Category: 3. Business

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — General Dynamics NASSCO, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), and its long-term partner, DSEC Co., Ltd., together with Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (SHI) of South Korea announced today the signing of a tri-party Memorandum of Agreement – joining forces to collaborate on their industry leading ship design and manufacturing automation and technology in the U.S. market.

The partnership will advance all three companies’ endeavors into commercial, naval, and other government shipbuilding projects, including the U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Logistics Ship (NGLS), and will leverage decades of common experience and success teaming in U.S.-South Korean shipbuilding.

General Dynamics NASSCO has been the U.S. leading designer and builder of major naval auxiliary and commercial vessels since the 1950s, delivering over 150 vessels to date. NASSCO is currently building the U.S. Navy’s 20-ship class of John Lewis (T-AO 205) Fleet Oilers and is designing the U.S. Navy’s future Submarine Tender (AS-X) class. Recent commercial programs include ConRo ships, containerships, and medium range (MR) tankers, all designed with DSEC and other South Korean partners, leveraging NASSCO’s long history of cooperation with some of the world’s leading ship designers and builders.

“This partnership brings together three extraordinary companies with a track record of success and over 160 years of combined shipbuilding and design experience,” said Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “Having worked closely with DSEC over the last two decades and now welcoming Samsung Heavy Industries, there is great opportunity in leveraging our expertise and years of learning to execute on the next generation of shipbuilding.”

DSEC Co., Ltd. provides a complete range of shipbuilding and marine engineering services, including ship design, material procurement, quality management, shipyard operations and development consulting, logistics support, and eco retrofit solutions. With over three decades of experience, DSEC has worked extensively on U.S. built ship designs and material packages throughout the U.S., supporting a wide variety of commercial, naval, and government ship programs.

“This MOA strengthens our long-standing collaboration with General Dynamics NASSCO by combining the capabilities of Samsung Heavy Industries and we look forward to contributing greater value to the U.S. shipbuilding and maritime industry,” said Mr. Seogyong Youn, president of DSEC.

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (SHI) is recognized as one of the world’s leading shipbuilders, specializing in the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and delivery of advanced commercial vessels. Its portfolio includes liquefied natural gas carriers (LNGC), container ships, drill ships, and floating production units for the oil and gas industry. SHI currently holds the top global market share in drill ships, LNG carriers, and floating LNG production units (FLNG). The company is actively engaged in the construction of three FLNG units and 120 commercial ships.

“Through this tri-party collaboration, SHI is committed to leveraging its technological expertise, skilled workforce and production infrastructure to enhance the capabilities of the U.S. shipbuilding industries,” said Mr. Joonyun Kang, director of SHI.

SOURCE General Dynamics NASSCO

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One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds is suing a US private equity firm, accusing it of attempting to short-change investors on the sale of a portfolio company to another one of its funds.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Council is seeking to block Energy & Minerals Group from selling its stake in Ascent Resources, one of America’s largest private gas drillers, to one of the private equity firm’s sister funds. The sovereign fund alleges the deal undervalues Ascent while generating a windfall for the new fund managed by EMG.

The wealth fund said in a court filing unsealed on Wednesday: “Defendants are trying to force a conflicted sale of EMG fund assets to a continuation vehicle to reap a massive benefit for themselves at the expense of ADIC and the other investors to whom defendants owe fiduciary duties.”

The dispute sheds new light on the potential conflicts of interest that arise as private equity firms increasingly exit ageing deals by selling companies between funds they manage instead of taking them public or finding outside buyers such as large corporations or other buyout groups.

Such transactions, known as continuation fund deals, have grown in popularity in recent years as private equity groups have struggled to find buyers for trillions of dollars in unsold assets. Continuation deals amounted to a record 19 per cent of all PE asset sales in the first half of 2025, the Financial Times previously reported. But they are viewed warily by investors, given that buyout groups arrange the deals and are on both sides of the transactions.

