Simon Property Group and Taubman Centers Agree on New Merger Deal

The on-again, off-again deal is apparently a go once again.

By Eric Volkman (this article was published on the Motley Fool on Nov 16, 2020)

 

On Monday, Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) and peer Taubman Centers (NYSE:TCO) announced in a joint press release that they've amended the terms of their merger agreement.

Under the new terms of the deal, Simon will essentially acquire Taubman, paying $43 per share for an 80% stake in its fellow retail real estate investment trust (REIT). That price is the most notable term of the modified deal, as it's down from the originally agreed $52.50.

Since it was originally announced in February, the merger has assumed the dimensions of a soap opera. With the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating effect on the retail sector, Simon tried to back out of the deal entirely. In return, Taubman sued its would-be acquirer to prevent this. That lawsuit has been settled, both companies said.

A rapid decline in fortunes could be a major reason why the two REITs again found common ground. In its most recently reported quarter, Taubman suffered a 16% year-over-year decline in its total revenue, while its adjusted funds from operations (FFO, considered the most important profitability line item for REITs) fell a steeper 29%. 

Simon's recent declines are even sharper. In its latest published quarter, the company's top line eroded by 25%, and FFO decreased by 33%.

AIA ABI Index for October 2020

ABI October 2020: As the decline in billings continues to slow, architecture firms report an increase in contracts signed for new work.

AIA ABI Billings, October 2020, 47.5

Previous month was 47.0

AIA ABI Design Contracts, October 2020, 51.7

Previous month was 48.9

Buyer seeking OCE Colorwave and OCE TDS and Plotwave systems

Seeking older OCE Colorwave 900-910 systems .... Oce TDS-700 - 750 - TDS-600 - Plotwave's. 

 

Jon Lazar – WTC, 919-605-4534 

Email  jlazar477@gmail.com

AIA ABI Index for September 2020 – at 47.0

Link to September 2020 AIA ABI article:

 

http://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/RP20_382260_10-16_ABI_infographic-September19–September20.pdf

 

Insana: Kudlow is wrong, this is not a V-shaped recovery

FROM AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON CNBC -----

PUBLISHED WED, OCT 21 202012:53 PM EDTUPDATED WED, OCT 21 20201:30 PM EDT

 

KEY POINTS:

 

·       White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow maintained that the U.S. is in a V-shaped recovery.

·       Multiple indicators show that the belief in a sharp rebound isn’t so, according to Ron Insana.

·       Consumers are substituting goods and services, causing imbalances across the economy, Insana said.

Link to full article:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/21/commentary-kudlow-is-wrong-this-is-not-a-v-shaped-recovery.html?recirc=taboolainternal

Where is the V-shaped recovery Larry Kudlow keeps talking about $%#@*&!

I keep hearing Larry Kudlow talk about the “V-shaped” recovery the U.S. is now (supposedly)in the midst of.  

UH, WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT!!!???

Right now, the U.S. is experiencing…..

-       Record unemployment

-       Record deficit spending

-       Record national debt

-       Record number of small businesses closing

Article appearing on “FinancialPost.com” this morning….

“Bond defaults deliver 99% losses in new era of U.S. bankruptcies”

Bankruptcy filings are surging, and many lenders coming to realization their claims are almost completely worthless.  

(

Bloomberg News. Jeremy Hill and Max Reyes, Publishing date:Oct 26, 2020)

Copied from that article….

"Bankruptcy filings are surging due to the economic fallout of COVID-19, and many lenders are coming to the realization that their claims are almost completely worthless. Instead of recouping, say, 40 cents for every dollar owed, as has been the norm for years, unsecured creditors now face the unenviable prospect of walking away with just pennies — if that.

While few could have foreseen the pandemic’s toll on the economy, the depth of investors’ pain from corporate distress was all too predictable. Desperate to generate higher returns during a decade of rock-bottom interest rates, money managers bargained away legal protections, accepted ever-widening loopholes, and turned a blind eye to questionable earnings projections. Corporations, for their part, took full advantage and gorged on astronomical amounts of debt that many now cannot repay or refinance.

The pandemic is upending industries like retail and energy, making it unclear how much assets like stores and oil wells will be worth in the future. The underlying problem for many companies, though, is that they have astronomical levels of debt after borrowing with abandon over the previous decade, then topping up with more to get them through the pandemic."

