Category: South Africa

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced that Zoom and Five9 have mutually terminated the merger agreement executed by the parties on July 16, 2021.

At Five9’s special meeting of stockholders held on September 30, 2021, Five9 did not obtain the requisite stockholder support for the merger agreement. As a result, Zoom and Five9 each had the ability to terminate the merger agreement.

“While we were excited about the benefits this transaction would bring to both Zoom and Five9 stakeholders, including the long-term potential for both sets of shareholders, financial discipline is foundational to our strategy,” said Eric S. Yuan, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Zoom. “The contact center market remains a strategic priority for Zoom, and we are confident in our ability to capture its growth potential. At Zoomtopia, we announced the Zoom Video Engagement Center, our cloud-based contact center solution, which will launch in early 2022. Video Engagement Center will be a flexible, easy-to-use solution that connects businesses and their customers. We are building this new solution with the same scalability and trusted architecture that has made Zoom the platform of choice for businesses around the world. We also plan to maintain our valued existing contact center partnerships with companies like Five9, Genesys, NICE inContact, Talkdesk, and Twilio. We remain focused on driving long-term value creation for Zoom shareholders and delivering happiness to our customers through our broad-based communications platform including unified communications, developer, and events solutions.”

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. We help you express ideas, connect to others, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ: ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains express and implied “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding Zoom’s strategic priorities, market opportunity, product launches, the expected benefits of new products, growth strategy, partnerships and expected benefits from the same, and business aspirations to support organizations and people on multiple fronts as they look to reimagine work, communications and collaboration. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “predict,” “potential,” “target,” “explore,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including factors beyond our control, that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the statements, including: declines in new customers and hosts, renewals or upgrades, difficulties in evaluating our prospects and future results of operations given our limited operating history, competition from other providers of communications platforms, continued uncertainty regarding the extent and duration of the impact of COVID-19 and the responses of government and private industry thereto, including the potential effect on our user growth rate once the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic tapers, particularly as a vaccine becomes widely available, and users return to work or school or are otherwise no longer subject to shelter-in-place mandates, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the overall economic environment, any or all of which will have an impact on demand for remote work solutions for businesses as well as overall distributed, face-to-face interactions and collaboration using Zoom, delays or outages in services from our co-located data centers, and failures in internet infrastructure or interference with broadband access which could cause current or potential users to believe that our systems are unreliable. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements are included under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2021. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to Zoom at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. Zoom assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, except as required by law.

Press Relations
Colleen Rodriguez
Global Public Relations Lead for Zoom
press@zoom.us

Investor Relations
Tom McCallum
Head of Investor Relations for Zoom
investors@zoom.us

INVNT GROUP Develops and Builds Three Immersive Brand Experiences

New York, NY, Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — [INVNT GROUP] and PepsiCo have strategically partnered to design and build three one-of-a-kind, interactive, and educational pavilions opening October 1^st , 2021. Each pavilion is designed around core sub-themes of Mobility, Sustainability, and Opportunity.

PepsiCo’s global brands including Aquafina®, Gatorade®, Pepsi® and Lay’s® headline the landmark pavilions; designed with the power of connectivity and sustainable futures in mind. 

Each pavilion has taken acute dedication, creativity, and labor – logging 6,032 hours for the Aquafina The Drop pavilion, 5,815 hours for the Gatorade The Bolt pavilion, and 5,943 hours for the Pepsi & Lay’s The Plus pavilion. Through advanced modular methodologies, INVNT GROUP in partnership with it’s on the ground fabrication partner in Dubai, Bespoke Modular Systems, has designed and engineered the pavilions with eco-conscious materials and considerations.

Scott Cullather, President & CEO, INVNT GROUP notes, “We’ve been working collaboratively with PepsiCo since 2006 on many of their largest activations and brand engagements across the portfolio. We are thrilled to continue that partnership through our purposeful work. The entire world will be present at this magnificent event, and we look forward to entertaining, educating, inspiring, and delighting.”

Jamal Wick, Managing Director, Bespoke Modular Systems added, “We are thrilled to support INVNT GROUP in bringing to life their designs for these iconic pavilions and can’t wait for the world to experience them firsthand this October.”

Aquafina: The Drop

The glistening Aquafina pavilion features 41,000 strategically placed recyclable aluminum cans on its exterior, creating a striking yet fluid water-drop structure. Visitors will be transported through The Drop pavilion as if within a water drop, while engaging with eye-opening statistics and ways to eradicate water inequity experienced by so many, globally.