An investor in Ascent Resources told the FT they believed the gas driller was worth more than $7bn when including debt. But EMG’s continuation fund plans to buy its over 30 per cent stake in Ascent at roughly a $5.5bn valuation, leaving investors with lower proceeds than what they believe they could get from an initial public offering or a sale to a third party. EMG is also asking to pay its investors over a two-year time period, further lowering the present value of the proceeds, they said.

However, other private equity groups that specialise in energy passed on the deal based on the belief that Ascent was overvalued, other people briefed on the matter said.

EMG, a $12bn Texas-based group founded by John Raymond, the son of former ExxonMobil chief executive Lee Raymond, first invested in Ascent in 2014 when the company, founded by the late shale gas-drilling baron Aubrey McClendon, was called American Energy Partners. It is one of the leading gas drillers in the US with vast resources in Ohio’s Utica shale. In the ensuing decade, many energy-focused private equity groups were stung by deep downturns in the industry. They have since earned lacklustre returns and struggled to raise new money from investors.

EMG’s four most recent funds all have earned net returns of 10 per cent or less, according to public pension documents filed by the Minnesota State Board of Investment. While the group has not announced a new private equity fundraise since 2019, it completed a $1.1bn continuation fund earlier this year for midstream assets it held in decade-old funds.

A continuation fund deal would increase EMG’s ownership in Ascent and restart its ability to earn management fees and potentially lucrative performance fees if the driller’s value rises in the coming years.

The sovereign wealth fund said in its complaint it believed the deal incentivised EMG “to buy out its current investors, including ADIC, at as low a price as possible”.

It also said the PE firm stood to “earn no or minimal carried interest on the asset if an exit to a third-party buyer were to happen now”.

In addition to arguing EMG’s deal might short-change some investors, the sovereign fund criticised the speed at which the private equity group broached the continuation fund deal with its investors and tactics to win their consent which it called “underhanded” and “misleading”, the filing said.

ADIC alleged the PE group coerced investors to support its continuation fund deal by providing them with substantially lower valuations for Ascent than they did to prospective new buyers.

ADIC also claimed EMG concealed alternatives to the fund-to-fund deal, such as internal IPO plans and interest from third-party buyers. It is now asking EMG to launch a formal sale process for Ascent.

The sovereign fund is a part of Abu Dhabi’s broader state-backed investment group Mubadala, which manages more than $300bn in assets and is one of the largest investors in the world.

The sovereign fund said it could not comment on open litigation. EMG and its founder John Raymond did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Additional reporting by Arash Massoudi in London and Chloe Cornish in Dubai

December 4, 2025

NTT DATA, Inc.

Bielefeld, Germany/São Paulo, Brazil – December 3, 2025 – NTT DATA Business Solutions, a leading global IT service provider focused on SAP, today announced the signing of an agreement to acquire SPRO IT Solutions, a leading SAP provider in the agribusiness industry in Brazil. The terms of the acquisition have been finalized and will be completed following approval from the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE).

Founded in 2008, SPRO is a national agribusiness leader, with expertise across key production chains including grain origination, animal protein, agricultural inputs, seeds, retail, and biofuels. Serving cooperatives, agro-industries, seed companies and trading firms across Brazil, the company promotes intelligent integration across all aspects of the agribusiness chain, from field to end consumer. As a SAP Gold Partner, SPRO collaborates with major global technology players including SAP, AWS, Microsoft, and Google, accelerating the strategic digitalization of its clients and solidifying its position as one of the leading references in innovation applied to Brazilian agribusiness.

“Brazil is among the top ten global markets for IT services, with agribusiness playing a leading role across many regions of the country. By welcoming SPRO into our organization, we are not only strengthening our SAP capabilities in a key industry, but also deepening our commitment to innovation and sustainable growth in the region. SPRO’s proven expertise and strong customer relationships will help us deliver greater value to our clients and accelerate our global strategy”, said Norbert Rotter, CEO, NTT DATA Business Solutions AG.

