing the moratorium on drilling and mining for rich minerals in the South Pole.”
“As part of the campaign I have been involving youngsters across the world and inspiring them to take sustainable and environment friendly tasks. These young people will become the future leaders who will take forward my task of saving the planet,” said Swan.
Swan has opened third E-Base station at Ladakh after the Antarctic and Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
The E-Base is a sustainable green building that serves as a model for educational, environmental and energy issues.
“Its purpose is to inspire the world to tackle the issue of climate change. It shows that if we can survive using renewable energy at the remotest locations of earth, then we can all take such measures,” said Swan.
In India, he has been working with The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) and food processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pack on two projects SEARCH and LEADearthSHIP.
Project SEARCH is to create awareness among school students, teachers and the school community at large about waste and the habit of refusing, reducing, reusing and recycling.Read the full story at scfwindturbine.com web! If you love wind turbine, welcome to contact us!
2013年1月30日 星期三
Developing on-line testing
The Insitec was installed at a work station on one of the assembly lines, directly beneath the bench to which the grinder is delivered for testing.
To carry out the test the assembly line worker pours fresh coffee beans into the grinder and initiates the test sequence. The grinder starts to work and the resulting ground coffee flows out of the grinding chamber, down towards the analyzer. A venturi aspirates the arriving sample into the measurement zone of the instrument.
One of the parameters measured during laser diffraction particle size analysis is obscuration (or transmission), the amount of light penetrating the sample. Measuring at an appropriate obscuration is essential to obtain reliable particle size data and is therefore one of the issues addressed during method development. In routine operation, obscuration can be used to trigger an analysis. In this set-up the arrival of ground coffee reduces the amount of light seen by the detector, automatically triggering measurement at an appropriate concentration, without any manual intervention. The end of the analysis is marked in an identical manner.
The particle size distribution data for the sample is presented in real-time on the screen towards the back of the workstation. Data presentation has been precisely developed to meet the requirements of the application and particle size data is not the most prominently displayed information although the software does calculate a median particle size for the coffee (Dv50 – the particle size below which 50% of the population by volume lies). The focus of attention for the operator is the green areas of the screen which indicate whether the grinder is giving acceptable performance, and if not, how many turns of the gear wheel are required to correct it.
Figure 2 shows a test result where change is required, in this case a single turn in one direction. A negative sign ahead of the number would indicate a need to turn in the opposite direction. Following any corrective action a second test is carried out.
Refining the analytical solution to this level of simplicity and effectiveness required some initial effort. Key tasks were to establish suitable specifications, for each grinder type manufactured, and the development of a suitable interface.
De'Longhi worked with Malvern application specialists to exploit the full potential of the software that drives the analyzer and enables its integration with other processing equipment. The result is that data is presented in an easy to understand way that minimises the risk of error by the operator.
Testing is now completed in a few seconds and the amount of coffee used is relatively small. Because the grinder is tested with real coffee, small sample size is a distinct advantage that reduces the ongoing cost of testing. Every grinder is tested and each one leaves the testing station with numerical test data verifying performance. This data is linked to the serial number for the grinder, and ultimately the coffee maker, and form part of a matrix of QC test data for the machine, that verifies every aspect of performance.
Although the company no longer relies on the expert eye/feel of the assembly line staff but they are still trained to recognise powders in this way. Today, particle size data enables trainers to teach people to recognise the feel of specific blends and to demonstrate the sensitivity of the solution that the company has developed. Such efforts emphasise to all staff the need to control the particle size of the coffee in a statistically reliable way, and underline company commitment to manufacture of the highest quality products.
Looking further forward, particle size information is also now driving continuing development. At De’Longhi the Insitec systems are in almost constant use as development staff also use the system to gather experimental data to support research. Particle size results also enable assessment of different grinder designs, with, for example, different internals, allowing the company to refine its product offering.
