But supporters of the petition vowed to challenge the board's action in court.

The trigger effort, backed by a well-funded activist group, Parent Revolution, but opposed by the teacher's union, has been closely watched as a key battleground in an intensifying fight over the nation's $500 billion-a-year investment in public education.

The Florida legislature narrowly defeated a parent trigger bill earlier this month, after a fierce debate, and several other states, including New York, Michigan and Louisiana, may consider similar bills this year.

"The nation is watching this evening. California is watching," said former California state Senator Gloria Romero, who co-sponsored the legislation.

The outcome of Wednesday's meeting marked the second time the Adelanto board has denied a petition submitted by families seeking a takeover, finding they fell short in collecting valid signatures from parents representing at least half of the 642 students at Desert Trails Elementary.

The petition drive has been fraught with acrimony as the two sides accused each other of fraud and forgery in trying to meet the 50-percent threshold or in presenting rescission affidavits from parents who claimed they were misled into initially giving their support.

"I could care less if I don't get elected to office again, but today I stand for all of Adelanto in saying we will not be duped by anybody," school board member Jermaine Wright said in explaining her vote against the petition.

Even after a second rejection, it appeared the debate in Adelanto, a community of about 31,000 people made up predominantly of low-income minorities, was far from over.

Patrick DeTemple, the organizing director of Parent Revolution, said the group planned to challenge the board in court, insisting supporters had collected valid signatures from "a solid 70 percent of the parents."

At its core, the dispute has pitted parents ready to take drastic action to reshape management of their school against parents concerned that sweeping, untested changes promised under the "trigger" measure would worsen the situation.

"Our children are much too precious to turn them over to groups that have no track record of proven success," said Lanita Dominque, a teacher and president of the Adelanto District Teachers Association.

Petition supporters cited years of chronically poor academic performance at the school, where more than half of the students fail standardized state tests in math or reading.

Takeover advocates have called for converting Desert Trails into a charter school in the fall, allowing them to hire non-union teachers or renegotiate the union contract. They have said they would like the charter to be run by a coalition of parents, teachers and district administrators, rather than by a private charter school management company.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Simon; Editing by Steve Gorman and Anthony Boadle)

PR Newswire

QINGDAO, China and ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 10, 2014

QINGDAO, China and ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Synutra International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYUT), ("Synutra" or the "Company"), which owns subsidiaries in China that produce, distribute and sell nutritional products for infants, children and adults, today announced unaudited preliminary second quarter 2015 results and raised full year 2015 guidance.

For the second quarter ended September 30, 2014, the Company anticipates revenue in the range of $106-110 million, representing year-over-year revenue growth of at least 20%. Net income attributable to common stockholders is expected to be in the range of $9-10 million, compared to $6.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, representing year-over-year growth of at least 50%. These positive results were due to increased IMF sales at the distributor and retail channels.

Based on its strong preliminary second quarter and first half fiscal 2015 results, the Company now maintains its forecasted revenue range of $450-500 million, while raising its fiscal 2015 net income guidance from a range of $50-60 million to $55-65 million.

Mr. Liang Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Synutra said, "We are pleased to see continued strong demand for our core formula brands. In the second fiscal quarter, we experienced sequential and year-over-year increases in both revenue and net profit, despite significant market competition. Our success this quarter was primarily due to increased shipment volumes in a traditionally slow season as a result of our increased strategic marketing efforts. We expect this momentum to continue in the coming quarters, resulting in strong top line growth and greater operating leverage in fiscal 2015."

Synutra plans to release its second quarter financial results in early November.

About Synutra International, Inc.

Synutra International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYUT) is a leading infant formula company in China. It principally produces, markets and sells its products through its operating subsidiaries under the "Shengyuan" or "Synutra" name, together with other complementary brands. It focuses on selling premium infant formula products, which are supplemented by more affordable infant formulas targeting the mass market as well as other nutritional products and ingredients. It sells its products through an extensive nationwide sales and distribution network covering all provinces and provincial-level municipalities in mainland China. As of June 30, 2014, this network comprised over 680 independent distributors and over 550 independent sub-distributors who sell Synutra products in approximately 23,000 retail outlets.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about Synutra International, Inc. and its industry. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, these forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is/are likely to," "may," "plan," "should," "will," "aim," "potential," "continue," or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements included in this press release relate to, among others, Synutra's goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations, particularly the progress on the new drying facility project in France; the expected growth of the nutritional products and infant formula markets in China; market acceptance of Synutra's products; the safety and quality of Synutra's products; Synutra's expectations regarding demand for its products; Synutra's ability to stay abreast of market trends and technological advances; competition in the infant formula industry in China; PRC governmental policies and regulations relating to the nutritional products and infant formula industries and our ability to meet governmental requirements, and general economic and business conditions in China. These forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Synutra believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these expectations may turn out to be incorrect. Synutra's actual results could be materially different from the expectations. Important risks and factors that could cause actual results to be materially different from expectations are generally set forth in Synutra's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release. Synutra International, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Synutra International, Inc.

PR Newswire

CHICAGO, Oct. 1, 2014

CHICAGO, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Further to the announcement on June 30, 2014, Henderson Global Investors (Henderson) has completed the acquisition of Geneva Capital Management (Geneva). Founded in 1987, Geneva has assets under management (AUM) of $5.4 billion in US growth equities.

This is an important strategic milestone in the development of Henderson's North American business, adding US equity investment capabilities and extending its US institutional client base. Clients representing over 90% of Geneva's AUM have agreed to the transaction.