SPRO is dedicated to driving end-to-end digital transformation for agribusiness, providing a software platform and services that support operational efficiency, governance, and productive sustainability. Operating in the South, Southeast, Midwest, and North regions of Brazil – where the sector’s main players are concentrated – the company has become a technology leader in agribusiness. The company offers proprietary solutions on the SAP Store and holds various certifications and recognitions, such as the SAP Delivery Excellence Award, which reinforce its leadership, credibility, and commitment to innovation in the sector.
“This acquisition creates new opportunities for cross-selling and upselling, leveraging the strengths of both organizations. SPRO will join our Global Centersof Excellence, fostering knowledge exchange and driving productivity. Agribusiness is a fundamental pillar of the Brazilian economy, representing around 29.4% of the national GDP and accounting for a significant share of the country’s exports. With SPRO’s expertise in SAP for key agribusiness production chains and global collaboration with other NTT DATA units, we will further enhance our ability to deliver innovative solutions and support our international expansion,” said Ricardo Fachin, Managing Director, NTT DATA Business Solutions Brazil.

Almir Miguel Meinerz, CEO at SPRO, comments: “With over 350 employees, our mission is to drive technological innovation in agribusiness, transforming data into intelligence and delivering tangible results for our clients. Joining NTT DATA Business Solutions marks an important milestone for SPRO, our team, and the entire ecosystem of clients and partners we’ve built over 17 years. We are excited by the opportunity to develop joint solutions for SAP clients, expand our market-recognized offerings, and accelerate our growth both in Brazil and beyond.”

The acquisition of SPRO will add around 70 customers to the portfolio of NTT DATA Business Solutions. The company will become a subsidiary of NTT DATA Business Solutions – Serviços de Tecnologia Ltda. in Brazil and will operate as an independent company after the acquisition, using the brand name “SPRO, an NTT DATA Company”.

For more information, please visit nttdata-solutions.com.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA is a $30+ billion business and technology services leader, serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100. We are committed to accelerating client success and positively impacting society through responsible innovation. We are one of the world’s leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched capabilities in enterprise-scale AI, cloud, security, connectivity, data centers and application services. Our consulting and industry solutions help organizations and society move confidently and sustainably into the digital future. As a Global Top Employer, we have experts in more than 70 countries. We also offer clients access to a robust ecosystem of innovation centers as well as established and start-up partners. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group, which invests over $3 billion each year in R&D.
Visit us at nttdata.com

About NTT DATA Business Solutions

NTT DATA Business Solutions is a leading global IT service provider focused on SAP with a powerful ecosystem of partners. With more than 35 years of in-depth experience, we enable companies worldwide to become Intelligent Enterprises. We deliver end-to-end solutions that accelerate sustainable growth and success – from strategic consulting and implementation to managed services and beyond. As a global strategic SAP partner, we drive innovation and leverage the latest technologies to support our customers individually and across all industries. Our more than 18,300 dedicated employees in over 30 countries work passionately every day to make it happen.

NTT DATA Business Solutions is part of NTT DATA, a $30+ billion trusted global innovator of business and technology services headquartered in Tokyo. As One NTT DATA we serve 75% of the Fortune Global 100 and are committed to helping customers innovate, optimize, and transform for long-term success. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group.

Novo Nordisk says it still thinks GLP-1 drugs could be a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s, despite two major trials last month that found an older drug similar to Ozempic had no effect in slowing early-stage disease.

While GLP-1 drugs have become synonymous with dramatic weight loss, they’ve also become one of the most closely watched experimental approaches for slowing Alzheimer’s, a disease with few treatment options.

That’s why Novo Nordisk’s announcement last month that it discontinued two large trials — evoke and evoke+ — was viewed as a major setback for Alzheimer’s researchers and patient advocates.

“This is not what we hoped for,” Dr. Peter Johannsen, Novo Nordisk’s international medical vice president of obesity and cardiometabolic, said in an interview. “We really did expect a change.”

Scientists have spent years studying how GLP-1 medications affect inflammation, metabolism and blood vessels in the brain — factors long suspected to contribute to Alzheimer’s, said Donna Wilcock, the director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Obesity and diabetes — both treated by GLP-1 drugs — are also risk factors for Alzheimer’s and can cause changes in the brain that look similar to the disease.

