ICE campaign

Here’s some useful tip from my inbox which I believe government or even our mobile phone service providers should adopt as a campaign.

Following the London bombing, an English Ambulance Service has launched an international "In Case of Emergency (ICE) campaign," as they have discovered that at almost every accident scene there is a working mobile phone on the victim.

Paramedics will turn to a victim’s cell phone for clues to that person’s identity. You can make their job much easier with a simple idea that they are trying to get everyone to adopt: ICE.

The idea is that you store the word "ICE" in your cell phone address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency." For more than one contact name ICE 1, ICE 2, ICE 3 etc.

In an emergency situation ambulance, paramedic, police and/or hospital staff will then be able to quickly find out who your next of kin are and be able to contact them. It’s so simple that everyone can do it.

Cashrounds’ acquisition

Gamboa Holdings, one of the major investors of digital trunk radio company Next Mobile, Inc. (NMI), will be acquiring another one-third of publicly listed company Cashrounds this month, according to Mel Velarde, who heads The Velarde Group of which Gamboa Holdings is part of.

And once acquisition of two-thirds of Cashrounds is accomplished, that’s the time when a decision will be made whether or not Next Mobile will use Cashrounds for its expansion plans.

According to Velarde, once two-thirds of Cashrounds is acquired "that will be time we we will thinking of how to move forward; but, most likely, we will have a relationship with Next Mobile, including an asset-for-share swap." NMI has been looking for a company that will serve as its vehicle for a backdoor listing.

Velarde says that with Gamboa Holdings, being part owner of Next Mobile and Cashrounds, there will be a marriage of entities focused on building businesses within the ICT sphere, resulting in a covergence of applications.

Cashrounds is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Investment Bancorporation (AIB), whose shares Gamboa bought. Cashrounds is an online agent that matches companies that have funding requirements with individuals or institutions who have funds to invest.

Earlier this year, ABI, which holds 27.25 million shares representing a 97.23-percent stake in Cashrounds, agreed to sell to Gamboa Holdings two-thirds of Cashrounds.

AIB has said that Gamboa Holdings will expand Cashrounds’ business by building on the latter’s existing information technology platform in order to introduce related products and services like cash remittance, point of sale, among others, and integrating wireless communications technologies.

Payment for the second tranche of one-third’s stake in Cashrounds, covering the second 9.085 million shares, was supposed to be scheduled on July 23, or upon the release of the shares, which are held in escrow, but the parties have decided to postpone it to Aug. 23.

Last June 3, a total of 9.33 million shares of stock of Cashrounds was sold by AIB to Gamboa Holdings via a block sale.

Company round-up

– The Lopezes are out of Maynilad. Maynilad Water Services has paid P2.41 billion to its creditors. Lopez holding company Benpres meanwhile has delivered to the receiver the irrevocable proxy of all its shares in Maynilad, in favor of MWSS or its nominees. Benpres has likewise delivered to the receiver all the shares of stock it holds in Maynilad. The plan is for MWSS to take over Maynilad from Benpres on an interim basis and MWSS will be managing the west zone concessionaire until it finds a new investor in lieu of Benpres.

– Publicly listed ISM Communications, led by former trade minister Bobby Ongpin, is currently in negotiations with the Australian group that owns 40 percent of Eastern Telecom to buy them out. If successful, this would raise ISM’s stake in Eastern to 57.7 percent following the acquisition of a 17.7-percent share in the company from Aerocom Investors. The question is: Are the Australians going to sell, considering that they have been openly opposed to the entry of ISM into Eastern and have even gone to the extent of asking the court to stop the sale by Aerocom? But of course, there are no permanent enemies in business, especially if the price is right.

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