It also delivers a high-tech experience with “Aquatar”: the 3D water encyclopedia that shares facts on the human body’s relationship to water. Aquatar was created with Unreal Engine, the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool for cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. Upon engaging, guests are transformed into water and water particles are displayed on a larger-than-life curved projection wall – all in real time.

Gatorade: The Bolt

Gatorade delves into to the science of physical performance and active lifestyles. The Bolt pavilion features multiple educational and shareable moments, starting with a retrospective of the Gatorade legacy and its relationship to some of the greatest athletes and sports moments of all time.

Visitors will get a look at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI Lab), which boasts years of research focused on performance of the human body and its unending capabilities. Gatorade approaches personal hydration through innovation, with the GX™ Sweat Patch. Created to sync with your mobile device, the patch tracks performance vitals through perspiration, and offers bespoke recommendations for powering active lifestyles.

The Bolt pavilion also features an experiential moment where visitors can put their agility to the test against other visitors, through the Gatorade React Board.

Pepsi & Lay’s: The Plus

Bringing two of the world’s biggest brands under one roof, visitors can crunch and fizz through The Plus pavilion. Designed to engage all the senses through a kaleidoscope of bold flavors and rich colors, the pavilion creates a moment of joy and discovery.

Lay’s immersive pods allow visitors to bask in the renewing power of the spring season. Visitors can step into a striking cherry blossom display that is enhanced by scents of some of the most inventive Lay’s flavors from around the world.

Pepsi Black draws visitors into a multi-media world activated by cutting edge technology. Unity, the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D (RT3D) content, powers interactive stations like the Pepsi Black “Pledge Wall” – a giant 5m x 4m LED curved wall where guests can enter a pledge and send their pledge into the fizzing world of Pepsi. The wall will hold all visitor’s pledges over the 6 months duration of the global conference. The number of pledges will keep accumulating and eventually the activation will cycle through thousands of pledges.

“PepsiCo will bring its unique sense of fun, ensuring that every guest makes the most of this iconic world gathering. The Bolt, The Drop, and The Plus are perfectly aligned with subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability and will showcase how PepsiCo will lead the world towards a fun and sustainable future,” said PepsiCo’s AMESA Chief Marketing Officer, Mustafa Shamseldin.

The pavilions will be open from 1 October 2021 through March 2022.

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ABOUT INVNT GROUP

[INVNT GROUP] was established with a vision to provide consistent, meaningful, well-articulated BrandStory across all platforms. With offices in New York, Dubai, London, Singapore, San Francisco, Sydney, Stockholm, Detroit, and Washington D.C.; headed up by President and CEO, Scott Cullather, [INVNT GROUP], THE GLOBAL BRANDSTORY PROJECT™ represents a growing portfolio of complementary disciplines designed to help forward-thinking organizations everywhere, impact the audiences that matter, anywhere. The GROUP consists of modern brand strategy firm, Folk Hero; creative-led culture consultancy, Meaning; branded content studio and content marketing agency, HEVĒ; collegiate events and experiences, INVNT Higher Ed, and INVNT, the founding live brandstory telling agency. For more information about [INVNT GROUP], visit: www.invntgroup.com.

ABOUT PEPSICO

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than US$70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, and Tropicana. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 23 brands that generate more than US$1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is the vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. “Winning with Purpose” reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of the business.  For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

ABOUT BESPOKE MODULAR SOLUTIONS

Bespoke Modular Solutions (BMS) provides a new level of modular and prefabricated turnkey solutions to innovational real estate developers, hoteliers, and private residential projects to name a few. We offer a complete end-to-end solution, from a team of international experts that understand the region’s cultural and geographical sensitivities. Our designers and engineers have worked for the most renowned European companies in modular construction and in hotel operations.

Our company values live by building a better future for our next generation and children. We therefore are proud to say that we are pioneers in the region in off-site construction in an eco- friendly environment, with sustainable materials and in a time reduced manner. For more information, visit: www.bespoke-modular-solutions.com.