“If you look at everything that we currently understand about how the GLP-1s act in the body, all that kind of points to maybe they’ll do something in Alzheimer’s,” Wilcock said.

On Wednesday, Novo Nordisk scientists presented the findings of their Phase 3 trials at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference in San Diego. The studies showed an oral version of semaglutide for Type 2 diabetes, sold under the brand name Rybelsus, didn’t slow the progression of memory and thinking problems in older adults. Semaglutide is the active ingredient used in Ozempic and Wegovy.

The trials included almost 4,000 older adults in total with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Participants took either Rybelsus or a placebo for two years. Cognitive decline was measured using a rating scale that focused on six areas: memory, orientation, judgment and problem solving, community affairs, home and hobbies, and personal care.

However, there were signs that the drug was having an effect under the surface, Johannsen said.

Biomarkers — signs that show whether a person is responding to a treatment — suggested reduced inflammation and slower neurodegeneration in people who got Rybelsus. The reductions were modest, at around 10%, compared with a placebo, and Johannsen said it may take closer to 20% or 25% to translate into a real clinical benefit.

“We’re happy to see that it actually moves some of the biomarkers that are very related” to Alzheimer’s, Johannsen said, adding that the company is still reviewing all the data. “We’ll of course assess all of this and then we’ll see what the future brings.”

Too low of a dose?

Dr. Ronald Petersen, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved in the research, said a possible explanation for the disappointing results could be flaws in the trials, including that researchers gave participants too low of a dose.

Participants got the highest available dose of Rybelsus. That dose, however, is far below what’s given in weekly semaglutide injections.

Oral forms of medications also tend to be less effective than injections. That’s because the stomach acid can break down the drug before it reaches the bloodstream.

“Perhaps they were underdosed,” Petersen said. “They’ve got a lower dose than they had used for other indications.”

Johannsen said patients in the trial had high levels of semaglutide in their blood — even slightly higher, on average, than what was seen in some of the diabetes trials using the weekly injections.

“They did get exposed to semaglutide; they did get it into the blood,” he said.

Wilcock said using injections could be risky: The trial was made up of mostly older adults, who are often frail and could face health risks if they lost too much weight.

“If they progress to dementia, they sometimes have issues with diet and food, so do we want to exacerbate those things?” she said.

A different mechanism

Petersen was also critical of how the trials measured cognitive decline.

Researchers relied on the CDR-SB, a standard scale used in Alzheimer’s studies. It’s the same scale that was used in the trials for Leqembi and Kisunla, two drugs that aim to slow the progression of the disease by clearing clumps of protein called amyloid plaques from the brain.

Results presented Wednesday showed the CDR-SB score for people who got Rybelsus was not statistically different from those who did not get the drug.

But GLP-1 drugs don’t target amyloid. They act through different pathways in the brain and body, which means the usual cognitive tests may not be sensitive to the kinds of changes these drugs might produce.

“It could be that drugs like this work on other mechanisms, not Alzheimer’s disease, per se,” Petersen said. “Consequently maybe the CDR is not the best measure. With their mechanism of action, it may be quite different.”

Petersen said that raises a challenge for future trials: A different mechanism may require a different way of measuring how well it works, something regulators may be reluctant to accept.

“They don’t like you testing a drug with a nonspecific target using endpoints that aren’t traditionally tied to what you’re treating,” he said.

Dr. Paul Edison, a professor of neuroscience at Imperial College London who worked with Novo Nordisk on an earlier Alzheimer’s trial, said the participants in the trials may have been treated too late in their disease.

“GLP-1 therapies appear to work upstream, improving insulin signalling, dampening inflammation, and supporting mitochondrial health,” he wrote in an email. “These processes may help prevent or delay early neurodegeneration but may not reverse or halt disease once protein aggregation and synaptic loss are well underway.”

Even though the trials enrolled people with “early Alzheimer’s,” Edison noted that the disease likely had been developing silently for decades.

“For a metabolic-acting drug, this may simply be too late,” he said.

