Brambles to Demerge Recall
Brambles Ltd., headquartered in Sydney, has announced plans to demerge Norcross, Ga.-based Recall, its information management business. Brambles says it plans to list Recall as a holding company called Recall Holdings Ltd. on the Australian Securities Exchange.
According to Brambles, through the demerger, eligible Brambles shareholders will receive new shares in Recall Holdings proportionate to their existing Brambles shares while retaining their existing Brambles shares. Brambles will not retain any shares in Recall following the demerger.
Brambles says the demerger will enable it to focus on its ongoing opportunities for growth and shareholder returns from the company’s global pooling solutions operations under the CHEP and IFCO brands. Separately, the newly independent Recall Holdings will offer investors exposure to a global information management business with stable revenue and strong cash flow from which to fund dividends and investments in growth, according to the company.
Graham Kraehe, Brambles chairman, says, “We believe this transaction will deliver sustainable value creation opportunities for shareholders, providing an investment in two high quality companies with different characteristics. Each of Brambles and Recall has a dedicated leadership team and strategic focus on maximizing value from the specific opportunities available to them.”
Tom Gorman, Brambles CEO, says, “Recall is a very solid business with a strong financial profile that has consistently created value for Brambles shareholders. It has delivered stable, recurring sales revenue despite challenging macroeconomic conditions and positive trends for cash flow generation, operating margins and return on capital over recent years.”
Following the demerger, Brambles says Ian Blackburne will be appointed chairman of Recall Holdings. Additionally, Recall Holdings will hire more nonexecutive directors. Doug Pertz will continue as Recall CEO and will be an executive director of Recall Holdings.
In an earnings forecast for Recall, Brambles says the company, which generated sales revenue of $845 million in 2012, is expected to experience a sales decline of about 3 percent for 2013 because of reduced customer activity and lower paper stock prices.
Access Completes Second Acquisition in Sacramento, Calif., Market
Access CEO Rob Alston has announced the company’s acquisition of Know More Records, Sacramento, Calif. Access, headquartered in Livermore, Calif., says the acquisition is its 54th since the company’s founding in 2004 and its second in the Sacramento market this year.
“Know More Records currently serves a loyal customer base that spans a diverse range of industries,” says Access President John Chendo. “All of the records under management will be relocated to our existing record center facilities in Sacramento over the next few months.”
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In Brief Facebook Reports Data Breach According to Reuters, the company blames the leaks on a technical glitch that began in 2012 in its archive of information for its 1.1 billion users. Facebook reports that the bug was fixed within 24 hours of its technical team being notified about it.
Shred-X is the largest independent shredding company in Australia. The company says its goal is to have all of its locations certified in the coming months.
The microfiche was limited to Texas Health Fort Worth patients seen from 1980 to 1990. Shred-it did not respond to requests for comment. |
He adds, “We are pleased to welcome Know More Records’ clients to Access and we appreciate that the company’s former owners, Mary Ann and Steve Wilson, will be assisting in making this a smooth transition for them.”
Duffy Warbington, Access operations manager in Sacramento, will lead the integration of the client accounts from Know More Records assisted by Access Regional Vice President Robert Cummings.
As the largest privately held records and information management services provider in the U.S., Access serves 29 markets nationwide and in Latin America.
Access’ suite of services includes records management, data protection, secure destruction and digital formatting services. The company is backed by growth equity investor Summit Partners, with offices in Boston; Palo Alto, Calif.; London; and Mumbai.
Jayhawk File Express Expands NAID Certification
Jayhawk File Express, Topeka, Kan., has announced that it has been AAA Certified by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), Phoenix, for micro media, computer hard drive and nonpaper media destruction in addition to its existing AAA Certification for paper/printed media.
Cheryl Creviston, president of Jayhawk, says, “We are very pleased to now hold all certifications issued by NAID and to be the only full-service records center in Kansas to do so.”
Jayhawk says this move marks a new chapter in its goal of helping businesses manage, access and protect their vital information.
“Adding AAA NAID Certification for destruction needs was critical to meet our goal of being the one company that other companies can turn to regardless of their information management needs,” Creviston says.
WellPoint Settles with Health and Human Services for $1.7 Million
WellPoint Inc., a managed care company based in Indianapolis, Ind., has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $1.7 million to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules.
This case sends an important message to HIPAA-covered entities to take caution when implementing changes to their information systems, especially when those changes involve updates to Web-based applications or portals that are used to provide access to consumers’ health data using the Internet, HHS says.
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began its investigation following a breach report submitted by WellPoint as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The HITECH Breach Notification Rule requires HIPAA-covered entities to notify HHS of a breach of unsecured, protected health information.
The report indicates that security weaknesses in an online application database left the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 612,400 individuals accessible to unauthorized individuals over the Internet.
OCR says its investigation indicated that WellPoint did not implement appropriate administrative and technical safeguards as required under the HIPAA Security Rule.
According to OCR, the investigation indicated WellPoint did not:
- Adequately implement policies and procedures for authorizing access to the online application database;
- Perform an appropriate technical evaluation in response to a software upgrade to its information systems; or
- Have technical safeguards in place to verify the person or entity seeking access to ePHI maintained in its application database.
As a result, beginning Oct. 23, 2009, until March 7, 2010, the investigation indicated that WellPoint impermissibly disclosed the ePHI of 612,400 individuals by allowing access to the ePHI of such individuals maintained in the application database. This data included names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, telephone numbers and personal health information.
Beginning Sept. 23, 2013, liability for many of HIPAA’s requirements extends directly to business associates that receive or store protected health information, such as contractors and subcontractors.
Quincy Recycle Buys Iowa Document Destruction Firm
Quincy Recycle Inc., a recycling firm based in Quincy, Ill., has announced the acquisition of On-Site Information Destruction, a document destruction firm headquartered in Waterloo, Iowa.
“Recycling services aren’t designed to provide security for clients, so secure destruction is a logical business extension for us, and we have been looking for the right acquisition opportunity for over a year,” says Bryan Stokes, president of Quincy Recycle.
“On-Site is clearly a great fit for Quincy, with an outstanding team of professionals, and I’m proud to be associated with them,” he adds.
In addition to its Waterloo facility, which is National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) certified, On-Site has a facility in Des Moines, Iowa. The company offers secure document and hard drive destruction.
Stokes says On-Site’s business is currently 90 percent mobile but that mix should change as Quincy begins to focus on product destruction and improving operational efficiencies.
On-Site operates five mobile shredding vehicles; a new Cresswood HF-70 single-shaft, low-rpm shredder; two box trucks; and a mobile hard drive shredding unit.
Chris Davis, part-owner of On-Site prior to the sale, will serve as general manager of Quincy’s document destruction business unit.
“On-Site has established a solid reputation for customer service with our client base of medical, financial and other businesses throughout the state of Iowa and Western Illinois,” says Davis. “Quincy intends to let us stay who we are while enabling On-Site’s move into more off-site destruction, secure product destruction and other value-added services. In short, Quincy’s made this transition very easy for us, and we’re ready to grow.”