Technology

The Week in Canadian Press Releases: 10 Stories You Need to See

Published

2 years ago

June 14, 2024

A roundup of the most newsworthy press releases from Cision Distribution this week

TORONTO, June 14, 2024 /CNW/ – With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on Cision. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week’s most newsworthy and popular releases, here’s a recap of some major stories from the week that shouldn’t be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

A&W becomes the first Canadian QSR to introduce the Pup Patty: a treat you can order just for your dog
A&W Canada, Home of the Burger Family, is introducing a delicious treat with a special purpose, dedicated to the cuddliest members of our families: dogs! From June 10th to June 23rd, dog parents can visit their nearby A&W drive-thru and treat their furry companions to a $2 Pup Patty. A&W is cooking up these Pup Patties without the iconic A&W seasoning so that every dog can safely savour the taste of their premium grass-fed beef. When you treat your furry friend to this special meal, you’re also supporting service dog training organizations across Canada. A portion of the proceeds from every Pup Patty purchased (from June 10th to 23rd) will be donated to non-profit organizations in Canada dedicated to raising and training service dogs that provide life-changing independence to Canadians living with disabilities. The organizations include the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS).Sixty North Unity, Northwestel and Bell Canada announce transformative partnership to advance economic reconciliation
Sixty North Unity intends to acquire Northwestel, the leading telecommunications service provider in the North. Following the completion of the transaction, Northwestel will be the largest telecommunications company worldwide with full Indigenous ownership. Building on Bell’s historic investments in the North, this partnership enables Sixty North Unity to continue to bridge the digital divide and continue to address the regional disparities in accessing high quality telecommunications services. With a focus on sustainable development and collaborative partnerships, the acquisition will provide Indigenous communities with greater access to long-term stable cash flows to reinvest in the critical areas of community infrastructure, housing, social services, health, and education programs for those that live and work in the North.Copperleaf Technologies Inc. enters into definitive agreement to be acquired by IFS AB
The combination of Copperleaf’s dedicated AIPM solutions are highly complementary to IFS’s EAM focus and the combined solution is expected to continue to deliver outstanding support for their customers. Copperleaf’s success has been founded on the unique skills, expertise and operational experience of the existing Copperleaf team, and Copperleaf’s award-winning culture. IFS is committed to developing and investing in Copperleaf’s capabilities in Vancouver, and expects that those teams will remain central to the future strategy of the combined organization. “This transaction is a great milestone in Copperleaf’s journey.” said Amos Michelson, Chair of Copperleaf. “It’s evidence of IFS’s belief in our organization and recognition of our success, and rewards our shareholders with attractive cash consideration, providing immediate value and liquidity for their shares.”RECONAFRICA ANNOUNCES AN OPERATIONS AND JOINT VENTURE UPDATE
Brian Reinsborough, President and CEO commented: “Our operations teams and contractors are very busy completing the camp and rig moves this week. Since our last update the Jarvie-1 drilling rig has undergone all its maintenance and certification processes with no major issues noted. It has been rigged down and is moving approximately 80 kilometers to the Naingopo location. The conductor hole has been drilled and we continue to track for a spud toward the end of the month. The well is expected to take 90 days to drill, targeting multiple reservoir intervals in the highly prospective Damara Fold Belt. Our joint venture process continues to progress towards closure as we target a completed transaction ahead of the start of drilling of the Naingopo well.” The Company continues to progress its farm out joint venture process which we expect to conclude in the next few weeks.Advantage Announces Strategic Asset Acquisition and Concurrent Financing
The Acquisition is expected to close by the end of June 2024, pending closing conditions, including the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals. The Acquisition will be funded through a combination of common equity, convertible debentures and an upsized credit facility. The Corporation has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters to raise gross proceeds of approximately $65 million of subscription receipts and $125 million of extendible convertible unsecured subordinated debentures on a bought deal basis, with TD Securities Inc. and Scotiabank as joint bookrunners. The Corporation has also entered a debt commitment letter, led by Scotiabank and jointly underwritten with National Bank of Canada and RBC Capital Markets, for a committed and upsized $650 million revolving credit facility.A&W satisfies a long-standing South-Asian craving