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• PepsiCo Pavilions

Jhonathan Mendez de Leon
[INVNT GROUP]®
3478192089
jmendezdeleon@invnt.com

New data from Sphera reveals that, despite promises to the contrary, companies struggle with implementing and disclosing progress on their sustainability efforts

CHICAGO, Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Though pressure is growing from all corners—from investors, to governments, to boards of directors—companies worldwide struggle to report progress on their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. Indeed, just 38% of businesses publicly communicate their sustainability performance, according to a new survey from Sphera^®, a leading global provider of ESG performance and risk management software, data and consulting services.

It’s not just a matter of disclosing progress on their objectives, however; companies are also behind the curve when it comes to clearly setting their ESG goals in the first place. Less than one-third (29%) of the respondents said they have set and communicated their sustainability targets, and even fewer—16%—have set emissions targets in accordance with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) framework.

This marked lack of ESG transparency highlights the persistently wide chasm between ESG promises and action in the private sector. In the absence of significant, enforceable regulations worldwide, companies have largely been left to voluntarily make commitments, but with no meaningful mechanisms to either measure their progress or hold themselves accountable to them. About half (51%) of companies surveyed affirm that their senior management has made sustainability commitments, but only 21% say they have a clear roadmap to implementation, and just 26% say they have fully integrated sustainability into their business strategy.

“It’s easy to ‘talk the talk’ when it comes to corporate ESG initiatives, but much harder to ‘walk the walk’,” says Paul Marushka, Sphera’s CEO. “Businesses have largely been left to their own devices to establish and measure their sustainability performance, leading to a constellation of voluntary frameworks that ultimately disincentivize meaningful action. But with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent report providing its strongest warning yet – indicating that half-measures will no longer cut it – and the upcoming COP26 conference promising to hold the business community to account, organizations need to start making good on their promises and show tangible progress.”

These findings are from Sphera’s Sustainability Survey 2021, a survey of 218 global business leaders evaluating their sustainability metrics, measurement and progress.

Additional findings from the survey include:

Scope 3 is missing from the menu. Though reducing emissions across the value chain is essential to meeting decarbonization targets and—for those businesses who have committed to them—achieving net zero emissions, very few companies have accounted for Scope 3 emissions in their sustainability plans. Only 13% of businesses surveyed said they have identified all relevant Scope 3 categories and completed a corresponding hotspot analysis; 29% say they consider the entire value chain when calculating their corporate emissions baseline or carbon footprint.

“Scope 3 emissions can make up the vast majority of a company’s overall carbon footprint,” Marushka added, “which means any sound sustainability strategy must involve an assessment of the supply chain and a commitment to working with suppliers who are also taking measurable steps to reduce their emissions. The end result ultimately creates a multiplier effect for both companies’ sustainability efforts.”

Poor data quality can stymie even the best efforts. Only a minority of respondents (16%) use data from established commercial databases to quantify their corporate carbon footprint; another 14% say they use high-quality, industry-based data for baseline assessment at the product level. In practice, this means many more organizations are using suboptimal datasets, such as spend-based, input-output databases, to measure their emissions. These types of top-down, nonspecific data sources can lead to inaccurate assessments, further exacerbating the gap between sustainability promises and outcomes.

The middle market struggles the most. Perhaps unsurprisingly, large organizations with more than $1 billion in revenue are more likely to be rated as optimized (34%) in terms of sustainability maturity.¹ At the same time, 39% of small businesses with less than $100 million in revenue are considered optimized. Midsize businesses trail both, with an optimization rate of just 30%. In fact, midsize businesses are more likely than their larger or smaller counterparts to not exceed basic compliance requirements (25% vs.13% for smaller organizations and 6% for larger organizations).

About the Sustainability Maturity Survey 2021
Sphera partnered with the University of Esslingen in Germany to design and field a survey of companies throughout Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Respondents represented businesses in a wide range of industries, including automotive, construction, education, health care, oil and gas, manufacturing and technology. The survey was conducted between April 7 and May 3.

About Sphera
Sphera creates a safer, more sustainable and productive world. We are a leading global provider of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance and risk management software, data and consulting services with a focus on Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHS&S), Operational Risk Management and Product Stewardship.

Press Contact
Kylie Souder
kylie.souder@aspectusgroup.com
+1 513-304-5776

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¹ According to Sphera’s Sustainability Maturity rubric, an “optimized” business leverages ESG software and data resources to go above and beyond meeting compliance requirements to help find efficiencies, increase productivity and innovation, reduce costs and mitigate risks. A “leader” is at the head of the competitive pack and is shaping the future of its sector through its sustainability initiatives.