To carry out the test the assembly line worker pours fresh coffee beans into the grinder and initiates the test sequence. The grinder starts to work and the resulting ground coffee flows out of the grinding chamber, down towards the analyzer. A venturi aspirates the arriving sample into the measurement zone of the instrument.
One of the parameters measured during laser diffraction particle size analysis is obscuration (or transmission), the amount of light penetrating the sample. Measuring at an appropriate obscuration is essential to obtain reliable particle size data and is therefore one of the issues addressed during method development. In routine operation, obscuration can be used to trigger an analysis. In this set-up the arrival of ground coffee reduces the amount of light seen by the detector, automatically triggering measurement at an appropriate concentration, without any manual intervention. The end of the analysis is marked in an identical manner.
The particle size distribution data for the sample is presented in real-time on the screen towards the back of the workstation. Data presentation has been precisely developed to meet the requirements of the application and particle size data is not the most prominently displayed information although the software does calculate a median particle size for the coffee (Dv50 – the particle size below which 50% of the population by volume lies). The focus of attention for the operator is the green areas of the screen which indicate whether the grinder is giving acceptable performance, and if not, how many turns of the gear wheel are required to correct it.
Figure 2 shows a test result where change is required, in this case a single turn in one direction. A negative sign ahead of the number would indicate a need to turn in the opposite direction. Following any corrective action a second test is carried out.
Refining the analytical solution to this level of simplicity and effectiveness required some initial effort. Key tasks were to establish suitable specifications, for each grinder type manufactured, and the development of a suitable interface.
De'Longhi worked with Malvern application specialists to exploit the full potential of the software that drives the analyzer and enables its integration with other processing equipment. The result is that data is presented in an easy to understand way that minimises the risk of error by the operator.
Testing is now completed in a few seconds and the amount of coffee used is relatively small. Because the grinder is tested with real coffee, small sample size is a distinct advantage that reduces the ongoing cost of testing. Every grinder is tested and each one leaves the testing station with numerical test data verifying performance. This data is linked to the serial number for the grinder, and ultimately the coffee maker, and form part of a matrix of QC test data for the machine, that verifies every aspect of performance.
Although the company no longer relies on the expert eye/feel of the assembly line staff but they are still trained to recognise powders in this way. Today, particle size data enables trainers to teach people to recognise the feel of specific blends and to demonstrate the sensitivity of the solution that the company has developed. Such efforts emphasise to all staff the need to control the particle size of the coffee in a statistically reliable way, and underline company commitment to manufacture of the highest quality products.
Looking further forward, particle size information is also now driving continuing development. At De’Longhi the Insitec systems are in almost constant use as development staff also use the system to gather experimental data to support research. Particle size results also enable assessment of different grinder designs, with, for example, different internals, allowing the company to refine its product offering.
2012年12月17日 星期一
Reforming gun control is essential
The impression that this leaves on the average person is remarkably different from other mass shootings in the United States: this involved a new level of innocence and a new tier of destruction that had not been experienced in this manner.
Why was this preventable? While gun control could have easily prevented this from happening, the bigger issue is the fragmented and greatly flawed mental health system in the United States. The only more powerful stigma than dealing with guns in any meaningful manner is the stigma attributed of living with mental health issues in North America.
Federal regulations of the retail sale of guns are the weakest in the industrialized world, there is little to no accountability to those who sell firearms due to loopholes and a lack of teeth to legislation. The logical first step is the elimination of the legality of high capacity magazines and assault rifles. The defence of these by hunters as necessary for shooting deer is simply disingenuous and unrealistic.
Just because you have a right to own firearms does not mean you should have the right to own a killing machine with a laser sight that shoots 150 rounds a minute. These kind of weapons were designed for war and killing people, not hunting.
Stopping criminals and underage youth from buying guns is important, but this does not stop someone with documented or undocumented mental illness from purchasing or gaining access to firearms (this is not to compare those living with mental illness to criminals).