Link to complete article:

https://financialpost.com/news/fp-street/bond-defaults-deliver-99-losses-in-new-era-of-u-s-bankruptcies

ARC Document Solutions – Q3 2020 vs. Q3 2019

	ARC				2020 to 2019	2020 to 2019
	2018	2019	2020		$ change	% change
Q1	$      97.71	$      97.10	$     88.40		$         (8.70)	-8.96%
Q2	$    104.19	$      98.90	$     64.30		$      (34.60)	-34.98%
1st H	$    201.90	$    196.00	$   152.70		$      (43.30)	-22.09%
Q3	$    100.47	$      94.10	$     70.00		$      (24.10)	-25.61%
9 Mo	$    302.37	$    290.10	$   222.70		$      (67.40)	-23.23%

 

All figures are in millions (so, $97.17 = $97 million).

Green shaded-cell contains ARC’s estimate of Q3 Net Sales (per press release on Oct 19, 2020.)

 

Big Picture Magazine Announces Winners of 2020 Women in Wide-Format

Women in Wide Format Awards

Each year for the past five years, Big PictureMagazine recognized six successful business women in the wide-format digital print industry. 

 

Congratulations to all!

 

Link to Bio’s of the awardees

https://www.bigpicture.net/channel/term/article-type/women-print

 

Acquisition: Durst acquires majority stake in US printer manufacturer Vanguard Digital Printing (Dave Cich and Ernie Chin mentioned in this post)

See Joel’s “back story” about VDP and Dave Cich below, in blue type.

 

From Durst’s Press Release:

 

Durst, manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies, is strengthening its position in the US Graphics Industry with the acquisition of a majority stake in Vanguard Digital Printing Systems, headquartered in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Vanguard Digital is a leading manufacturer of printing systems for the signage, decoration, corporate, industrial and packaging sectors. With the acquisition, Durst adds new printer classes to its large format portfolio, while Vanguard now has a global distribution and service network and technical resources to continue developing robust solutions.

"Vanguard Digital Printing Systems is a rapidly growing and very successful company in a customer segment in which we are currently not active," said Tim Saur, President of Durst North America. "Through the combination of high-quality products, a strong management team and absolute customer orientation, both companies are a perfect match."

As part of the agreement, the new company will operate as Vanguard Durst Digital Printing Systems with effect from October 1, 2020. David Cich remains CEO while Jim Peterson continues to serve as Vice President of Sales.

“It is with great humbleness and excitement that Vanguard Digital will now be a part of the world class industry leading Durst Group,” said David Cich, CEO of Vanguard Digital Printing Systems. “Becoming part of the Durst Group Family, provides Vanguard Digital the opportunity to expand its portfolio of innovative market leading UV Printers to the entire world."

"Vanguard's printing systems have rightly achieved rapid growth and high customer acceptance in the North American market," said Christoph Gamper, CEO and co-owner of the Durst Group. “Despite the global pandemic, we are positioning ourselves for the long term and are determined to invest in the large-format graphics market. In addition, with our technical expertise, Vanguard will continue to ensure that its products and services are industry-leading and a wider customer base will understand what it is like to be part of the Durst family.”

 

Joel’s “back story” about Dave Cich and Vanguard Digital Printing (systems):

Well, the first thing I want to mention is that, to me, Durst’s acquisition of VDP is a very big deal.  I’d also like to congratulate David Cich and the other two founding partners of VDP on this deal. 

I met Dave Cich many years ago when I was working out of L&R in Nashville, TN.  At that time, he was running sales in the SE for OCE’s supplies / consumables business.  Very knowledgeable guy! At that time, L&R was planning to add digital color services (large-format and small-format) to its already robust and very profitable digital b/w plans and specs business.  I asked Dave if he knew anyone that might be available to run digital color production at L&R in Nashville, and he recommended that I contact a guy by the name of Mark who was, at that time, working for Imaging Technologies in Birmingham.  Mark accepted the offer and relocated up to Nashville.  L&R’s digital color business took off very nicely, exactly the outcome expected.  Dave Cich’s recommendation was spot on.

Several years before the above happened, I was working in Los Angeles (actually, Culver City) for Ernie Chin.  Ernie was the founder of Express Color.  I only worked for Ernie for 1 year and 5 months.  Ernie is a very nice guy, and a smart guy to boot. Years later, Ernie started a “large-format digital color equipment” business, known as “CET” importing equipment into the U.S. from China.  Dave Cich was Ernie’s “junior” partner in that business, Dave having left OCE.  I bumped into Ernie and Dave when they were at the CET booth at a trade show in Vegas.  Years after that, and I really don’t know why or how this happened, I read that Dave, with two partners, had left CET and had founded a company – Vanguard Digital Printing. Competing with CET and OCE/Canon and others.