Geneva's long track record managing US growth equities, underpinned by a disciplined and consistent investment process, fills an important capability gap for Henderson.

The transaction doubles Henderson's number of US-based investment professionals and quadruples Henderson's US institutional AUM to around $8 billion. It also brings proven institutional distribution capabilities to complement Henderson's successful retail franchise, creating a well-balanced client base, split broadly equally between retail and institutional.

Geneva will continue to employ the same rigorous investment philosophy and process that has been in place since 1987. Its commitment to high quality investment strategy and attention to client service will remain unchanged, and it will continue to operate from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Nicholas Bauer, responsible for Geneva's distribution, will now head US Institutional Distribution as part of an integrated team reporting to Chuck Thompson, Head of North American Distribution. Nicholas's extensive institutional experience will be an excellent complement to Henderson's growing North American distribution network.

Andrew Formica, Chief Executive of Henderson, said: "The acquisition of Geneva supports our growth ambitions as a global asset manager. It increases our assets under management in the US by approximately 50%, adds investment management expertise in US equities and extends our US institutional client base.

"Clients of both Henderson and Geneva will benefit by gaining access to a wider investment universe while being supported by the resources of a global pure play asset manager."

About Geneva

Founded in 1987, Geneva Capital Management is a US growth equity manager with assets under management of approximately $5.4 billion as of September 30, 2014, specializing in Mid-Cap and Small-Cap high quality equity growth strategies. The firm is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a team of 25 including 11 investment professionals.

Geneva's key investment professionals are co-founders Bill Priebe and Amy Croen, together with managing principals Michelle Picard and Scott Priebe. This team, which has worked together for over a decade, will continue to manage Geneva's rigorous investment process and disciplined approach to portfolio management with commitment to high quality investment strategy and attention to client service.

The firm's client base is comprised of institutional investors and high net worth individuals. Institutional investors include public pension funds, corporate pension and profit sharing plans, non-profit organizations, endowments and foundations. The firm also acts as a sub-advisor to a number of third party mutual funds.

About Henderson

Henderson is an independent global asset manager, specializing in active investment. Named after its first client and founded in 1934, Henderson is a client-focused global business with over 800 employees worldwide and assets under management of $127.7 billion (as of 6/30/14). Its core areas of investment expertise are European equities, global equities, global fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives.

Henderson's North American business continues to grow rapidly, doubling its AUM since 2011. Its Henderson Global Funds mutual funds family reached $10 billion in AUM for the first time in May 2014.

Further information can be found at www.henderson.com.

Media inquiries

Jaime Doyle, JCPR 973.850.7308 / jdoyle@jcprinc.comAngela Warburton +44.207.818.3010 / angela.warburton@henderson.com

This press release is solely for the use of members of the media and should not be relied upon by personal investors, financial advisers or institutional investors.

Henderson Global Investors is the name under which various subsidiaries of Henderson Group plc, a UK limited Company, provide investment products and services.

One should consider the investment objectives, risks, fees and expenses of any mutual fund carefully before investing. This and other important information is available in the Funds' prospectus and summary prospectus which are available at www.henderson.com or by calling 1.866.443.6337. Please read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor (10/14) HGF-45727-14

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140121/NY48494LOGO

SOURCE Henderson Global Investors

PR Newswire

MENLO PARK, Calif., July 22, 2014

MENLO PARK, Calif., July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Neodyne Biosciences, a medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative tissue repair devices to promote healing and minimize scar formation, announced today that it has received a notice of allowance for a Korean Patent entitled "Devices And Bandages For The Treatment Or Prevention Of Scars And/Or Keloids And Methods And Kits Therefore."

The issuance of the Korean Patent will mark the 5th granted international patent in the Neodyne Biosciences portfolio with over 30 additional international patents pending. Neodyne's initial product, embrace® Advanced Scar Therapy is the first scar management product of its kind. Each embrace® dressing is an elastomeric device that has been proven to significantly improve scar appearance in randomized, controlled trials.1,2 embrace® actively relieves the tension surrounding a healing scar to minimize scar formation and uses technology initially developed at Stanford University and subsequently licensed to Neodyne Biosciences.

"This new patent in Korea is an extremely important addition to our intellectual property portfolio," said Bill Beasley, President of Neodyne. "The Korean market represents one of the top 5 worldwide markets for scar mitigation, and this country has been on our radar for quite some time. We are delighted to have the opportunity to expand our global reach with this relevant and valuable patent, and we anticipate obtaining additional patents in other countries in the near future."

About Neodyne Biosciences, Inc.

Neodyne Biosciences (www.neodynebio.com) is an evidence based company developing and commercializing innovative tissue repair devices to minimize scar formation, restoring both function and aesthetic appearance. The company develops stress-shielding devices capable of controlling the mechanical wound environment to ameliorate post-surgical scarring.

Neodyne Investor Relations Contacts:

Bill Beasley

President/COO

bbeasley@neodynebio.com

Michael Fanucchi

Marketing

mfanucchi@neodynebio.com

1Lim AF, et al. The embrace Device Significantly Decreases Scarring Following Scar Revision Surgery in a Randomized Controlled Trial. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2014;133:398-405.

2Longaker, MT et al. A Randomized Controlled Trial of the embrace® Device to Reduce Incisional Scar Formation. Published ahead of Print - Plast Reconstr Surg. 2014

SOURCE Neodyne Biosciences, Inc.