First Financial Announces the Conversion of First Federal Savings and Loan to a State-Chartered Commercial Bank and …

CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb. 22, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First Financial Holdings, Inc. (“First Financial”) (Nasdaq:FFCH – News), the holding company for First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston (“First Federal”), announced today that First Federal has converted from a federal savings and loan association to a South Carolina-chartered commercial bank and a member of the Federal Reserve System. In connection with First Federal’s conversion, First Financial also announced that it has registered with the Federal Reserve as a bank holding company.
R. Wayne Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “As an important part of our strategic re-positioning, we are delighted to complete our conversion to a state-chartered commercial bank, to be a member of the Federal Reserve System and to have become a bank holding company. Converting to a commercial bank charter reinforces our focus on commercial banking as we execute our business strategy. From our customers’ perspective, the charter conversion will be seamless; we will continue to operate through our current network of branch offices and the terms and conditions of our customers’ loans and deposit accounts will not be affected in any manner.”
As a result of the charter conversion and membership in the Federal Reserve System, the South Carolina State Board of Financial Institutions and the Federal Reserve will serve as First Federal’s primary regulators. The Federal Reserve will also serve as First Financial’s primary regulator.
About First Financial
First Financial Holdings, Inc. (“First Financial”) (Nasdaq:FFCH – News) is a Charleston, South Carolina bank holding company with $3.1 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2011. First Financial offers integrated financial solutions, including personal, business and wealth management services. First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston (“First Federal”), which was founded in 1934 and is the primary subsidiary, serves individuals and businesses throughout coastal South Carolina, Florence, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina. First Financial subsidiaries include: First Federal; First Southeast Investor Services, Inc., a registered broker-dealer, and First Southeast 401(k) Fiduciaries, Inc., a registered investment advisor. First Federal is the largest commercial bank headquartered in the Charleston, South Carolina metropolitan area and the third largest commercial bank headquartered in South Carolina, based on asset size. Additional information about First Financial is available at http://www.firstfinancialholdings.com/.
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Walmart Global eCommerce Announces Increased Investment in Yihaodian

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Feb. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT – News) announced today that it has reached an agreement to increase its investment in the holding company of Yihaodian, a fast-growing eCommerce website in China, to bring Walmart’s total ownership stake to approximately 51 percent.  Closing of the transaction is subject to Chinese government regulatory approval.
Launched in July 2008, Yihaodian offers more than 180,000 SKUs and has achieved a significant position in online grocery sales, as well as in categories such as baby/mom, consumer electronics and apparel.  With 5,400 employees and an existing logistics network based in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu, Yihaodian is serving a growing customer base with same-day and next-day delivery of essential daily items at competitive prices.
Neil Ashe, President and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce, said, “This investment further enables Walmart to deliver a superb customer experience to Chinese consumers that are already connected to the world through smart phones and social media. We are on track to create the next generation of eCommerce, offering the latest in online innovations to give our customers a unique shopping experience.”
“We are very impressed with Yihaodian’s strong management team, solid competence in supply chain management and, like Walmart, they are committed to outstanding service to their customers,” Ashe continued. “Our further investment in Yihaodian demonstrates that we are committed to investing in China in a key growth industry and developing all that goes with it:  logistics, infrastructure, innovative talent and new technologies that will help China meet its development goals.  In addition to contributing to China’s eCommerce goals, with our increased investment in Yihaodian, we are pleased to be able to further contribute to China’s domestic consumption, help stabilize prices, and advance expansion in the middle and western regions.”
Gang Yu, co-founder and chairman of Yihaodian, said, “Walmart not only brings us nearly 50 years of retailing experience and history, but also innovative technology and eCommerce solutions that will help us better meet our customers’ needs. Their excellence in supply chain will enable us to improve our customer experience and operational efficiency.” 
Junling Liu, co-founder and CEO of Yihaodian, said, “More than an investment of funds, Walmart will share its knowledge and technology together with its best-in-class practices in retail and transfer them to Yihaodian’s existing organization, leveraging these synergies with our local market expertise to deliver enhanced product offerings, lower prices and a better shopping experience for our customers.”
Ruisheng Sheng, spokesperson for Ping An Group, said, “Ping An welcomes the investment from Walmart. We continue to be a strategic investor in this exciting eCommerce business. With Walmart’s and Ping An’s strategic partnership and with the vision and leadership of the current management, we believe that Yihaodian will better serve Chinese consumers.”
About WalmartWal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT – News) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 10,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Walmart employs 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://walmartstores.com and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.
About YihaodianLaunched in 2008, Yihaodian has become one of the leading B2C e-commerce companies in China. Offering more than 180,000 products, Yihaodian runs logistics centers in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Chengdu, along with delivery stations in 34 cities across China.  Yihaodian is one of the fastest growing companies in China, and  has earned first place for Deloitte Technology Fast500 Asia Pacific and first place for China Entrepreneur Magazine’s Future Stars of China Enterprises in 2011. Through innovation, Yihaodian is committed to bringing its customers a new lifestyle of one-stop online shopping and services with superior experience. For more information, please visit www.yihaodian.com.
About Ping An GroupPing An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd (Hong Kong Stock Exchange under stock code “2318″& Shanghai Stock Exchange under “601318″) was established in 1988 in Shekou, Shenzhen. The Group is the first insurance company in China to have a shareholding structure. Today it has developed into an integrated financial services conglomerate with three core businesses: insurance, banking, and investment.  Ping An was ranked No.147 in Forbes’ Global 2000 league table, No.107 in The Financial Times Global 500 list, and No.328 in Fortune Magazine’s Global 500 Leading Companies ranking and No.1 among China’s non-State owned enterprises. For more information please visit www.pingan.com.http://tourism9.com/    http://vkins.com/