Durst, VDP’s acquirer, has been a very well known, very well respected player for many years in the “large-format color photographic equipment” business.  Continued “good luck” wishes to Dave.

AIA ABI Index for August 2020 - remained at 40.0 (same as June and July)

WASHINGTON – Sept. 23, 2020 – Business conditions remained stalled at architecture firms during August as demand for design services continued to decline, according to a new report from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The pace of decline during August remained at about the same level as in July and June, posting an Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 40.0(any score below 50 indicates a decline in firm billings). Inquiries into new projects during August grew for the first time since February, and the value of new design contracts increased to a score of 46.0. As a result, fewer firms reported a decline in August, despite the fact that they remained negative overall.

“Unfortunately, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many architecture firms are finding fewer inquiries that convert to billable projects,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “While fewer firms reported declining billings in August than during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that the score has been unchanged for the last three months shows that the recovery from this downturn is not progressing at the pace we had hoped to see.”

Key ABI figures for August include:

·      Regional averages: Midwest (41.7); South (41.6); West (41.3); Northeast (33.9) 

·      Sector index breakdown: multi-family residential (49.4); mixed practice (41.9); institutional (40.2); commercial/industrial (35.5) 

·      Project inquiries index: 51.6

·      Design contracts index: 46.0

The regional and sector categories are calculated as a three-month moving average, whereas the national index, design contracts and inquiries are monthly numbers.

Five Critical Pitfalls to Avoid in Construction Document Management

If you’re in the reprographics business and offer “document management services”, then it would be wise for you to be knowledgeable about the pitfalls your customers want to avoid.

Link to article:

https://blogs.oracle.com/construction-engineering/five-critical-pitfalls-to-avoid-in-construction-document-management?xd_co_f=8173a68f-8282-4923-9ce8-24a4a1b33cd3

A/E/C Technology Solutions Listing (from AECbytes)

COPIED FROM AN EMAIL I RECEIVED THIS MORNING:

 

“AEC Technology Solutions Listing

September 10, 2020

 

AECbytes now has a full listing of all the applications that are available for AEC — for the design, construction, and operation of buildings and infrastructure. This listing can be seen at: http://www.aecbytes.com/vendorhub/.

 

I have been searching for such a listing for some time, but did not find it anywhere, so I decided to just go ahead and create one myself.

 

A couple of things to note:

 

The applications are grouped into categories. While there are many applications that do not fit neatly into one single category, an application is listed in the primary category it can be best identified with. This is in order to keep the list compact and make applications easier to find.

 

This is an evolving list and will be continuously updated so it stays current. Feedback on applications that are missing or miscategorized is welcome. Please send the name of the application and the category you think it should be listed in to me at lachmi@aecbytes.com.

            

I hope you find the listing useful. 

 

Lachmi Khemlani

Founder and Editor, AECbytes”

 

Link:

http://www.aecbytes.com/vendorhub/

HP Introduces its newest DesignJet Printers (wide-format plotters)

Today, HP Inc. unveiled the world's easiest large format plotters for AEC and home offices with the latest additions to its DesignJet portfolio. The three new additions to the HP DesignJet series are aimed at simplifying the printing needs of construction ecosystem professionals while delivering high-quality and fast printouts at a low cost.

 

Architect, Engineer, Construction and Home Offices

The world's smallest plotters and more sustainable than ever, the new HP DesignJet Series is aesthetically designed, simple to operate and sustainably constructed

News Highlights 

• Simple to operate: Print multi-size projects automatically and send multiple files in one click with HP Click, all without compromising on speed.¹
• Fits your office and budget: Save space and make a statement with the world's smallest plotters² designed to fit your office and style.
• Matches the way you work: Print your jobs and manage your print jobs from virtually anywhere, anytime with the HP Smart App.
• Meets your sustainability goals: First net carbon neutral printers and world’s most sustainable plotters³, cutting carbon emissions per printer by 7.3 tons a year and constructed from 30% recycled plastic.⁴
• Free, convenient HP ink cartridge and printhead recycling through the HP Planet Partners Program⁵  and works with Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC)-certified papers and a range of recyclable HP media with a take-back program.⁶

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) has announced the release of a new HP DesignJet portfolio aimed to simplify the printing needs of construction ecosystem professionals (architects, engineers, constructors and subcontractors), while delivering high-quality and fast print-outs at a low cost.

