Corporate Bits | Sands hands out flowers to celebrate valentine’s day

Sands China Ltd. celebrated Valentine’s Day by handing out hand-carved flowers made by the Macau Association of Parents of the Mentally Handicapped. This marks the fourth year that the company has distributed the flowers across all of its properties. It does so as a gesture to express love, warmth and kindness on Valentine’s Day to Sands’ guests and visitors, while supporting a local community organization.
According to a press release issued by the gaming operator, the bulk flower purchase benefits association families whose children are moderately to severely mentally handicapped. “Sands China engages in initiatives like this one as a way to support some of Macau’s disadvantaged groups. It is part of the company’s efforts toward increasing public awareness and promoting better care for minority groups in Macau,” states the press release.
The Macau Association of Parents of the Mentally Handicapped is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1992 by a group of parents whose children have intellectual disabilities. The association provides support and care to its members through a variety of activities, family visits and counseling services.

A Square credit card reader

visa discloses stake in dorsey’s company, square

Shares in the mobile payment services company Square rose sharply Friday after Visa disclosed the details of its ownership stake in the company.
While Visa’s stake amounts to about 1 percent of the company, and the stake was established at least 5 years ago, investors interpreted the announcement as a major endorsement of Square by Visa, the world’s largest payment processing company.
According to a regulatory filing, Visa owns 4.2 million of Square’s Class B shares. While Class B shares are not traded publicly, Visa could convert up to 3.5 million of its Class B shares to Class A, which would give Visa a 9.99 percent ownership of that class of shares. That conversion would amount to just 1 percent of Square’s total outstanding shares, however.
Visa’s calculation of a 9.99 percent ownership is based on the assumption that no other Square’s Class B shareholders did a similar conversion before Visa did.
The disclosure, known by its regulatory filing name 13G, is how major investors disclose an existing stake in a company. Because Square only went public three months ago, this is the first time the public is getting details about Visa’s ownership.