#qia icons

[yoohicons]

· prietenie qianay fr. nightcatcher ─ from yoo with lovᥱ. ☁︎

[kicksaddictny]

Video:  Footlocker Celebrates Global Sneaker Community For Seventh Annual Week Of Greatness

Foot Locker today announces its highly-anticipated, annual “Week of Greatness” campaign by dropping #BecauseSneakers, a global sneaker anthem. The company continues its legacy of debuting a lineup of the most globally sought-after sneakers, apparel and accessories for the iconic campaign’s seventh consecutive year. #BecauseSneakers, speaks to how a sneakerhead’s every impulse and motivation revolves around their extreme love for the shoes they wear. From early wake-up calls in different time zones to secure the latest drop to secretly sniffing box-fresh sneakers, this anthem taps into the universal culture and quirks shared by sneakerheads. Spanning across different backgrounds, lifestyles, countries, languages and shoe closets, Foot Locker’s campaign brings together an impressive roster of notable sneaker enthusiasts, like Meek Mill, DJ Khaled and his son Asahd, Paul George, Ben Simmons, JR Smith, J. Balvin, Bad Bunny, Don C, Nigel Sylvester, Haha Davis, Ronnie 2K and Juice WRLD. To celebrate this passion and global moment of greatness, Foot Locker’s content also features global sneakerheads, including: Qias Omar (U.S.), Ray Polanco, Jr. (U.S.), Kai Bent-Lee (Canada), Anna Bediones (Canada), Federico Schwartz (Italy) and Jeanne Santoli (France). “Supporting the sneaker community has always been at the core of what we do at Foot Locker,” said Dick Johnson, Chairman, President and CEO of Foot Locker, Inc. “By unveiling #BecauseSneakers, we’re celebrating the passion, energy and individuality of our fans from around the world. With our longstanding heritage in sneaker culture, we understand and respect why sneakerheads do what they do.” Week of Greatness will also be brought to life through a week of immersive experiences for sneakerheads in select global cities, including Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, Toronto and more. Activations include: ·        Nov. 15: Timberland x Champion store takeover and performance by Mike Skinner in London, with a subsequent takeover planned for Milan on Nov. 22. ·        Nov. 16 – 18: Foot Locker and Nike come together to present the Gold Room, a New York Sunshine gallery inspired by the Nike Gold Pack. Visitors will have early access to the Nike AM 97, AM Plus and Vapormax Plus. The gallery will be featured at two locations, in NYC and Toronto. ·        Nov. 20: In partnership with adidas, Foot Locker’s Hollywood & Highland Flagship in Los Angeles will feature a vault-like escape room experience where shoppers can try and escape from the vault with the adidas Ultra Boost “Medal” Pack in advance of the drop. ·        Nov. 22: Reebok 3:AM activation in Paris with Betty Autier, unveiling the inspiration behind her Reebok shoe design. ·        Nov. 22 – Dec. 6: Puma Transformers takeovers in London and Liverpool, touting free Transformer toys with any Puma purchase, while supplies last. “What distinguishes the sneakerhead community is our next-level commitment to footwear, style and personal expression,” said acclaimed designer Don C, narrator of Foot Locker’s Week of Greatness Anthem. “Foot Locker really brings that to life with this content – highlighting the unrivaled dedication shared by sneakerheads around the world.” The specially-curated Week of Greatness product lineup will begin dropping Saturday, Nov. 17 across the Foot Locker family of brands including, Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker and Lady Foot Locker both in stores and online. Visit Foot Locker's Release Calendar and Launch Locator to find drop dates and release procedures for the hottest launches.

[interior-design-home]

Interesting chairs such as this broken wooden chair restored with translucent acrylic (by Tatiane Freitas)

Scorpion chair by designer Vyacheslav Pakhomov 

Sunflower Chair by He Mu and Zhang Qia

One with a bag hanger

Concrete and Leather Rocking Chair by Paulsberg

This chair can transform into a stepladder

Eames replica 

Storytime rocking chair

LC4, designed by a famous french architect called Le Corbusier in 1929, is still considered today as the most confortable chair in the world.

Chair made out of 737 jet engine cowling. They are selling these here: http://www.fallenfurniture.com/product/737-cowling-chair/ 

Tree trunk chair

The Globe Garden is a re-launch of an iconic chair that shows how norms of sitting nicely and sitting still can be broken. Garden was licensed by the Norwegian company Stokke from 1985 to 2005 and has now been re-launched at the Stockholm Furniture Fair in a new version by Moment AB. The new version of the chair depicts branches of a tree that continues down the legs and become supporting roots.

