ProSieben Is Set to Give General Atlantic up to 10% Stake
ProSieben's supervisory board is scheduled to approve the transaction as early as today, said the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private.
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Business Insider
33 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Heidelberger Beteiligungsholding AG Begins Acquiring SQD Tokens and Prepares to Rename as SQD.AI Strategies AG
Heidelberger Beteiligungsholding AG has announced that it has commenced its strategic accumulation of SQD tokens. The German investment firm, whose shares are traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker: IPOK), will soon be renamed Strategies AG, indicating its commitment to backing SQD's data network. The acquisition of SQD tokens initiated by Heidelberger Beteiligungsholding includes a combination of OTC deals and market purchases, signaling the start of a broader long-term investment strategy. For the fiscal year 2025, the company plans to raise up to €50 million to acquire, hold, and stake SQD tokens, reinforcing its intent to support and grow the SQD ecosystem. Chairman Clemens Jakopitsch, who made the original investment in SQD on behalf of the Piëch Family Office, commented: 'We see powerful crypto tailwinds on multiple fronts. The broader crypto market is gaining institutional momentum, especially with two landmark regulatory frameworks expected to pass the U.S. Senate in July. At the same time, the convergence of data and AI is emerging as the most critical technological shift of our time. SQD is uniquely positioned at the heart of both.' "This marks a pivotal moment for SQD,' said Marcel Fohrmann, Co-Founder of 'The commitment from Strategies AG reflects growing recognition that real-time, intelligent data infrastructure is now core to competitive advantage. As AI systems become more autonomous and tokenized economies scale, the demand for high-performance, onchain-native data is accelerating—and SQD is built to meet that demand." The upcoming name change to Strategies AG emphasizes the company's focus on becoming the leading listed vehicle for exposure to SQD, which forms a foundational layer in the tokenized, AI-powered future of data infrastructure. Operating as a decentralized data-lakehouse, SQD transforms raw onchain events into institutional-grade datasets streamed via ultra-low-latency APIs. Backed by a global community of developers and data providers, SQD is creating a permissionless alternative to Bloomberg and Snowflake that is optimized for AI agents and tokenized assets. Heidelberger Beteiligungsholding AG is Germany's first dedicated crypto treasury company. As a listed investment vehicle, it focuses exclusively on the long-term accumulation, holding, and staking of SQD tokens — the native asset of the Subsquid network. With a conviction-led strategy rooted in the convergence of AI and blockchain, the company aims to provide shareholders with direct exposure to one of the most promising data infrastructure plays in Web3. About SQD Network SQD Network is a hyper-scalable modular data platform that combines a decentralized data lake with a highly efficient query engine to unlock new functionality for dApps, AI agents, analytics, and ZK Proofs/TEE by providing blazing-fast blockchain indexing. By replacing reliance on RPCs for querying chains, SQD facilitates retrieval of onchain data at scale, powering seamless user and builder experiences. CEO
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Inside the airline seat industry crisis delaying jet deliveries
By Tim Hepher CWMBRAN, Wales (Reuters) -Tucked beneath the armrest of a luxury business class seat in a factory in Wales lies a clue to a global aviation bottleneck that has left many airlines waiting impatiently for new jets. Before the armrest can support the pampered elbow of a premium passenger, a complex manufacturing jigsaw with as many as 3,000 parts from 50 suppliers in 15 countries needs to be meticulously assembled to produce the luxury seat. As air travel grows, this niche but critical part of the aerospace industry is at the centre of efforts to clear a logjam that has contributed to billions of dollars of aircraft delays for industry giants Airbus and Boeing, and higher fares for passengers. "If you look at this, all you would see is a top-level arm cap and think that's very nice," Dafydd Davies, industrial vice president at Safran Seats GB, said during a visit to the company's factory in Cwmbran, South Wales. "If you look below, there is a lot more to the mechanical assembly." To understand the often overlooked issue of how something as outwardly simple as a seat can slow the entire jet supply chain, Reuters spoke to over a dozen people involved in seat making and purchasing, airline chief executives and designers. Coupled with bottlenecks in certification, growing airline demand for bespoke features has made it hard for a fragmented seat industry - only now getting back on its feet after the COVID pandemic - to achieve economies of scale and boost output. "There has been a perfect storm of what would otherwise not be industry-stopping problems," said aircraft interiors expert John Walton, founder of specialist publication The Up Front. "It's still very much a cottage industry." Airbus warned airlines in May that delivery delays could persist for another three years as it works through a backlog of supply problems, which it blames chiefly on engines and seats. With air travel rebounding from the pandemic, airlines will need more than 8 million seats in the next decade, according to a study by Tronos Aviation Consultancy and AeroDynamic Advisory. It's a business worth $52 billion over 10 years. The cabin of a long-haul jet contains some of the world's prime