PURCHASE, N.Y., Jan. 8, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MVC Capital, Inc. (NYSE:MVC), a publicly traded business development company that makes private debt and equity investments, today announced that it has invested approximately $40 million in four collateralized senior subordinated loans with a weighted average interest rate of 15.1%.
The four loans were originated by MVC's experienced mezzanine finance team through its relationships with financial institutions. These new loans were restructured in partnership with the senior lender and the four companies in order to keep the companies' total leverage the same and allow MVC to participate within the existing collateral structure. The borrowers operate in various sectors, including the transportation, health care, and software industries. MVC financed the transaction through available cash and borrowings from the new Firstrust Bank credit facility.
"MVC is positioned to be a preferred partner for financial institutions as they seek to preserve and grow client relationships in a changing regulatory environment," said Michael Tokarz, Chairman & Portfolio Manager of MVC Capital. "Having recently established an experienced team focused on the mezzanine lending space, led by veteran bankers David Williams and Harrison Mullin, we are confident in our ability to provide shareholders with meaningful returns on yielding investments in a challenging interest rate environment."
Mr. Mullin added: "With an established presence in the Midwest, a robust pipeline and long-term relationships with national and regional banks and lenders, MVC has the ability to identify and quickly respond to investment opportunities. We believe the quality of the loans, their yields and the collateral in these particular portfolio companies reflect our ability to achieve attractive relative returns for MVC. We look forward to continuing to leverage our relationships with key financial institutions to assist them in advancing their strategic objectives and drive the expansion of MVC's yielding portfolio."
Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2014 Financial Results on February 24, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:BBRG) owner and operator of the BRAVO! Cucina Italiana (BRAVO!) and BRIO Tuscan Grille (BRIO) restaurant concepts, today announced that it will host a conference call to discuss fourth quarter and full year 2014 financial results on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 5:00 PM ET.
Hosting the call will be Saed Mohseni, Chief Executive Officer; Jim O'Connor, Chief Financial Officer; and Brian O'Malley, President and Chief Operating Officer. A press release with fourth quarter and full year 2014 financial results will be issued after the market close that same day.
The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (888) 318-7470, or for international callers (719) 457-2715. A replay will be available one hour after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 870-5176 or (858) 384-5517 for international callers; the conference ID is 3839802. The replay will be available until Tuesday, March 3, 2015.
NEW YORK, March 25, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Varonis Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRNS), the leading provider of software solutions for unstructured, human-generated enterprise data, will kick off its annual series of Varonis Connect events in Paris, France, on April 9. Entering their fourth year, these free educational and networking conferences are expected to draw hundreds of IT leaders from across North America and Europe throughout April and May to learn about new Varonis product innovations and share experiences and success stories.
Varonis Connect attendees, from among Varonis' rapidly expanding base of customers and partners, will learn best practices for how to utilize Varonis software solutions for an increasing range of use cases, including data protection, identity management, archiving and migration, search, file synchronization, and enhanced mobile data accessibility. Varonis engineering and product teams will be on hand to provide attendees with personalized consultations.
David Gibson, Varonis Vice President of Marketing, said, "Registration has been stronger than ever because our customers very much want the chance to interact with their peers across different industries on best practices for using Varonis solutions. We expect them to walk away from their local Varonis Connect events feeling even more knowledgeable about the different ways our solutions can help them reduce risk, increase productivity, and cut costs associated with their organizations' unstructured data."
Gibson continued, "Through these events, our online community and regular communications to our worldwide customers, Varonis Connect is a continuous interactive commitment we make to the thousands of conscientious, forward-thinking IT professionals who rely on Varonis solutions."
Varonis Connect 2015 is free and open to Varonis customers. If you would like to inquire about attending or would like to receive an invitation, please email marketingevents@varonis.com.
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly lower open on Friday, as Wall Street attempted to halt this week's losses.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will speak shortly before closing bell on Friday, and Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer spoke earlier during the day in Frankfurt, on regulatory issues.
Futures were little changed following the report that the third estimate for fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) was unchanged at 2.2 percent. While corporate profits fell, consumer spending was revised higher to 4.4 percent from 4.2 percent, the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2006.