"Gentleman's surprise chair" ca. 1880

Chair made from an old Naval mine shell. This chair is created by Mati Karmin.  The frame of the artpieces is a historical deep-sea mine of AGSB-type, made in Russia in 1942. It was a big galvanic deep-sea mine, equipped with “Blok” device and two contact electro-magnetic antennas. The upper antenna was kept steady by a buoy. The mine was used to fight submarines. It was still manufactured in the 50s. The measures of the original mine are: diameter: 875 mm, weight: 1140 kg, Explosive charge: 240 kg.

Tulip chairs

[tissipropaganda]

Qatar state fund drops $91M on property near UN

The Qatar Investment Authority is again a Big Apple buyer. It paid $91 million through an LLC for five commercial spaces at 809 First Avenue, also known as 809 United Nations Plaza, property records show. The building also serves as Qatar’s permanent mission to the U.N. The seller was the Institute of International Education. The deal comes a month after the sovereign wealth fund scooped up an iconic Manhattan hotel. A representative for the QIA

Source: https://therealdeal.com/2019/11/25/qatar-state-fund-drops-91m-on-property-near-un/

[theinvinciblenoob]

Compass, the New York startup that has built a tech-first platform to take on the antiquated market of real estate, is building up its own house today. To double down on domestic growth, build out its tech, and to finally open up for business outside the US, the company has raised another $400 million of funding.

Jointly led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund and the Qatar Investment Authority, this Series F — likely to be the last before it goes public — now values Compass at a whopping $4.4 billion.

(Other investors in this round include Wellington, IVP and Fidelity, with the total raised by Compass now at $1.2 billion to date.)

Compass has been on nothing less than a funding roll. (Part of a wider one for the real estate startup market: today SoftBank also led a $400 million round into Opendoor, and last week Zumper raised $46 million.)

Compass’s money comes on the heels of the startup raising $450 million less than a year ago at a $2.2 billion valuation, also led by the Vision Fund, and picking up $100 million just before that, totalling $900 million for this year.

These sums underscore just how far and fast the company has leaped since first being founded as Urban Compass in 2012. Indeed, while the real estate market has had its ups and downs, you could argue that Compass has been witnessing a boom of its own.

The company cleared $34 billion in sales in 2018 ($14.8 billion in 2017) and is on track to make $1 billion in revenues. It already claims to be the biggest independent brokerage in California. This, it should be said, was partly due to inorganic growth: it acquired Pacific Union International in August, and although Compass doesn’t rule out more M&A, this will never replace organic growth, according to Ori Allon, the co-founder (with CEO Robert Reffkin) and executive chairman of the startup.

Allon would not say whether Compass is currently profitable, but it sounds like an intentional no. “We are in a strong financial position and continue to heavily invest in growth,” Allon — a search engineer himself who previously sold companies to Google and Twitter — said in an interview.

Compass at its most basic offers a clear and easy way for property owners to list, market and sell properties, as well as follow through on the many pieces of complex transactional data that occur before and after the deal is made. But it has also built its business in a quite traditional way, too: by adding people.

The company says it now has more than 7,000 agents on the ground, triple the number it had in 2017, and is on track with a strategy to control 20 percent of all residential property sales in the US’s top 20 markets. (In addition to big cities like New York, Washington, Boston and San Francisco, it’s been expanding into the next wave of markets, including San Diego, Dallas, Seattle, Philadelphia and Atlanta, and soon Austin, Nashville and Houston).

In Allon’s view, the tech and human elements are essentially two sides to the same coin.

“We are continuing to build an end-to-end technology platform that services agents and their clients through every step of the real estate journey,” Allon said. “This is why so many agents make the transition to Compass. Our vision is for Compass to be everywhere, and we are excited to expand internationally in 2019.”

Compass is not the only company trying to disrupt (and improve) real estate with tech. In addition to the now-established guard of sites like Redfin and Zillow that aggregate listings and provide a way to view properties from a range of agencies, there are startups like Zumper looking to tackle the rental market.

“We’re all trying to make the whole ecosystem better, but are focusing on fundamentally different parts of the ecosystem,” Allon said of Zumper (which itself raised a round just last week). “It’s great to see other companies investing in innovation for the real estate industry. Our industry will be better for the changes these companies are making and it will prepare us all to thrive for many years to come.”

That’s not to say that Zumper — and others — might not one day become more direct competition. “Our goal is to eventually service all aspects of real estate, ultimately creating a single platform for the industry, with agents at the center of the referral economy,” Allon said in response to a question of whether it would tackle more short-term lettings a la Airbnb. This would be a market you could imagine might be interesting, given how many property investors specifically buy to rent out the spaces.