A&W is all set to delight veggie burger lovers with its latest flavourful revelation – the Masala Veggie Burger. With a crispy patty that’s made with real vegetables, Nanak® paneer and a zesty masala mix, the veggie burger celebrates South Asian flavours. The burger has been crafted for those seeking a deliciously spicy, vegetable-forward veggie burger experience, and is only available in Ontario for a limited time. “Our Masala Veggie Burger is tasty enough to satisfy any spicy burger lover”, says Amanda Wang, Director of Marketing at A&W Canada. “But truly we crafted this burger to be a taste of home for our veggie fans. As a burger lover, I get sad thinking about anyone ordering a patty-less burger made up of just buns and lettuce. This is the real deal.” The Masala Veggie Burger is available for a limited time at participating A&W locations in Ontario.CANADA GROWTH FUND, GIBSON ENERGY AND VARME ENERGY ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE CANADIAN WASTE-TO-ENERGY PROJECT
Canada Growth Fund Inc. (“CGF”), Gibson Energy Inc. (TSX: GEI) (“Gibson”), and Varme Energy Inc. (“Varme”) are pleased to announce a strategic partnership (the “Partnership”) to accelerate the development of Canada’s first waste-to-energy facility with carbon capture technology (the “Project”). If successful, the Project will be located on Gibson land in the Heartland-area and will have the capability to process 200,000 tonnes per annum of municipal solid waste, diverting residential garbage from landfill. Such waste will be received pursuant to a 15-year contract that has been entered into by Varme and the City of Edmonton. This proposed greenfield waste-to-energy facility, which would be constructed by the Partnership and operated by Gibson, would have integrated carbon capture equipment enabling the Project to incinerate municipal solid waste and produce carbon-negative electricity.Introducing two new Tim Hortons Dream Cookies flavours – OREO DOUBLE STUF® and CARAMILK®- and two new Filled Ring Dream Donuts to celebrate the everyday!
There’s a delicious new assortment of premium sweet treats at your local Tims to satisfy your cravings: two new flavours of Dream Cookies and Filled Ring Dream Donuts! Tim Hortons Dream Cookies are soft on the inside and chewy on the outside, packed with craveable ingredients, and baked fresh in-restaurant throughout the day. After a successful platform launch last year, Tims is now launching two new Dream Cookie flavours – OREO DOUBLE STUF® and CARAMILK® – alongside the already-popular Reese’s® Minis with Pecans. The new OREO DOUBLE STUF® Dream Cookie features a soft and chewy cookies & cream base that’s topped and filled with frosting and sprinkled with OREO crumble on top. The new CARAMILK® Dream Cookie is a chocolate caramel cookie packed with milk chocolate chips and filled with a deliciously gooey caramel filling.CDPQ invests $500 million for National Bank of Canada’s expansion
“CDPQ is proud to continue its long-standing commitment to National Bank by taking part in this transformative acquisition that will enable it to execute a new facet of its expansion plan,” said Vincent Delisle, CDPQ’s Executive Vice-President and Head of Liquid Markets. “This investment is perfectly aligned with our strategy to expand the reach of Quebec companies in order to consolidate their leadership positions in their sectors.” “This transaction is about growth and brings together two great banks with a complementary footprint in personal and commercial banking,” explained Laurent Ferreira, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Bank. “We are delighted to make this acquisition alongside CDPQ, which, through its investment, allows us to take a step forward in our pan-Canadian strategy to expand our activities across the country.” CDPQ’s first investment in National Bank of Canada dates back more than 40 years.Argo Co. Announces Founding Team to Transform How Cities Move
Argo Co. (TSXV: STER) (OTCQX: STEEF) (Steer Technologies Inc.* now d/b/a/ “Argo Co.” or the “Company”), a new technology venture focused on transforming public transportation and improving mobility in cities, today announced that effective immediately, the publicly traded entity will launch Argo as the primary business. Operating under the business name Argo Co., the Company will commence trading under the ticker symbols “ARGH” on the TSX Venture Exchange and “ARGHF” on the OTCQX effective as of markets open today. It is anticipated that the name of the Company will be formally changed to Argo Corporation following a shareholder vote at the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) on July 24, 2024. Argo co-founders, Praveen Arichandran, Qamar Qureshi, and Sisun Lee, have been appointed to management.

