Regulatory Compliance

OCI Publishes Position Statement on NNS Takeover Offer, Sets EGM

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OCI Publishes Position Statement on NNS Takeover Offer, Sets EGM

Amsterdam – September 19, 2026 -- OCI N.V. (Euronext: OCI) has published its formal Position Statement in response to a cash takeover offer from NNS Holding (Cyprus) Limited for all issued and outstanding shares in the company, as required under Section 18 of the Dutch Decree on public takeover bids.

NNS formally launched its cash offer on September 19, 2026

NNS announced the launch of the Offer via publication of its offer memorandum, prompting OCI to issue its required Position Statement the following day, September 19, 2026, under Section 18 paragraph 3 of the Besluit openbare biedingen Wft.

Tennessee American Water Begins Lead Line Verification Sept. 28

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Tennessee American Water Begins Lead Line Verification Sept. 28

Chattanooga, Tenn. – September 19, 2026 -- Tennessee American Water will begin service line material verification work in parts of its Citico Service District the week of September 28, targeting lines currently listed as unknown in company records across Chattanooga, East Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Red Bank and Rossville, GA.

EPA rule requires full lead line replacement by 2037

The verification project supports updated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules on lead and copper. Both the U.S. EPA and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation require all water utilities to confirm service line materials, including visual inspection, to build a baseline inventory ahead of the federal mandate to replace all lead service lines by 2037.

Study: E-Cigarette Directory Laws Fail to Cut Flavored Vape Sales Long-Term

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Study: E-Cigarette Directory Laws Fail to Cut Flavored Vape Sales Long-Term

Atlanta – September 19, 2026 -- E-cigarette directory laws in Alabama, Oklahoma and Louisiana produced no sustained reduction in flavored e-cigarette sales, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open by researchers from the CDC Foundation. The research, using retail scanner data from January 2021 through April 2025, marks the first rigorous evaluation of how these state registries affect nicotine sales and product availability.

Alabama and Oklahoma directories showed no measurable effect on sales

Researchers found no significant change in per-capita nicotine sales or product availability in Alabama or Oklahoma after directory implementation, using comparison states without such laws as controls.

5E Advanced Materials to Acquire Searles Valley Minerals Assets in Court Sale

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5E Advanced Materials to Acquire Searles Valley Minerals Assets in Court Sale

Overland Park, Kansas – September 19, 2026 -- Searles Valley Minerals Inc. has agreed to sell substantially all of its operating assets to 5E Advanced Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: FEAM) in a court-supervised Section 363 transaction combining cash, equity and debt, following a competitive bidding process involving multiple parties.

5E secures Westend and Argus plants alongside 9,000 acres of brine resources

The deal transfers Searles Valley Minerals' Westend and Argus production facilities, approximately 9,000 acres of Searles Lake brine resources, the Trona Railway short-line railroad, and potable water production and distribution infrastructure located in San Bernardino, Kern and Inyo Counties, California. The assets carry permits, licenses and operating rights tied to more than 150 years of continuous mining activity at the site.

TXNM, Blackstone Sweeten PNM Merger Deal With $300M Package

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TXNM, Blackstone Sweeten PNM Merger Deal With $300M Package

Albuquerque, N.M. – – September 19, 2026 -- TXNM Energy and Blackstone Infrastructure have filed a motion with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) seeking to submit a revised merger application that raises total customer and community benefits to $300 million, more than doubling direct rate credits from the original proposal.

Direct customer rate credits jump to $220 million

The draft revised application increases direct customer rate credits to $220 million, over double the commitment in the initial filing. It also allocates $40 million for workforce and economic development, including job training, scholarships and apprenticeships coordinated with state and local stakeholders.

Hitachi Energy Commits $528M to Build Mississippi Transformer Plant

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Hitachi Energy Commits $528M to Build Mississippi Transformer Plant

Crystal Springs, Mississippi – September 18, 2026 -- Hitachi Energy will build a $528 million transformer manufacturing facility in Gallman, Mississippi, marking the company's largest single U.S. investment to date and pushing its total American manufacturing commitment to roughly $1.5 billion.

New Gallman plant will more than double transformer output

The facility, located about 6.5 miles from Hitachi Energy's existing Crystal Springs plant, will be more than twice the size of the current site and create over 700 jobs, more than double the area's existing workforce. Construction is set to begin in late 2026, with transformer production scheduled to start in 2029. Once operational, production will shift from Crystal Springs to Gallman, with the older facility repurposed for warehousing and training.

Hindsait Joins CMS Ecosystem to Modernize Prior Authorization

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Hindsait Joins CMS Ecosystem to Modernize Prior Authorization

Hackensack, N.J. -- September 18, 2026 -- Hindsait, Inc. has been approved for the Electronic Prior Authorization category within the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem, placing the clinical AI firm among organizations working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to modernize prior authorization ahead of the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F), which takes effect in 2027.

CMS ecosystem brings payers and providers together on interoperable workflows

The Electronic Prior Authorization initiative unites payers, providers, EHR vendors, and digital health developers to shift prior authorization toward end-to-end interoperable processes before the 2027 deadline.

E Source Adds Scenario Planning to Vegetation Intelligence Software

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E Source Adds Scenario Planning to Vegetation Intelligence Software

Dallas – September 18, 2026 -- E Source has launched advanced scenario planning capabilities within its GridInform® Vegetation Intelligence software, allowing electric utilities to model multi-year vegetation management strategies and quantify reliability, risk, and cost tradeoffs before deploying field crews or capital.

New tool cuts vegetation planning timelines from months to minutes

The software lets utilities run long-term planning scenarios directly within the platform rather than relying on static, point-in-time analyses or external studies. Planners can evaluate vegetation investment strategies over five- to ten-year horizons by integrating infrastructure data, vegetation conditions, weather exposure, and outage history.

Users can compare cycle-based maintenance against targeted work programs and test how changes in funding levels and prioritization affect future reliability outcomes and cost trajectories.

Qloo Named Front Runner in Gartner AI Simulation Report

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Qloo Named Front Runner in Gartner AI Simulation Report

New York – September 18, 2026 -- Qloo has secured a spot in the top-tier "Set Diamonds (Front Runners)" category of a Gartner report on synthetic population and behavioral simulation, ranking as one of just two companies in the upper-right segment among 33 vendors profiled.

Gartner report singles out Qloo among 33 profiled AI vendors

The recognition comes from Gartner's "Emerging Tech: AI Vendor Race: Startups to Watch in Synthetic Population and Behavioral Simulation" report, authored by analyst Vibha Chitkara. Qloo's placement in the highest-maturity category distinguishes it from the broader field of startups tracked in the space.

Nellson Names Raj Krishnamachari VP of Quality & Regulatory

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Nellson Names Raj Krishnamachari VP of Quality & Regulatory

Anaheim, Calif. – September 18, 2026 -- Nellson Nutraceutical LLC has appointed Raj Krishnamachari as Vice President, Quality & Regulatory, effective September 14, 2026, placing a returning executive in charge of quality and compliance across the company's North American manufacturing network.

Krishnamachari rejoins Nellson after prior tenure as Senior Director of Quality

Krishnamachari previously served as Senior Director of Quality at Nellson, where he worked on strengthening quality systems, advancing food safety programs, and supporting regulatory inspections. He succeeds Marty Hudak-Roos, who is retiring after leading the company's quality and regulatory function.