Category: 3. Business

The key to lasting partnerships is to treat the customer’s business as if it were your own—because their success is ultimately ours too.

The integration of powerful HENSOLDT sensors – including a high-performance electro-optical system, AMPS-M and the ‘PrecISR’ radar – with the innovative ‘MissMarvin’ mission operating system will result in scalable UAV platforms that meet both military and civilian requirements.

“With AVILUS, we have an agile UAV specialist at our side who can optimally leverage our state-of-the-art sensor solutions. Together, we are focusing on technological sovereignty and short paths from development to operational readiness – for powerful and resilient UAV expertise in Germany,” says Christina Canitz, Head of Division Optronics at HENSOLDT.

“AVILUS closes specific capability gaps in casualty evacuation, logistics and reconnaissance with robust, unmanned aerial systems. The focus is on operational proximity, reliability and rapid availability. Through close cooperation with HENSOLDT, we combine our platforms with state-of-the-art sensor technology, thus creating immediate added value for forces in the field,” says AVILUS CEO Ernst Rittinghaus.

The electro-optical system enables the detection, classification and tracking of objects thanks to multispectral sensor technology and AI-supported real-time processing. It combines HD thermal imaging, colour/low-light, SWIR and wide-angle cameras for comprehensive situation assessment – all sensors are available simultaneously and can be controlled via a high-precision 4-axis gimbal.

AMPS-M combines a self-protection system with up to 16 intelligent decoy launchers and integrates various warning sensors and protective measures against missile, laser and radar threats. The platform benefits from high modularity, minimal maintenance and more than 700 systems in use worldwide with thousands of flight hours – tested in cooperation with NATO partners.

PrecISR, a software-defined X-band radar with active electronically scanned array (AESA), detects and tracks more than 1,000 objects simultaneously, including ground, sea and air targets, regardless of weather conditions and at great distances. The system is easy to integrate, ITAR-free and, thanks to its scalability, suitable for a wide range of UAV platforms.

With the Federal Aviation Authority’s approval for civil flights already granted and the ‘company owned, company operated’ operating model, the partners are addressing a wide range of application scenarios – from disaster control and critical infrastructure monitoring to national border security.

The cooperation is part of HENSOLDT’s strategy to create innovative solutions in line with ‘software-defined defence’ through targeted partnerships. Initial demonstrations and pilot projects are already in preparation. The aim is to set new standards for ISR capabilities in unmanned aviation, both nationally and internationally.

By Billy Gray

  PSI Software agreed to be acquired by private-equity group Warburg Pincus in a deal valued at over 700 million euros ($813.4 million). 

  The companies signed a deal under which the U.S.-based Warburg Pincus will launch a voluntary public takeover offer for all outstanding shares of the German software-solutions group at 45 euros a share in cash, the companies said Monday. PSI currently has 15.7 million outstanding shares, according to its website. 

  As part of the agreement, Warburg Pincus signed share-purchase agreements and irrevocable undertakings with PSI shareholders that own about 28.5% of the company's total share capital, the companies said. One anchor shareholder will reinvest parts of its proceeds alongside Warburg Pincus into the holding structure, they added. 

  German utility E.ON, the second largest PSI shareholder and a customer of the software company, will retain its 17.77% stake, PSI said. It will also act jointly with Warburg Pincus on the deal. 

  PSI said Warburg Pincus will support its current growth strategy, maintain the existing management team and protect employee roles. The group said its headquarters will remain in Berlin, and that neither party would enter into a domination or profit and loss transfer deal for two years after closing the offer, which is expected in the first half of 2026. 

  Write to Billy Gray at william.gray@wsj.com 

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  October 13, 2025 02:20 ET (06:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

MTN is proud to once again be part of MWC Kigali, Africa’s leading technology event, taking place from 21 – 23 October 2025 at the Kigali Convention Centre, Rwanda. Hosted by the GSMA, the gathering brings together government, industry and technology leaders to explore how digital innovation can unlock inclusive growth across the continent.

For MTN, MWC Kigali is an opportunity to showcase progress across our networks, fintech, digital services and skills initiatives, while engaging with policymakers and partners to secure an inclusive and sustainable digital future for Africa.

Advancing Africa’s Digital Agenda

As a founding partner of MWC Africa, MTN continues to value the platform’s role in listening, learning and sharing ideas to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation.

