CENTRE OPENED BY MINISTER FOR HEALTH, MR SIMON HARRIS TD

Dublin, 21 ST July 2016: Affidea, Ireland’s leading independent diagnostic imaging provider, formerly known as Euromedic, today opened new medical scanning facility in Letterkenny to serve the people of Donegal and surrounding areas. Minister for Health, Mr Simon Harris TD attended the unveiling at Affidea’s state-of- the-art clinic.

Patients who want to arrange a private scan in the Republic of Ireland currently face a two hour drive to Sligo. The company is creating ten jobs and is investing €2m in opening the Letterkenny clinic, as part of an overall €15m investment in the Irish healthcare sector. The multi-modality scanning centre is located on Scally Place off Pearse Road in Letterkenny. It will serve as a primary care diagnostic scanning facility, offering MRI, Ultrasound and X-ray. Affidea Letterkenny is equipped with state of the art technology including the High Specification Philips Ingenia Wide Bore MRI Scanner, providing the highest quality scans and a much improved patient experience, particularly for patients who experience claustrophobia or those who find it difficult to tolerate the noise of older scanners.

Affidea clinics are accredited with the internationally recognised standard in ambulatory care from the Joint Commission International (JCI) and will operate the new clinic in Letterkenny to the same exacting standards while undergoing the accreditation process.

Tom Finn, CEO of Affidea, said: “Today is a landmark in a primary healthcare evolution for Donegal and the North West. The Letterkenny clinic will serve to ensure local patients have greater accessibility to medical scans, quickly, professionally and to the highest of standards. The new clinic will ensure patients can receive the timely attention they need in a primary care environment, rather than hospital based setting. Affidea is proud to offer an ultrasound service in conjunction with the HSE from our new Letterkenny centre, offering an expanded and seamless service to public and private patients.”

Affidea has recently rebranded from Euromedic, to ensure a uniform identity across Europe, and to aid European growth and support the organisations aggressive global expansion plans. Affidea entered the Irish market in March 2007 through the acquisition of MRI Ireland. Over the past eight years, six further locations have been added to the network in Ireland with more centres expected nationwide over the coming months.

NEW DEAL WILL BOOST FIRMS NETWORKS AND FIBRE OPTICS EXPERTISE GLOBALLY.

Dublin, Ireland, March 21, 2016: Actavo, a leading international engineering solutions company headquartered in Dublin, has announced that it has acquired a key division of U.S. company, Atlantic Engineering Group, Inc. The deal, for an undisclosed amount, represents Actavo’s first acquisition in the US. Specialising in design engineering, field services, GIS (geographic information systems) services and permitting, primarily within the FTTH/B (fibre-to- the-home/business) sector, the acquired business – Atlantic Engineering Services (AES) – has operations in Georgia,Texas, Missouri and Colorado.

Actavo has operations in over 100 locations internationally, with a global workforce of 5,000 delivering network, in-home, industrial, hire & sales, building and event solutions to the world’s leading companies. The new business – which will be rebranded as Actavo – will be a key element of Actavo’s Network & In-Home Division, a global provider of outsourced solutions for the telecommunications, energy, power and civil engineering sectors. As a result of the transaction Actavo now has extensive in-house expertise in the United States, with access to 120 network design engineers.

The deal will enhance Actavo’s service provision to its existing client base in Ireland, the UK, the Caribbean and Kazakhstan (i.e. integrated, in-house survey and design capabilities facilitating an end-to- end offering). It will also enable the company to establish a presence in strategic markets at what is an opportune time. Later this year, Fibre-To- The-Home penetration in the U.S. will be at 9%, with 27.9 million homes passed and 12.4 million homes connected. It is forecast that, by September 2019, Total Homes Passed in the U.S. will almost double to 52 million, with the number of homes connected almost doubling to 24 million.

Speaking after the conclusion of the deal, CEO of Actavo | Network & In-Home Division, TJ Malone, said: “This is a red letter day in Actavo’s evolution. Our division began with operations in Ireland, before expanding into the UK and the Caribbean. With this acquisition operations in Ireland, before expanding into the UK and the Caribbean. With this acquisition now forming a critical strand of our international, end-to-end capabilities, we are confident of establishing a formidable presence in North America and making significant strides globally in the design, build and connectivity of fibre optic networks.”

Commenting on the acquisition, James H. Salter, P.E., President, Atlantic Engineering Group, said: “This is an exciting and transformative development for us. Being acquired by Actavo, an international company, takes our business to a new level in terms of global connectivity, exposure to new business prospects and growth potential. Actavo’s mission is to become the preferred engineering solutions partner for the world’s leading companies. We can be proud of now being an integral part of that mission and look forward to working with Actavo into the future”

Welcoming the announcement, Chairman and CEO of Actavo, Sean Corkery, said: “Actavo’s acquisition represents a significant and strategic milestone in our company’s growth plan. The US is an important, dynamic market for us – we see strong demand in North America for the telecommunications solutions we can now offer. This is a logical next step for us at this time and takes Actavo into new areas, both geographically and in terms of our customer proposition. I look forward to working closely with our new colleagues in providing end-to-end solutions to the telecommunications sector across the US and internationally.”

INM ANNOUNCES €250,000 DIGITAL TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR EMPLOYEES

Dublin 22nd September 2015: An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD., today formally opened the new digital-led news hub for Independent News & Media. Located at the company’s Talbot Street office in Dublin 1, this new centralised news hub will facilitate and manage editorial and content for the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, The Herald, Sunday World and Independent.ie.

The development of the centralised news desk follows a thorough examination of the editorial systems in Talbot Street, and the project was implemented after considerable research into international best practice around the operation of modern newsrooms in a rapidly changing environment in news publishing.