Putting teeth in the regulations of firearm sales and possession to mandate necessary psychological testing to purchase handguns would be an important step to reform. You have to provide a police check and are typically interviewed for certain types of jobs, why shouldn’t an even higher level of responsibility be required to possess firearms? If you can prove you have a clean bill of mental health, you should be granted the purchase of a firearm. This is not meant to bolster the stigma against mental illness in North America, but rather is a practical public policy method.
But critics would note the killer’s mother was the legal owner of the firearms. Indeed she was, but reforms should extend to this as well. If you have dependents suffering from mental illness, your gun possession rights should be restricted. If you cannot understand the irresponsibility of owning multiple pistols and assault rifles while sharing a house with somebody diagnosed with a mental illness with violent implications, there should be safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.
The diagnosis of mental illness and living with it is a totally different beast though. In a country with skyrocketing prices for medical and clinical aid, access to diagnosis and the resources to deal with mental illness fall by the wayside every passing day. Millions live with personality disorders and the more extreme schizophrenia and sociopathic behaviour, which many live undiagnosed with every year.
Typically, they are more at risk to themselves than others, but the exceptions can result in tragedy. True, there are many cases of mass murders being committed by people who are simply loners, socially isolated and angry towards the world. But many would consider this form of depression to be just as important to diagnose.
However, simple mental screening methods could potentially identify people at a higher risk of violence and not leave people applying hindsight judgments that they should have noticed the behaviours. Mental illness is not just confined to thoughts, the issue of chemical imbalances is also key to conceptualizing this. Too much testosterone is anything but a good thing for the male mind.
Why was this preventable? While gun control could have easily prevented this from happening, the bigger issue is the fragmented and greatly flawed mental health system in the United States. The only more powerful stigma than dealing with guns in any meaningful manner is the stigma attributed of living with mental health issues in North America.
Federal regulations of the retail sale of guns are the weakest in the industrialized world, there is little to no accountability to those who sell firearms due to loopholes and a lack of teeth to legislation. The logical first step is the elimination of the legality of high capacity magazines and assault rifles. The defence of these by hunters as necessary for shooting deer is simply disingenuous and unrealistic.
Just because you have a right to own firearms does not mean you should have the right to own a killing machine with a laser sight that shoots 150 rounds a minute. These kind of weapons were designed for war and killing people, not hunting.
Stopping criminals and underage youth from buying guns is important, but this does not stop someone with documented or undocumented mental illness from purchasing or gaining access to firearms (this is not to compare those living with mental illness to criminals).
Putting teeth in the regulations of firearm sales and possession to mandate necessary psychological testing to purchase handguns would be an important step to reform. You have to provide a police check and are typically interviewed for certain types of jobs, why shouldn’t an even higher level of responsibility be required to possess firearms? If you can prove you have a clean bill of mental health, you should be granted the purchase of a firearm. This is not meant to bolster the stigma against mental illness in North America, but rather is a practical public policy method.
But critics would note the killer’s mother was the legal owner of the firearms. Indeed she was, but reforms should extend to this as well. If you have dependents suffering from mental illness, your gun possession rights should be restricted. If you cannot understand the irresponsibility of owning multiple pistols and assault rifles while sharing a house with somebody diagnosed with a mental illness with violent implications, there should be safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.
The diagnosis of mental illness and living with it is a totally different beast though. In a country with skyrocketing prices for medical and clinical aid, access to diagnosis and the resources to deal with mental illness fall by the wayside every passing day. Millions live with personality disorders and the more extreme schizophrenia and sociopathic behaviour, which many live undiagnosed with every year.
Typically, they are more at risk to themselves than others, but the exceptions can result in tragedy. True, there are many cases of mass murders being committed by people who are simply loners, socially isolated and angry towards the world. But many would consider this form of depression to be just as important to diagnose.
However, simple mental screening methods could potentially identify people at a higher risk of violence and not leave people applying hindsight judgments that they should have noticed the behaviours. Mental illness is not just confined to thoughts, the issue of chemical imbalances is also key to conceptualizing this. Too much testosterone is anything but a good thing for the male mind.
訂閱：
意見 (Atom)