This year, our participation will be headlined by Ralph Mupita in Keynote 1: Africa’s Future First – Determining the Path to a Digital Future. The session will explore Africa’s digital transformation journey, with unique mobile subscribers projected to surpass 700 million by 2030, and examine how technologies such as AI, fintech, 5G and green innovation are reshaping industries and driving inclusive growth.

Beyond the keynote, MTN leaders will join panels and roundtables on infrastructure investment, FinTech, AI adoption, online safety, and Africa’s connected future.

An Immersive MTN Stand

Visitors to the MTN stand will experience how our platforms and innovations translate into real value for Africa’s digital future.

Together, these platforms highlight MTN’s commitment to equipping Africa for the digital economy and creating pathways to employment and innovation.

In collaboration with Ericsson, MTN will also showcase 5G-enabled applications that demonstrate the impact of real-time connectivity:

• HADO – an augmented reality game debuting in Africa, showing how low latency supports interactive learning, health and skills training
• 5G-enabled robotic dog – illustrating how connected tech enhances safety and efficiency in mining, utilities and energy
• Ray-Ban Display smart glasses – featuring neural gesture control for future possibilities in accessibility, workforce productivity and digital interactions

At the Next Generation Leaders event on October 9, held as part of WiT Singapore, four voices from across Asia’s travel ecosystem—Laura Houldsworth (Booking.com), Timothy Hughes (Agoda), Morris Sim (Montara Hospitality) and Jacinta Lim (Seek Sophie)—examined how the new travel landscape is being reshaped by artificial intelligence (AI), authenticity and the fight for trust.

The age of acceleration

Houldsworth set the tone: “The pace of change is dizzying. It’s not just planning for what happens next year, but what happens tomorrow.”

The event, sponsored by Booking.com and open by-invite to about 60 young leaders from across Asia’s online travel market, opened on how fast AI is shifting the travel equation. OpenAI, Houldsworth noted, now counts over 800 million active weekly users, a four-fold jump in less than a year.

“Except for when Taylor Swift announces something,” Houldsworth said. “I can’t think of anything that happens faster.”

But the challenge, she said, goes beyond scale, with people now searching for vibe. “How does it feel? What’s the vibe, the experience? That’s hard to put into a booking engine, that’s what will change the game.”

The funnel, unbroken but redrawn

Hughes of Agoda offered a note of grounding. “As much as technology changes, the fundamental funnel doesn’t. Someone still needs to be inspired—that’s unbreakable. What changes is who wins in each part of it.”

He recalled that in the pre-AI era, content was the loser. “Search belonged to Google. Bookings went to the OTAs. But now, with AI shifting the power of the funnel, the content question is back.”

Already, Google Gemini and OpenAI are capturing search intent in new ways. One percent of searches may not sound like much, but when you’re talking about billions, it’s enormous, the panel acknowledged.

The boardroom moment for AI

At Montara Hospitality, AI has become a standing agenda item. “Every board meeting now includes an AI update,” said Sim. “Our operations managers are all trained in it.”

For him, the question isn’t whether to use it, but how. “Distribution used to mean choosing your channels. Now, you’re expected to be in all of them and AI helps you manage that chaos.”

Yet, he added, the key is still emotion. “How do you communicate the vibe of a place? Ironically, what we put out ourselves gets the least traction. What guests create, that’s what people consume and influence.”

Trust in an age of skepticism

That trust deficit—across media, marketing and institutions—was a recurring theme. “People are skeptical. They look for multiple sources and construct their own truth,” Sim said. “AI, used well, can help aggregate those voices and even translate them into different languages.”

He recounted instances of guests saying, “ChatGPT proposed this itinerary—why isn’t it in yours?”

“It keeps us on our toes,” he said. “We have to be service-oriented but flexible. It’s less about talking about our products—we have a spa, we have a gym—but more about understanding what questions people are asking, what prompts they are using.”

The human pulse of discovery

For Lim, co-founder of Seek Sophie, the drive for experiences and authenticity hasn’t changed—only how people find it. “We started Seek Sophie because we couldn’t find the experiences we wanted online. Even on page 10 of Google, it was the same lists, same SEO.”

Her insight is clear: “People want stories, from people who’ve actually been there. They want the vibe, not a chatbot summary.”

Her comment drew nods around the room. “The more stories we tell, the more people resonate. That’s how trust builds, through voices that sound like theirs.”

Social media, she added, has become “the new luxury.”

“It’s telling people you’ve been to this place; it’s about relatability. The new aspiration is to live a story worth telling.”