Most analysts expected a rise in overall GDP to 2.4 percent from 2.2 percent. However, a few research reports held that weak U.S. economic data could result in a negative revision.
Later in the morning comes the University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment reading, which may be a little higher than the preliminary reading, due to easing gas prices and financial market volatility.
The major earnings report out on Friday is BlackBerry, which earned four cents per share for its latest quarter, compared to an expected four cent per share loss,but revenue was far below Street forecasts as sales from services exceeded those from hardware.
In other corporate news, Dow Chemical will spin off part of its chlorine derivatives business and merge it with Olin Corporation, creating a company with annual revenue of about $7 billion. It will get about $2 billion in cash and about $2.2 billion in Olin stock as part of the deal.
American Apparel's ex-CEO Dov Charney is seeking $40 million in damages for alleged breach of his employment contract. Charney was removed from his job in December following a six-month suspension amid allegations of misusing funds.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook plans to donate his estimated $785 million fortune to charity, according to a Fortune article.
Amazon.com is in talks to buy online luxury retailer Net-a-Porter, according to Forbes, in what might be the largest-ever acquisition for Amazon
The dollar fell against a basket of currencies on Monday as big gains in oil prices rekindled demand for the euro and commodity-sensitive currencies, soothing concerns about the effects of weak commodity prices on the global economy.
A rally in industrial metal markets led by a 20 percent surge in iron ore prices also stoked bids for riskier currencies and reduced the allure of the greenback.
The increase in oil and metal prices followed assurances from China this weekend that its economy is not heading for a hard landing.
"The market was overly bearish on the Chinese economy. We are seeing a repricing of that," said Charles St-Arnaud, currency strategist at Nomura Securities International in New York.
The greenback rose earlier on Monday on the euro's weakness and a reassessment by traders of Friday's jobs report, which showed stronger-than-forecast hiring in February but a surprise dip in average hourly earnings.
The dollar slipped on Friday as some investors focused on the disappointing wage aspect of the report. It rose earlier on Monday as the payrolls data lessened worries about a U.S. recession in the coming months.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.2 percent at 97.132, erasing an earlier 0.4 percent gain.
The modest revival of the euro, Australian dollar and other commodity currencies versus the greenback will likely be short-lived as the backup in oil and metal prices is expected fade, St-Arnaud said.
The euro initially fell early Monday on bets of stimulus from the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday to support fragile euro zone growth.
"There is a lot of expectations with what the ECB would do," said Sireen Harajli, currency strategist at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.
The ECB is expected to cut interest rates deeper into negative territory and to adjust its 1.1 trillion euro bond-purchase program, but after the bank disappointed many in markets in December, traders have been loath to bet more heavily against the single currency.
Meanwhile, most commodity currencies wiped out early losses as oil prices moved further away from 12-year lows set in February on hopes of reduced supply in the face of soft global demand.
The Australian dollar was up 0.4 percent at $0.7473 while the Canadian dollar strengthened to C$1.3289.
There are a lot of great personal finance books out there to choose from but only some that can change the way you think.
Below, CNBC Make It rounded up three money-related reads that come highly recommended from self-made millionaires, early retirees and super savers because these books were able to help reshape their mindsets about how to spend and how to save.
This 1992 classic, which was recently revised and updated, is a favorite among early retirees and super savers.
One New York City-based millennial, who goes by the pen name J.P. Livingston on her blog "The Money Habit," retired with $2.25 million before age 30. And it was "Your Money or Your Life" that "opened my eyes" to the idea of early retirement, she tells CNBC Make It.
Another millennial millionaire, Grant Sabatier of "Millennial Money," who went from having $2.26 in his bank account to seven figures, calls it "the best book on money, period." And he's read over 360 personal finance books.
It changed his relationship with money and his approach to spending and saving, he tells CNBC Make It: "The premise of it is that you exchange your time for money. And when you start thinking about how many hours of your life it took to save up the money to buy something, you really start thinking twice about your purchases."