revenue-generating real estate, which is why airlines are prepared to pay $80,000-$100,000 for a business-class seat and an astonishing $1 million for a first-class suite, insiders say. "There are only a few truly differentiated things you can do onboard as an airline: the crew, the seat, the catering. Not so much the aircraft. So that's where we're going in the premium classes," said Lufthansa Group Chief Executive Carsten Spohr. ALADDIN'S CAVE At the airline industry's annual Oscars every April in the German city of Hamburg, honours are handed out for inventions such as smart lavatories, smart seats and even smart bins. Entrance to the Aircraft Interiors exhibition is strictly by invitation and rows of showrooms are protected by security worthy of a jewellery store. Inside, each is an Aladdin's cave of fast connectivity, eco-friendly materials and recently launched comforts such as headrests with built in audio. The most advanced innovations are even further out of sight. "It's a secretive world. Sometimes they have the little back rooms where they've got a seat or product they haven't publicly talked about," Steven Greenway, CEO of Saudi carrier Flyadeal, said as he shopped for premium seats for Airbus A330neo jets. But behind the curtain is an industry struggling to graduate from a craftsman-like approach and small production runs to industrial scale - despite waves of consolidation which have whittled the sector down to two main rivals in premium seats: France's Safran and RTX unit Collins Aerospace. Then comes Germany's Recaro Aircraft Seating, which dominates economy seating but has struggled to break into premium, and rivals including China-owned Thompson Aero Seating and ventures backed by Airbus and Boeing: Stelia and Elevate. "They compete on innovation, yes, but when they produce, it's not as reliable as the car industry," said Lufthansa's Spohr, whose airline has waited months for Boeing 787s grounded by missing seats, commenting on the overall seat industry. Longer ranges for smaller planes have also triggered a scramble to adapt premium seat designs to tighter spaces. Even the tapered shape of a fuselage and differences between left and right mean few luxury seats are exactly the same. Added to that are tough certification requirements designed to protect head impact, and a dearth of certification engineers. Seats typically last about seven years whereas planes themselves fly for 20-25 years, so even when jets are finally delivered, the need for new seats soon comes around again. "It's been a problem for 20 years. It's not just a recent issue. But I think it's got worse," Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association and former head of British Airways, told Reuters. INDUSTRY REBOOT Failing to put the industry on a more solid footing could crimp the growth plans of airlines or force carriers to fly older planes for longer, and focus more on refurbishments. Now, some seat makers are trying to simplify production as they rebuild fragile global supply chains. Safran is one. Its seats unit finally broke even in the fourth quarter of 2024 after being battered, like many of its rivals, by the slump in demand during the global pandemic. "We've almost had to restart this industry. We've had to ramp back up again. We lost some longevity in talent because they decided to do something else," said Safran Seats Chief Executive Victoria Foy. "The fact that we got 2.5 times more out the door in 2024 than the year before demonstrates we can ramp up," she said in an interview at the company's Cwmbran factory. On the factory floor, chips, screens and motors are pieced together in individual bays rather than on a moving production line since few luxury seats are the same. A walled-off workshop for first-class seats guarantees even more individual attention. "We are managing a similar level of requirements to that of a landing gear or an engine," Foy said. Under pressure to avoid those spiralling out of control, Safran and others are now rethinking the way they build seats to marry the customised flourishes required by many airlines with the cookie-cutter approach needed for efficient assembly. Instead of developing each seat from scratch, manufacturers are looking to re-use underlying designs, much in the way auto makers often use one chassis for different models and brands. Using a limited set of underlying designs allows seat companies to do the basic engineering and certification earlier on, avoiding the risk of delays later in the process. But it's not just about improving the factory floor. Air travel is changing, said Stan Kottke, president of interiors at Collins Aerospace. In the Middle East, more families fly in business class. In the United States, retirees want to travel in an ergonomic seat. Millennials are investing in high-end travel experiences. They all want something different from the typical business nomad and airlines may even have to cater to different users at different times of day, Kottke told Reuters in an interview. "You can build a platform that is deliberately designed for differentiation in a bunch of different directions," he said. STRAINED RELATIONSHIPS The disciplined approach is reshaping negotiations with airlines, where the CEO is often personally involved in the finer points of cabin design. In a change of tone, suppliers are increasingly turning away business rather than chasing every deal, four people with direct knowledge of such talks said. In tenders, the reply "no bid" has become common, as seat suppliers avoid piling up financial risk. The industrial blockage has strained the delicate three-way relationship between planemakers, suppliers and carriers. Airlines often buy seats directly from suppliers such as Safran, Collins or Recaro but get Airbus or Boeing