Asia’s responsibility to its future

On tourism’s responsibility to the environment, Hughes shared his frustration with an airline he flew with from Bangkok to Singapore that was still giving away plastic shoehorns to its business class passengers as well as socks and eye masks on short flights. “That’s completely unnecessary.”

As we look at the protests going on in Europe, we in Asia have to be very careful. Our livelihoods depend on tourism assets, and we don’t have the muscle to protect these natural places.

Jacinta Lim, Seek Sophie

Lim also issued a quiet warning. “As we look at the protests going on in Europe, we in Asia have to be very careful. Our livelihoods depend on tourism assets, and we don’t have the muscle to protect these natural places. As Asia booms, what does tourism do to our natural spaces and how do we protect them?”

Responding to a question as to whether Seek Sophie could become bigger than Viator, Lim said, “If that’s the responsible thing to do, to be bigger, then yes. But growth at all costs, I don’t agree with that.”

An industry at a crossroads

Hughes brought the conversation full circle. “Sure, tech will change—AI, content, speed of development. But what we don’t yet know is how consumers will change. That’s the real unknown.”

He likened this moment to “the beginning of a monster change.”

Houldsworth added, “Even the people building the tools don’t know where this goes. All we can do is stay agile.”

The Asian moment

For Sim, this decade belongs to Asia. “Asia is shaping the global narrative now. You see Europeans, Australians, Americans coming here not just for holidays but to explore why our countries are so interesting.”

Between Japan’s inbound boom and South-east Asia’s economic rise, he said, “There’s an endless amount of opportunity in the next 50 years—as more people enter the middle class and start travelling for meaning, not mileage.”

This article originally appeared in WiT.

SEOUL — South Korea’s foreign exchange authorities on Monday issued a verbal intervention over excessive volatility in the foreign exchange market.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a joint statement that the FX authorities are closely monitoring the possibility of herd behavior, with caution, in the process of the local currency’s expanded volatility, caused by internal and external factors.

It marked the first verbal intervention by the authorities in one and a half years since April last year when the won versus US dollar exchange rate came closer to 1,400 won per dollar amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

ALSO READ: S. Korea issues verbal intervention over forex market volatility

The won versus dollar exchange rate started at 1,430.0 won, up 9.0 won compared to the previous trading day.

The rate soared to 1,434.0 won during market hours, recording the highest in five months since early May. 

By Kwanwoo Jun

  LG Electronics guided for quarterly operating profit to fall 8.4%--a smaller decline than market consensus, thanks to its key affiliates' solid performance despite tough business conditions. 

  While challenges remain from higher U.S. tariffs and a delayed recovery in global demand, its home-appliance segment maintained its competitiveness and continued to be the market leader, while its vehicle-component segment achieved record profitability, the South Korean company said Monday. 

  The consumer-electronics giant said in a preliminary earnings report that its operating profit could come in at 688.90 billion won, equivalent to $481.9 million, for the July-September period, compared with 751.90 billion won a year earlier. The projection was above a FactSet-compiled consensus estimate of 618.79 billion won. 

  Revenue is expected to have fallen 1.4% to 21.875 trillion won, LG Electronics said, also beating analysts' estimate. 

  Shares of the company rose 2% after the better-than-expected guidance, trimming its year-to-date losses to below 4%. 

  The earnings projection came as LG Electronics recently raised $1.3 billion by selling a 15% stake in its Indian unit, LG Electronics India, in an initial public offering. The company said it expects the proceeds to provide significant funding to accelerate business structure improvements and future growth initiatives. The Indian unit will begin trading Tuesday. 

  LG Electronics said it would continue its push to grow new businesses, including its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning services as well as non-hardware platforms such as appliance subscriptions and online services. 

  Analysts at Daiwa Capital said in a recent note that LG Electronics is facing business uncertainties in the second half of the year, citing a larger-than-expected U.S. tariff impact and increasing competition in the television business. The Korean company on Monday said its media and entertainment segment, which includes its TV business, experienced higher marketing costs amid intensifying global competition. 

  The company is scheduled to release its full quarterly results later this month. 

  Separately, LG Energy Solution, an electric-vehicle battery maker affiliated with the parent LG Group conglomerate, earlier forecast a 34% increase in third-quarter operating profit, surpassing market expectations. 

  The battery unit's projection of 601.30 billion won, which includes an estimated 365.50 billion won U.S. tax credit, beat a FactSet-compiled consensus forecast of 518.29 billion won. 

  Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com 

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  October 13, 2025 01:20 ET (05:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.