Other forms of dementia

Johannsen suggested it isn’t off the table that the drugmaker could look into testing even earlier in the disease or before people show symptoms.

“That, of course, is a long discussion and very much where the field in many ways is moving,” he said.

Johannsen also said that outside experts have suggested that the company should look into testing the drug for other forms of dementia.

“The reason for choosing Alzheimer’s disease for this program was very much the input from the FDA,” he said.

Petersen said that while the initial results were a “little discouraging,” many in the Alzheimer’s community still believe that GLP-1s can potentially help treat the disease.

“Is it possible that GLP-1s would be best in the preclinical space?” Petersen asked, referring to the earliest stages of the disease, before a person is diagnosed.

Wilcock said she doesn’t think research looking into GLP-1s and Alzheimer’s is “dead.”

“I don’t think it’s a nail in the coffin,” she said.

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One of the largest middle men in First Brands’ financings has said that “a lot of people made a lot of money” lending to the bankrupt car parts maker, as they chased the high yields that it paid on its debt.

The comments from Raistone chief executive David Skirzenski on Wednesday at a conference for investors in trade and supply chain finance come as a Houston bankruptcy court looks to untangle a web of obligations asset managers, including Raistone, claim they are owed from First Brands and its customers.

“Frankly a lot of people made a lot of money over many, many years on First Brands,” Skirzenski said at the Global Trade Review annual conference in New York. “So they’re not all sad. They’re not all kicking themselves.”

“This is the business if you do single-B risk,” he added, referring to lending to companies with low credit ratings.

Skirzenski’s company played a crucial role in facilitating capital raisings for First Brands. It runs a technology platform that helped connect the car parts company with larger investors.

First Brand’s founder and owner has since been accused of fraud — which he denies — and investors expect to take painful losses on some $12bn of debt the company has amassed.

Lawyers representing the car parts company have disclosed that billions of dollars of borrowings First Brands secured through off-balance sheet financings from groups such as Raistone cannot be accounted for. They have told a judge that the borrowings were in many cases tied to assets that never existed or were already pledged to other creditors.

Raistone alleged in October that as much as $2.3bn had “simply vanished”, as it pushed for the appointment of an outside examiner as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. In its complaint, it said it was owed at least $172mn.

Filings show Raistone helped arrange hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, which investors are now claiming they are owed in the bankruptcy.

First Brands often paid interest in the mid-teens percentage range, compared with the typical 5 to 8 per cent that might be charged on similar loans.

Raistone is looking to sell itself, according to people familiar with the potential transaction. The sales process, which was earlier reported by Bloomberg, is being run by investment banking and trading firm Seaport Global. Seaport also owns a stake in Raistone.

“Conflicts were discussed at the board level and it was decided that the best outcome would be someone familiar with the business to run the sale,” said a person familiar with the matter. “Time was of the essence and the company needed to keep supporting clients and the workout of First Brands”.

Raistone and Seaport declined to comment.

Skirzenski said that Raistone had “adjusted staff” levels and was still busy on deals. The Financial Times earlier reported that Raistone had laid off 60 people as a result of the First Brands debacle, keeping 40 in total.

He noted that First Brands was a “fascinating story” and “would be a book one day”.

At Wednesday’s conference for specialist lenders, First Brands was acknowledged early in the day as “the elephant in the room” by Jonathan Richman, Santander’s head of US trade finance and working capital.

It came up repeatedly on panels and on the sidelines of the event near Times Square. Sofia Hammoucha, the global head of trade and working capital at Standard Chartered, said the “over-leverage and lack of disclosure” around First Brands’ collapse would prompt investors to take more care.

Some bankers and due diligence experts said they expected lenders to start conducting more thorough field tests to inspect that the assets securing their loans exist.

Others were less sure of the impact First Brands would have on the opaque world of supply chain finance. Mansour Davarian, the head of transaction banking solutions at Lloyds, said there had been no diminution in demand from private credit providers.

Stuart Roberts, the head of sales and distribution at Procura Inventory Management, called it “a depressingly familiar tale that seems to happen every five years or so” where red flags are missed as money managers race to invest capital.