to fit them. Airbus is now exploring ways of charging seat firms penalties for delays that hold up deliveries of jets from its factories, two people familiar with the discussions said. None of the companies commented on contractual matters. Planemakers must also walk a tightrope between marketing the flexibility of their cabins while nudging airlines towards accepting greater standardisation to alleviate supply problems. Airbus has said it is acting to reduce risks to its own ramp-up plans from the "divergent complexity" of bespoke interiors, while Boeing has said the resulting bottlenecks in certification will be a challenge for the rest of this year. The two giants have a powerful ally in the leasing industry. "My advice to all airline CEOs would be ... stop inventing more seats. I know every airline CEO wants to design their own business class seat - don't do it," said Aengus Kelly, chief executive of the world's largest aircraft lessor AerCap. "Take one that is certified, that's a very good product, and you'll get your airplane in the air faster." Airlines aren't willing to give up one of their biggest branding weapons just yet. One of the latest carriers to unveil plush seating, Saudi startup Riyadh Air, ruled out any retreat from customisation. "I want a brand that's unique and that uniqueness is presented in the cabin," CEO Tony Douglas told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal, Joanna Plucinska in London, Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago and Lisa Barrington in Seoul; Editing by David Clarke) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
5 hours ago
Ukraine looks to jointly produce weapons with allies, while US halts some shipments
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine is forging ahead with embryonic plans for joint weapons production with some of its international allies, top officials said, while the U.S. announced it was halting some arms shipments promised to help Ukraine fight off Russia. Those plans come at what appears to be a key point in the all-out war launched by Moscow nearly 3½ years ago. A renewed Russian push to capture more Ukrainian land has put Ukraine's short-handed defenses under severe strain, and Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to find a peace settlement, meanwhile, have stalled. As Washington has distanced itself under U.S. President Donald Trump from Ukraine's war efforts, a bigger onus has fallen on European countries to pressure Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held their first direct telephone call in almost three years. Macron's office said that during their two-hour conversation, the French leader underlined France's 'unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity' and called for a ceasefire. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that officials are preparing with a sense of urgency for upcoming meetings with European Union countries and other partners to talk about cooperation in weapons manufacturing. 'One of the key topics will be weapons production – our joint investments, joint projects,' Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Tuesday evening. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that draft legislation on joint weapons production with international allies is expected to be put to a vote in the Ukrainian parliament later this month. The proposed laws were shown to national defense companies on Tuesday, Umerov said. The program includes plans to create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defense manufacturers scale up and modernize production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, according to Umerov. Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to Kyiv that Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly. He was accompanied on the trip by German defense industry representatives. The U.S. is halting some weapons deliveries to Ukraine out of concern that its own stockpiles have declined too far, officials said Tuesday. Certain munitions were longer-term commitments promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration, though the Defense Department didn't provide details on what specific weapons were being held back. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. chargé d'affaires, John Hinkel, on Wednesday to discuss ongoing defense cooperation. Deputy Foreign Minister Maryana Betsa thanked the U.S. for its continued support, but emphasized the 'critical importance' of maintaining previously allocated defense packages, especially for bolstering Ukraine's air defense. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Pentagon's decision will help bring a settlement closer, because "the fewer weapons supplied to Ukraine, the closer the end of the (war) is.' The United States has been Ukraine's biggest military backer since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022. Under Trump, there have been no new announcements of U.S. military or weapons aid to Ukraine. Between March and April, the United States allocated no new aid to Ukraine, according to Germany's Kiel Institute, which tracks such support. For the first time since June 2022, European countries surpassed the U.S. in total military aid, totaling 72 billion euros ($85 billion) compared with 65 billion euros ($77 billion) from the U.S., the institute said last month. Washington's latest decision could remove some of the most formidable weapons in Ukraine's battlefield arsenal. Analysts say Ukraine's European allies can fill some of the gaps and provide artillery systems. But they don't possess alternatives to the U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and air defense systems, especially Patriots, which are crucial to help defend Ukrainian cities from Russian air attacks.