The new HP DesignJet series comprises intelligent, flexible, compact and stylish printers, that are unique to other types of plotters on the market today. With HP Click software, one-click printing – even for documents of different sizes – is made easy. Combined with the automatic A3/B tray, it enables to print multi-size projects automatically – A3/B and A1/D or A0/E – without manually switching the media source. The new HP DesignJet series also enables seamless printing and management from any connected device, wherever you are, thanks to the HP Smart App.

The new large-format HP DesignJet portfolio includes:

• The HP DesignJet T200 Printer series: Easy and affordable printing with the world’s smallest plotters.
• The HP DesignJet T600 series: Fast and simple large-format plotters, designed for construction ecosystem professionals focused on executing, problem solving and multitasking.
• The HP DesignJet Studio Printer series: For Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professionals focused on creativity/design and sensitive to aesthetics.

“The new DesignJet Series, from the T200 through to the T600 and Studio Printer versions, bring a new level of design, simplicity and connectivity for creative professionals,” said Guayente Sanmartín, vice president and general manager, HP Large Format Printing Business. “With their automatic printing of A3/B and large format, their ability to print from anywhere and their extreme simplicity, these printers are perfect for AEC professionals that work either in the office or from home. In addition, their use of recycled plastics and the introduction of our first net carbon neutral large format printer underlines HP’s continued commitment to our planet.”

HP DesignJet T200 Printer series

Built to fit in the smallest of spaces, the HP DesignJet T200 Printer series are the world’s smallest large-format plotters. With a width of 24 inches and capable of printing up to A1⁷, they’re designed for simplicity of use with HP Click software, enabling rapid one-click printing of multiple files at once. The A3/B automatic sheet feeder accessory offers the ability to print multi-size A3/LF workflows without changing media input.

Standout features of the HP DesignJet T200 Printer series include:

• High-speed: Print an A1 sheet in as little as 30 seconds.⁸
• Smart Printing: Print multi-size A3/B and A1/D projects without changing the medium and in one-click with HP Click.
• Increased mobility: Print anywhere with the HP Smart App.
• Sustainably designed: Constructed from 30% recycled plastic.³
• Designed to fit your budget: Use up to 95% less ink for routine maintenance.⁹
• Higher-quality results: With 31% more line accuracy and 65% more gamut than competitors.¹⁰

As well as being compact, easy to use and delivering high-quality results, the HP DesignJet T200 Printer series is also comprised of the most sustainable large-format plotters in the world, reducing carbon emissions by using up to 30% recycled plastic.¹¹

HP DesignJet T600 Printer series

The HP DesignJet T600 Printer series shares many of the market-leading characteristics that present the HP DesignJet T200 Printer series as a leader in its class. The new series has the added ability to handle multi-size A3/LF workflows as default, comes with an integrated stand and is designed to handle complex projects, with increased memory and native HP-GL/2 support.

• Extreme simplicity: Print multi-size A3/B and A1/D or A0/E projects automatically, without manually switching the media source and in just one click with HP Click and the integrated A3/B tray.
• Matches the way you work: Avoid waiting by the printer with high-speed printing as fast as 25 seconds per A1/D plot.¹²
• Increased mobility: Print anywhere with the HP Smart App.
• Higher-quality results: With 31% more line accuracy and 65% more gamut than competitors.¹³

Like its compact counterparts, the HP DesignJet T600 Printer series is made up of 30% recycled plastic, helping to reach HP’s goal to increase recycled plastic content¹⁴ – well ahead of its 2025 target.

The versatile, sustainable, intelligent HP DesignJet T600 Printer series is available in 24-inch and 36-inch models. With its premium print engine, it can print a sheet of A1 media in as little as 25 seconds.¹⁵ From set-up to picking up the print job, they are up to 2X faster than their competitors.¹⁶

HP DesignJet Studio Printer series

For design professionals, set up and style of their workplace is a statement about themselves. With a sleek white facia and wood or steel finish, the HP DesignJet Studio Printer series delivers a high-performance experience for design professionals and is uniquely designed without ever compromising on speed, quality or ease of use.

At the intersection of performance and design, the HP DesignJet Studio printer is for creative professionals who need a large-format printer that fits seamlessly into the carefully crafted space of their client-facing workplace, all the while ensuring to keep up with the varied demands of the clients themselves.

Highly sensitive to issues of sustainability, the HP DesignJet Studio Printer series is CarbonNeutral^® certified in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol¹⁷. It covers lifecycle emissions due to raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use of HP printers, Original HP supplies, and paper, and end of service.¹⁸

In addition to this, these printers support multi-size workflows as default, come equipped with HP Click one-click printing software, and possess the ability to commence a job from any connected device with the HP Smart App.