Read more of the latest releases from Cision, see our resources for journalists, and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @cnwnews.

About Cision Canada

Cision is a comprehensive communications platform enabling more than 100,000 public relations and marketing professionals around the world to understand, influence and amplify their stories. As the market leader, Cision enables the next generation of communication professionals to strategically operate in the modern media landscape where company success is directly impacted by public opinion. Cision has offices in 24 countries through the Americas, EMEA and APAC, and offers a suite of best-in-class solutions, including Newswire, Brandwatch, Cision Communications Cloud® and Cision Insights. To learn more, visit www.cision.ca and follow @CisionCA on Twitter.

SOURCE Cision Canada

Technology

Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center collaborate on cancer research and personalized prevention

Published

6 hours ago

May 13, 2026

ABU DHABI, UAE, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, together with the Abu Dhabi Public Health Center (ADPHC), today announced the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (Fred Hutch), one of the world’s leading cancer research institutions and home to three Nobel laureates.

By pairing Abu Dhabi’s unified clinical and genomic data infrastructure, sovereign AI capabilities and governed data environments with Fred Hutch’s globally renowned research engine, the ensuing collaborations will pave the way to shortening the distance between scientific discovery and patient benefit, for Abu Dhabi’s community and beyond.

Among the projected collaborations, the two organizations will consider leveraging Abu Dhabi’s intelligent health system, and layering Fred Hutch’s world-class science onto the secure, high-quality, real-world data foundation Abu Dhabi has built. That foundation includes the emirate’s pioneering liquid biopsy programme launched last year, one of the first national-scale efforts of its kind anywhere in the world. Alongside Abu Dhabi’s AI multi-cancer early detection work, and the world’s largest clinically integrated population-scale genomics programme – with nearly one million genomes sequence.

During his visit to the center, HE Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori, Chairman of DoH commented: “Cancer is one of the defining health challenges of our time, and progress depends on combining world-class science with population-scale data, advanced AI, and research. In Abu Dhabi, we have built an AI-enabled health system that ‘cares before it cures, delivering prevention at population scale. We are already achieving some of the highest early cancer detection rates in the world, and through our partnership with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center we are committed to bringing breakthroughs to people in Abu Dhabi and beyond.”

“This MOU between Fred Hutch Cancer Center and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health underscores the power of working together to prevent and treat cancer,” said Thomas Lynch Jr., MD, president and director of Fred Hutch and holder of the Raisbeck Endowed Chair. “Our organizations share a deep commitment to research and to provide the highest levels of cancer prevention, diagnosis and care to our communities, and we are excited to bring our expertise, tools and datasets together to identify unique approaches to cancer care and research in pursuit of our boldest goals.”

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2979204/DoH_Abu_Dhabi.jpg
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SOURCE The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi

Technology

L’Mychele & Associates Founder LaKessia Hill Completes North Texas FWC Hospitality Program (FIFA World Cup) and Appears on The Jeff Crilley Show

Published

6 hours ago

May 13, 2026

DALLAS, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — L’Mychele & Associates LLC is proud to announce two significant milestones for the growing strategic meetings and events firm: Founder & CEO LaKessia Hill has successfully completed the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee’s Hospitality Program and was recently featured on The Jeff Crilley Show.

These accomplishments reflect the company’s continued momentum within the hospitality, tourism, and events industries as L’Mychele & Associates expands its presence through strategic partnerships, leadership engagement, and elevated client experiences.

The completion of the North Texas FWC Hospitality Program further strengthens the company’s commitment to delivering intentional, guest-centered experiences rooted in strategy, hospitality, and meaningful connection — values that are central to the L’Mychele & Associates brand.

In addition, Hill recently joined veteran journalist and media personality Jeff Crilley on The Jeff Crilley Show to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, the vision behind L’Mychele & Associates, and the company’s approach to creating experiences as bold as its clients’ goals.

“Both opportunities represent growth, visibility, and the continued evolution of our brand,” said Hill. “Hospitality is more than service — it’s about creating intentional moments that leave lasting impressions. Being recognized through the hospitality program and having the opportunity to share our story on The Jeff Crilley Show were both incredibly meaningful experiences.”

Known for its consultative and strategy-first approach, L’Mychele & Associates specializes in executive summits, conferences, nonprofit galas, incentive experiences, corporate meetings, and curated social gatherings. The firm partners with organizations, brands, and leaders to transform ideas into impactful experiences through strategic planning, management, and execution.

Guided by the company’s signature philosophy — “The Art of Listening. The Science of Execution.” — L’Mychele & Associates continues to position itself as a strategic partner within the meetings, events, and hospitality industries.

The episode of The Jeff Crilley Show featuring LaKessia Hill is now available across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Transistor.

About L’Mychele & Associates LLC

L’Mychele & Associates LLC is a Dallas-based strategic meetings and events firm specializing in executive summits, corporate meetings, conferences, nonprofit events, incentive experiences, and curated social gatherings. The company is known for blending strategy, hospitality, and execution to create experiences that drive connection and lasting impact.