The Adyen of real estate?

There is an interesting trend in the tech world of businesses that are tackling what some would describe as “unsexy” problems: in many industries, there are too many pieces that need to work together to get something done, and this slows down not only the overall industry’s growth, but how smaller players can engage and use it. Adyen has built a solution to tie up and simplify working with the many moving parts of the payments space, and it seems that this too is what Compass wants to build for the real estate industry.

“As we build new tech and tools, our goal is seamless integration — of our tech, tools and backend data,” Allon said. “There is not one company that has seamlessly integrated the real estate journey for agents or consumers on an end-to-end platform. Our current focus is on creating a seamless experience that allows agents to complete daily tasks more intelligently, which will eventually extend beyond close, to title, insurance, mortgage, escrow, and more.”

In terms of investors, Allon describes SoftBank as “an incredible partner” — not least, I’m guessing, because it has been so willing to back Compass (twice!). Notably, he said that Compass is in a position where it didn’t need to raise — words that must be some of the most welcome ones that any investor hears as the term sheets are drawn up — but “this latest round of funding gets us steps closer, faster.”

“Compass’s continued growth is being driven by their commitment to empowering agents with best-in-class technology that helps them expand their business and better serve consumers,” said Justin Wilson, SoftBank Investment Adviser’s board representative. “We’re excited to continue to support Compass as they further invest in their data and technology capabilities to create a next generation platform for home transactions and ownership.”

QIA, meanwhile, is an interesting and likely strategic investor, given its holdings also in real estate globally. (It’s a very prominent player in my town of London, for example, with stakes or full ownership of some of the city’s most iconic properties.)

“We believe Compass is well positioned in the real estate brokerage sector driven by technology. We look forward to partnering with Compass and existing shareholders in the next stage of the company’s growth. Our investment marks QIA’s ongoing commitment to investing in high quality technology, media and telecommunications assets.” said a spokesperson for the QIA, in a statement.

via TechCrunch

[dragnews]

Qatar to buy New York

LONDON (Reuters) – The tiny but ultra-rich Gulf state of Qatar has agreed to buy one of New York’s most iconic buildings, the Plaza Hotel, for around $600 million, adding a development that was once owned by U.S. President Donald Trump to its luxury property portfolio.

FILE PHOTO: Flags fly over the entrance of The Plaza Hotel in midtown Manhattan in New York August 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Qatar’s state-owned Katara Holding is buying full ownership of the hotel, including a 75 percent stake from Indian business group Sahara India Pariwar, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.

Katara and Sahara were not immediately available to comment.

The source declined to be identified because the deal was not public.

Qatar has been buying top hotels and luxury properties in the West over the past decade as part of a drive by its $300 billion-plus sovereign wealth fund to diversify the wealth it accumulates from gas and oil exports.

Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, already owns landmark hotels such as The Savoy and The Connaught in London.

Its wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has also invested in large Western companies such as carmarker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and mining giant Glencore (GLEN.L).

The pace of Qatar’s overseas investment had been expected to slow down amid a crisis in the Gulf after its neighbors – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain – imposed economic sanctions on Doha for allegedly supporting terrorism.

Qatar denies the allegations and says the economic boycott is an attempt to undermine its sovereignty.

Qatar has had to inject dozens of billions of dollars into its economy, but in recent months has said the impact of the boycott has been mitigated, allowing it to resume large scale investments abroad, including buying a stake in Russian oil major Rosneft.

The Plaza Hotel deal is the largest investment in the Western property market by Qatar since the start of the blockade in June last year.

Trump bought the Plaza in 1988, but had to sell it to a group of investors including Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal more than two decades ago as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.

Prince Alwaleed had remained a minority shareholder in the hotel prior to the Qatari transaction. Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sahara has been trying to sell its stake for several years amid financial difficulties for its chairman, Subrata Roy.

The Plaza has hosted guests including the Beatles and Marlene Dietrich, who performed there. It was also the site of Trump’s marriage to Marla Maples in 1993.

The hotel has featured in movies including the 1959 American thriller by Alfred Hitchcock, “North by Northwest”; the 1991 drama “Scent of a Woman” starring Al Pacino; and the 1990 gangster drama “The King of New York” with Christopher Walken.

Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; additional reporting by Katie Paul in Dubai and Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong; Editing by Mark Potter

The post Qatar to buy New York appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2lSXs8q via Today News

[cleopatrarps]

Qatar to buy New York

LONDON (Reuters) – The tiny but ultra-rich Gulf state of Qatar has agreed to buy one of New York’s most iconic buildings, the Plaza Hotel, for around $600 million, adding a development that was once owned by U.S. President Donald Trump to its luxury property portfolio.