The development of a centralised news desk has been accompanied by a re-design of the newsroom and has been supported by significant investment in technology and training. A key benefit of the new model is that reporting from the shared newsroom is now available across all titles.  At the same time, the editors of each title retain full independence, with core journalistic teams on each title and significant resources to commission, produce and direct content for their respective newspapers.

Stephen Rae, Group Editor-in- Chief, Independent News & Media said: “We studied the best newsrooms across the globe and the content hub we’ve developed here was specifically designed for INM. The launch of the ‘platform neutral’ newsroom follows a period of considerable change for the editorial team in Talbot Street.  Our journalists and digital team have risen to the challenge and are delivering top quality journalism across all our platforms from the central newsroom. Our online and editorial teams now operate from the one floor. This mix of journalists and digital experts in the one space will drive our technology focus and lead to the best online offering available,” he said.

“I would like to pay tribute to both the editorial and commercial management for the successful delivery of the project in a very short time-frame,” said Leslie Buckley, Chairman, Independent News & Media.  “It can be safely asserted that INM now has the most modern fit-for- purpose news management system in this country.  However, it is important that we will continue to innovate and change in an ever evolving market environment.”

“Earlier in the year, the board gave a commitment to management and staff in INM, that it would ensure they would have the opportunity to learn the skills that will enable them to work into the future in this rapidly changing digital era,” said Leslie Buckley.  “I am therefore pleased to announce an investment of €250,000 in a new digital training and education programme with the National College of Ireland. Financed fully by INM, this initiative is sure to benefit our teams across the whole INM Group and ultimately the consumers of our news content.”

In 2015, INM introduced a graduate programme for the editorial department in which it has recruited fifteen graduates, fourteen in the Republic of Ireland and one in Northern Ireland.  The graduates are now in place across the various newsroom and online departments in Talbot Street and Belfast. The INM graduate initiative is the only such programme in Ireland certified by the Press Association in London and it is an investment by INM in the future of the profession, not just its own operations.

2.4 million combined readers connect each week in print and online with the Irish Independent, The Herald, The Sunday Independent and the Sunday World.  INM accounts for 50% of the quality daily market and 65% of the quality Sunday market. Across the Group’s web-sites total annual page impressions is anticipated to be in excess of one billion per annum, while unique monthly users reached more than 10 million for the month of July on Independent.ie.

INTERNATIONALEXPANSION DRIVES REVENUE GROWTH

Dublin, Thursday, 28 July 2016: Actavo, a leading international engineering solutions company headquartered in Dublin and operating in 100+ locations, has today detailed its annual results for the year ending 31 December 2015.

Highlights:

• Revenues of €431m (compared to €324m for year ended 31 Dec 2014) – up 33%
• Profit before tax of €17.9m (compared to €14.3m for year ended 31 Dec 2014) – up 25%
• 70% of turnover in 2015 derived from international markets
• Global workforce up 2,000, to over 5,000 staff

The company, which has a global workforce of over 5,000, generated revenues of €431m for the period (compared to €324m for year ended 31 December 2014) and profit before tax of €17.9m (compared to €14.3m for year ended 31 December 2014). Approximately 70% of the company’s turnover for year ending 31 December 2015 came from international markets. All profits generated in the year have been reinvested back into the business, positioning the business for future growth.

Commenting on the financial results, Actavo CEO and Chairman, Sean Corkery, said: “We are delighted with Actavo’s strong results for 2015, organically driven across all our divisions over the financial year. We registered significant new business wins, contract renewals, acquisitions and project completions in Europe, Central Asia, Canada, Caribbean and North America. We are continuing with a focus on geographical and sectoral diversification. During 2015, we added capability in specific sectors and locations, acquiring P.D.C. Utility Services Limited, a UK-based tower painting and maintenance firm, and entering a joint venture in Kazakhstan (DSL Caspian, with Lancaster Group – providing a range of industrial services across onshore and offshore locations in Kazakhstan). In March 2016, we also acquired our first US-based business, investing in Atlantic Engineering Services (AES), which will position us to make significant strides in both the US and internationally in the design, build and connectivity of fibre optic networks.”

The company continues to trade strongly in 2016, and we are confident that this year will represent another year of successful development across all our businesses. We are focused on building excellence and capability in our senior management team, while helping our clients by bringing innovative technology solutions that drive operational efficiency and quality.

As a business, we focus primarily on organic growth – however, we also consider acquisitions which complement and enhance our current service offering in geographies where we can add value to our clients. There has been significant investment in the company since acquisition in 2012 and the Board and management team are focused on the strategic development of Actavo, both within Ireland and internationally.”

In November 2015, the company underwent a rebrand, bringing together the Group’s previous brands – Sierra Support Services, Siteserv, RoanKabin, Roan Building Solutions, Deborah Services, EventServ, PDC and Siteserv Access & Formwork. The company now presents as one clear, progressive corporate offering across three divisions with six integrated Actavo solutions – Networks, In-Home, Industrial, Hire & Sales, Buildings, and Events.

From an internal governance perspective, these six solutions sit within three Actavo Divisions, namely Actavo | Network & In-Home Division (comprising Network Solutions and In-Home Solutions), Actavo | Industrial Division (comprising Industrial Solutions) and Actavo | Structural Division (comprising Hire & Sales Solutions, Building Solutions and Event Solutions). Reflecting these changes, Actavo announced three senior appointments – TJ Malone as CEO of Actavo | Network & In-Home Division; Chris Foulkes as CEO of Actavo | Industrial Division; and Roger Hastie as CEO of Actavo | Structural Division.