Media Contact

LaKessia Hill
Founder & CEO, L’Mychele & Associates LLC
469-402-7825

LaKessia@LMychele.com
www.LMychele.com

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SOURCE L’Mychele & Associates LLC

Technology

HBX GROUP ANNOUNCES HALF YEAR 2026 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Published

6 hours ago

May 13, 2026

LONDON, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — HBX Group International plc (HBX Group, the Company, the Group, HBX.SM) announces its Half Year 2026 results for the six months ended 31 March 2026.

TTV up +17% to €3.8bn, and Revenue of €309m, up +1% YoY at constant currency, reflecting targeted commercial and strategic actions to prioritise growth and capture market share, partly offset by disruption from the Middle East conflictAdjusted EBITDA up +9% at constant currency to €163m, with margin of 53% expanding +4ppts in constant currency. Profit after tax was €28m (H1 25: €(227)m).Strong cash generation with 103% cash conversion and leverage at 1.7x Adjusted Net Debt / Adjusted EBITDA. S €100m share buyback programme and a 7.5 cents per share (c.€18m) interim dividend.Executing the strategic building blocks, including the acquisition of Bridgify announced today.FY26E guidance revised to reflect the impact of Middle East conflict and macroeconomic uncertainty. New FY26 guidance is for constant currency TTV growth +11% to +15%, Revenue growth -4% to +1% and Adjusted EBITDA growth -5% to -2%, and Operating Free Cash Flow conversion between 90% and 100%. Medium-term guidance is unchanged.

First half 2026 Financial Performance Summary1

6 months
ended 31
March 2026

6 months
ended 31
March 2025

Change
constant
currency2

Change

Total Transaction Value (TTV) (€m)

3,770

3,370

+17 %

+12 %

Revenue (€m)

309

319

+1 %

-3 %

Adjusted EBITDA (€m)

163

159

+9 %

+3 %

Delivering profitable growth

Group TTV increased to €3.8bn in the first half, up +17% at constant currency. TTV contribution increased from shorter lead-time bookings, Third Party Supply and Online Travel Agents.

Revenue of €309m, increased +1% in constant currency. Take rate was 8.2%, down 1.3ppts year‑on‑year.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 9%, with margin +4ppts.

Net finance costs were €35m, 77% lower than the prior year. The tax charge was €16m. Adjusted Earnings were €83m, up +44% at constant currency.

Delivering commercial milestones in line with strategy

Commercial progress in H1 2026 reflected HBX Group’s strategy to expand its global travel ecosystem and drive profitability through AI-driven operational efficiency and commercial performance. Key developments included new distribution partnerships in Asia-Pacific, acquisitions such as Bridgify and PerfectStay to strengthen experiences and dynamic capabilities, and new platform and fintech initiatives.

HBX group also continued embedding AI across products and operations, including AI-powered solutions for Bedsonline and HotelTech, while scaling internal AI agents already delivering measurable savings and supporting more than 120 identified use cases, reinforcing the Group’s connected B2B travel ecosystem strategy.

Regional performance and trading dynamics

TTV grew in double-digits in all three regions, up +18% in the Americas and +16% in both MEAPAC and Europe, at constant currency.

In Europe, TTV growth was supported by strong intra‑regional and domestic travel. Asia Pacific up +18%, partly offset by slower growth in the Middle East and disruption on some Europe-Asia corridors. In the Americas, TTV was predominantly driven by domestic demand.

Middle East impact and near‑term outlook

Since late February, the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has impacted travel demand across affected destinations and selected international corridors, resulting in increased volatility, shorter booking windows and reduced near‑term visibility. The impact of this on H1 Group TTV growth was approximately 1ppt.

HBX Group implemented dynamic pricing, inventory reallocation and active partner support. Demand outside affected corridors has been more resilient.

Cost discipline, cash generation and capital allocation

Underlying operating costs fell by 5%. Performance was supported by productivity initiatives, automation and AI.

On a last 12-month basis, Operating Free Cash Flow was €447m, with cash conversion of 103% over the last 12 months. Adjusted Net Debt at 31 March 2026 stood at €741m.

Outlook

The Group started FY26 with strong performance. Since late February, trading conditions have been adversely impacted by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and broader geopolitical uncertainty.

The Group has revised its FY26 guidance. Updated outlook reflects a -4ppt effect of the Middle East conflict on TTV growth. Assumes four months of disruption with gradual stabilisation.

For the complete press release and disclaimer applicable to this information, please visit www.investors.hbxgroup.com

1 See financial statements for definitions of specific financial terms and KPIs, including any Alternative Performance Measures (APMs)
2 Constant currency changes exclude the impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations by translating current year results at the exchange rates used in the prior year.

Contact:
Clara Truyols
clatruyols@hbxgroup.com

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SOURCE HBX Group