Credit Agricole prepares new financing model

LONDON (ShareCast) – French bank Credit Agricole (Milan: ACA.MI – news) is preparing to change its financing model for its investment and corporate bank, announced general director Jean-Yves Locher, the Financial Times reports. “We will be slimmer, operating in a smaller network of countries and a business model focused on the financing business,” he explained. The new model is expected to be ready by the end of the year. “And we are very much focused on debt capital markets because our customers need more and more to issue bonds,” Locher added. Shares were down 3.65% at €5.13 by 12:14 in Paris. S.B.
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Blueberry Systems and Advantage Credit Partner To Streamline Mortgage Loan Originations

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Blueberry Systems, LLC, a provider of advanced technology solutions to the mortgage and financial services industries, announced a strategic partnership with leading mortgage credit reporting company, Advantage Credit Inc.
Through the partnership, Advantage Credit customers will now have preferred access to Blueberry Systems’ suite of scalable, robust mortgage technology solutions designed to give lenders maximum flexibility in securely managing their entire loan production pipeline.
In turn, users of Blueberry Systems’ RELAY loan origination system (LOS) can now seamlessly access credit reporting products provided by Advantage Credit, enabling them to more effectively make loan decisions and more efficiently process and close loans.
“Providing a very high level of service has always been the focus for us at Advantage Credit Inc.,” said Jim Kaiser, sales director of Advantage Credit Inc. “Through this integration, our customers will experience enhanced workflow integration while lowering technology and overhead costs. We are excited to partner with Blueberry Systems and look forward to the benefits it will provide the mortgage industry.”
“For 18 years, Advantage Credit has provided extraordinary credit reporting tools and resources to the mortgage industry, and we at Blueberry Systems are excited to be working with them,” said Lloyd Booth, president and COO of Blueberry Systems. “Providing our customers access to industry-leading credit reporting services will enable them to streamline processes and increase efficiencies, which will ultimately result in greater productivity.”
About Advantage Credit
Advantage Credit Inc. is a leading provider of credit reporting services with corporate offices in Evergreen, Colorado. Advantage Credit Inc. has a proud 18-year history of delivering old fashion customer service while leveraging the most advanced credit technologies for leading mortgage companies, banks and credit unions nationwide. For more information on Advantage Credit, please visit www.advcredit.com
About Blueberry Systems
Based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Blueberry Systems, LLC, was founded in 2005 to provide software solutions, services and consulting to the financial services industry. Relay™, the company’s flagship technology, is a highly flexible, fully customizable loan production platform that enables lenders to seamlessly and easily integrate disparate technology solutions. For more information on Blueberry Systems, please visit www.BlueberrySystems.com or call 888.506.2259.
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New Payday Advance Loans Survey Announced By USAPaydayForever.com