For example, "Say I work eight hours a day and after taxes, make $10 an hour, meaning I'm earning $80 a day. I want to go out for a nice dinner on Friday and that costs about $80, meaning I spent an entire day of my life working for this meal. And then you start thinking about even larger purchases, like a $1,000 TV, and you think, 'How much of my life did I trade for this? Is it worth it?'"
"The Money Wizard," a personal finance blogger who saved $100,000 by age 25 and plans to retire in his early 30s, says his journey to financial independence started after reading Jacob Lund Fisker's book at age 22.
"The book changed my whole outlook on a working career," he tells CNBC Make It. "I had always assumed, like most people, that I needed several millions of dollars to retire. Yet here the author was proving retirement was possible on far less than I ever imagined. It's not one size fits all for everybody — it depends on how much money you spend and what your expenses are."
Chris Reining banked $1 million by age 35 and retired at 37, thanks to various habits he had developed, including reading for one hour every night. On his blog, Reining shares books that have had the biggest impact on his life. And Cal Newport's made the list.
"Most people don't understand that how much money you make depends on your value," Reining writes. "And you increase this value by building what Cal Newport calls 'career capital,' or honing more and more skills."
Young people in particular should pick up this books, says the self-made millionaire: "If I read this book when I started my career, I wouldn't have wasted so much time in my 20s being stagnant. I would've known that to advance my career I needed to spend my time mastering more skills."
Redcore, a Chinese start-up said it has developed "core technology" with "independent intellectual property rights" in regards to its internet browser.
But eagle-eyed users on Chinese social media spotted traces of Chrome in the installation directory of Redcore's browser.
A Chinese technology firm that made an internet browser it claims is used by the government and can break the "monopoly" of U.S. software has been found to use parts of Google's Chrome browser.
Redcore, a Chinese start-up said it has developed "core technology" with "independent intellectual property rights" in regards to its browser.
But eagle-eyed users on Chinese social media spotted traces of Chrome in the installation directory of Redcore's browser. There was a file in the directory called "Chrome.exe" and some image files of Google's browser. Both the Financial Times and Beijing-based publication Caixin verified the reports. But the company has since taken down the ability to download the browser, so CNBC was unable to independently verify the claims.
It seems that Redcore may have duped investors. A day before the revelations it announced that it had raised 250 million yuan ($36.2 million) in funding from various entities including "large listed companies and government customers," according to the company.
Redcore also marketed its browser as a purely Chinese piece of technology. In a post on messaging service WeChat, Redcore said that the U.S.-China trade tensions have exposed China's reliability on foreign technology, which is why it had decided to launch a browser.
Todd Elmer, Currency Strategist at Citi, discusses whether the currency's sharp drop following weaker-than-expected quarterly inflation data was justified.
Horror is one of the few genres left that people feel they need to see in theaters, Blumhouse CEO says
Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse, discusses the success of the horror film industry as his company releases the most recent "Halloween" film.
This is CNET, and today we're making tech predictions for the new year. Prediction number one, expect even more gadgets to get smart. Amazon has made it simple for third parties to build in and connect to it's voice assistant. Google and Apple have some catching up to do, but they will both make strides. All in all, your house will be full of gadgets that talk to each other. Next up even more streaming services are coming. Disney already announced it will launch an ESPN streaming service in 2018. Years ago that was unthinkable Except more network to offer their programming directly to consumers. Also, Services like Netflix and Amazon would continue to pour money into their originals. Telas and Reliance are other big media companies. Those who have presafe protections, let's added some bold ones. Expect Amazon to push into Augmented Reality How. It could something as simple as an app where you can arrange virtual items in your home like the Ikea app. Perhaps one or more of the Fire tablets will gain a better camera array so they can work better in the AR space. One more out-there predication, an alphabet company will get into wireless broadband Alphabet's access subsidiary houses Google Fiber which provides high speed internet access to a few markets. However plans for Google Fiber expansion were shelved. Reports say access has looked into wireless technologies in the past. So maybe 2018 is the year the company goes big. [SOUND] [MUSIC] If you want to know if any of those predictions happen throughout the year, download the cnet tech today app, available for iOS and Android, to stay up to date.