FILE PHOTO: Flags fly over the entrance of The Plaza Hotel in midtown Manhattan in New York August 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Qatar’s state-owned Katara Holding is buying full ownership of the hotel, including a 75 percent stake from Indian business group Sahara India Pariwar, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.

Katara and Sahara were not immediately available to comment.

The source declined to be identified because the deal was not public.

Qatar has been buying top hotels and luxury properties in the West over the past decade as part of a drive by its $300 billion-plus sovereign wealth fund to diversify the wealth it accumulates from gas and oil exports.

Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, already owns landmark hotels such as The Savoy and The Connaught in London.

Its wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has also invested in large Western companies such as carmarker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and mining giant Glencore (GLEN.L).

The pace of Qatar’s overseas investment had been expected to slow down amid a crisis in the Gulf after its neighbors – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain – imposed economic sanctions on Doha for allegedly supporting terrorism.

Qatar denies the allegations and says the economic boycott is an attempt to undermine its sovereignty.

Qatar has had to inject dozens of billions of dollars into its economy, but in recent months has said the impact of the boycott has been mitigated, allowing it to resume large scale investments abroad, including buying a stake in Russian oil major Rosneft.

The Plaza Hotel deal is the largest investment in the Western property market by Qatar since the start of the blockade in June last year.

Trump bought the Plaza in 1988, but had to sell it to a group of investors including Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal more than two decades ago as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.

Prince Alwaleed had remained a minority shareholder in the hotel prior to the Qatari transaction. Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sahara has been trying to sell its stake for several years amid financial difficulties for its chairman, Subrata Roy.

The Plaza has hosted guests including the Beatles and Marlene Dietrich, who performed there. It was also the site of Trump’s marriage to Marla Maples in 1993.

The hotel has featured in movies including the 1959 American thriller by Alfred Hitchcock, “North by Northwest”; the 1991 drama “Scent of a Woman” starring Al Pacino; and the 1990 gangster drama “The King of New York” with Christopher Walken.

Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; additional reporting by Katie Paul in Dubai and Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong; Editing by Mark Potter

The post Qatar to buy New York appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2lSXs8q via News of World

[dani-qrt]

Qatar to buy New York

LONDON (Reuters) – The tiny but ultra-rich Gulf state of Qatar has agreed to buy one of New York’s most iconic buildings, the Plaza Hotel, for around $600 million, adding a development that was once owned by U.S. President Donald Trump to its luxury property portfolio.

FILE PHOTO: Flags fly over the entrance of The Plaza Hotel in midtown Manhattan in New York August 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Qatar’s state-owned Katara Holding is buying full ownership of the hotel, including a 75 percent stake from Indian business group Sahara India Pariwar, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.

Katara and Sahara were not immediately available to comment.

The source declined to be identified because the deal was not public.

Qatar has been buying top hotels and luxury properties in the West over the past decade as part of a drive by its $300 billion-plus sovereign wealth fund to diversify the wealth it accumulates from gas and oil exports.

Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, already owns landmark hotels such as The Savoy and The Connaught in London.

Its wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has also invested in large Western companies such as carmarker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and mining giant Glencore (GLEN.L).

The pace of Qatar’s overseas investment had been expected to slow down amid a crisis in the Gulf after its neighbors – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain – imposed economic sanctions on Doha for allegedly supporting terrorism.

Qatar denies the allegations and says the economic boycott is an attempt to undermine its sovereignty.

Qatar has had to inject dozens of billions of dollars into its economy, but in recent months has said the impact of the boycott has been mitigated, allowing it to resume large scale investments abroad, including buying a stake in Russian oil major Rosneft.

The Plaza Hotel deal is the largest investment in the Western property market by Qatar since the start of the blockade in June last year.

Trump bought the Plaza in 1988, but had to sell it to a group of investors including Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal more than two decades ago as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.

Prince Alwaleed had remained a minority shareholder in the hotel prior to the Qatari transaction. Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sahara has been trying to sell its stake for several years amid financial difficulties for its chairman, Subrata Roy.

The Plaza has hosted guests including the Beatles and Marlene Dietrich, who performed there. It was also the site of Trump’s marriage to Marla Maples in 1993.

The hotel has featured in movies including the 1959 American thriller by Alfred Hitchcock, “North by Northwest”; the 1991 drama “Scent of a Woman” starring Al Pacino; and the 1990 gangster drama “The King of New York” with Christopher Walken.

Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; additional reporting by Katie Paul in Dubai and Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong; Editing by Mark Potter

The post Qatar to buy New York appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2lSXs8q via Online News