While European Stock Markets Go Up A Little Bit, USAPaydayForever.com Announces Payday Advance Loans Survey. They Want To Measure New Customer Experience
(PRWEB) January 03, 2012
Recently at Yahoo news, a financial article explained that while many stock exchanges are closed, some European exchanges had risen lightly. This article stated, “Germany’s DAX, which fell 14.7 percent last year, rose 1.4 percent Monday to 5981.79, while the French CAC-40, which ended 2011 17 percent lower, climbed 0.6 percent to 3,179.17. Stocks fell in South Korea and closed flat in Taiwan.” USAPaydayForever.com thought that this might not necessarily indicate better things to come for world economies. They mentioned that they would continue their payday advance loans promotional campaign this year. They said they would start the year off with a survey, especially considering their recent report of a record number of applications last year.
USAPaydayForever.com continued to express they felt it to be necessary to continue with their payday advance loans promotional campaign this year, regardless of any recent positive news. This is their reasoning for putting out a payday advance loans survey. Such a survey would be used to determine not only customer satisfaction. It would also be used to figure out why people are getting payday advance loans, and how they use them.
Concerning the news about Europeans stocks, as well as their new survey, USAPaydayForever.com has released a statement. This statement said, “We feel it’s important to find out how our customers feel about our payday advance loans. Not only that, but we think it’s important to find out their reasons for using our services, and how they use them. This is especially true whenever we hear reports of positive economic news anywhere in the world. We want to know what kinds of things our customers use our payday advance loans for, if they are using them properly, and how they view them in general.”
About USAPaydayForever.com – USAPaydayForever.com is an online company that helps consumers to find and obtain payday advance loans online. For more information about USAPaydayForever.com, visit their website at http://www.usapaydayforever.com
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Lehi Drew
http://articlesearchenginemarketing.com/
435-714-0482
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The Sterling Group Acquires Liqui-Box From DuPont

HOUSTON , Dec. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Sterling Group (” Sterling “), a Houston based private equity investment firm, today announced that its affiliated investment fund, Sterling Group Partners III, L.P., has completed the acquisition of the Liqui-Box Corporation (“Liqui-Box”) from DuPont. The acquisition is Sterling ‘s third investment in its third fund, an $820 million fund raised in 2010.  Liqui-Box is the twenty-first corporate carve-out in Sterling ‘s thirty year history and the fourth business Sterling has acquired from DuPont.
(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110802/DA46065LOGO)
Headquartered in Worthington, Ohio , Liqui-Box is a leading supplier of bag-in-box flexible packaging to the global dairy, beverage and bulk food markets. Bag-in-box packaging is primarily used in the foodservice industry to package dairy mix for milkshakes and coffee drinks, fountain beverage syrup and pumpable liquid foods such as food concentrates and sauces.  Liqui-Box also produces pouches and rigid plastic water bottles.  The company’s product offering includes consumables, such as fitmented bags and pouch films, as well as filling machines.
“The entire Liqui-Box team is energized to partner with Sterling who has a proven track record of successfully transitioning unique, specialty businesses like ours to more nimble, stand alone companies and equipping them for future growth. We look forward to executing on a number of initiatives to expand our business and enhance our delivery of top quality products to our customers,” said Roszann Graham, CEO of Liqui-Box.
Greg Elliott , a Partner of Sterling noted, “Roszann and her team have done an exceptional job positioning Liqui-Box as a leading provider of bag-in-box packaging solutions. Over the past several years, Liqui-Box has streamlined its operations to focus on its core products. Our focus now is to expand our global footprint, invest in technology and expand our offering of solutions to our customers.”
The acquisition was financed with equity from Sterling Group Partners III, L.P. Senior debt financing was provided by BNP Paribas and BMO, and mezzanine debt was provided by Oaktree Capital Management.
About The Sterling Group, L.P.
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $500 million . Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 41 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of approximately $9.5 billion . Currently, Sterling has $1.3 billion of committed capital under management through three funds. Current portfolio companies include North American Energy Partners, CST Industries, Roofing Supply Group, Universal Fiber Systems, Velcon Filters, Express, B&G Crane, Saxco International and Stackpole International. The Sterling Group has a proven track record with corporate carve-outs, as over half of its transactions over the last thirty years have been the purchases of businesses from large corporations.

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