Son of Masayoshi
Alessandro Di Ciommo | NurPhoto | Getty Images
LONDON – Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank has acquired 40% of Norwegian warehouse automation firm AutoStore for $ 2.8 billion.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Monday, and AutoStore later confirmed it in an update on its website.
The deal values AutoStore, which was incorporated in 1996, at $ 7.7 billion.
SoftBank, which has made a number of investments in e-commerce and robotics in recent years, is buying the stake in US private equity group Thomas H Lee Partners and Swedish venture capital firm EQT.
“We see AutoStore as a key technology that enables fast and cost-effective logistics for companies around the world,” said Masayoshi Son, CEO and founder of SoftBank.
He added: “We look forward to working with AutoStore to expand aggressively across end markets and geographies.”
Founded by Ingvar Hognaland and based in a village near Bergen called Nedre Vats, AutoStore has developed what it calls “cube storage automation,” which allows robots to maximize storage space in warehouses.
He says he has deployed 20,000 of his robots to 600 locations in 35 countries and that his technology allows customers to store inventory four times in the same space, or all of their existing inventory in 25% of the space. AutoStore customers include US electronics retailer Best Buy, Swedish company Siemens and British grocery chain Asda.
Karl Johan Lier, president and CEO of AutoStore, said in a statement that SoftBank’s support will help it grow in the Asia-Pacific region.
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SoftBank’s son believes the machines will outperform humans in the next 30 years.
Through the SoftBank Vision Fund, the billionaire has invested large amounts of capital in companies such as Arm, Improbable and Brain Corp as part of an effort to ensure that SoftBank has a financial stake in companies working on next-generation technologies.
SoftBank has also acquired shares in several logistics companies that can improve supply chains for e-commerce giants such as Alibaba, in which SoftBank also participates.
For example, SoftBank supported the US warehouse robotics group Berkshire Gray in 2019. The logistics automation systems provider announced in February that it would go public through a merger with the company Revolution Acceleration Acquisition Corp in a agreement that values the combined company at $ 2.7 billion. .
Nathan Benaich, a venture capitalist focused on artificial intelligence, told CNBC that the pandemic has clearly been an “advantage” for logistics and warehouse manufacturing companies, as they are the “backbone of trade.” on line”.
“AutoStore, among peers like Berkshire Gray, Ocado Robotics and 6 River Systems, are successful overnight stores for nearly ten years in robotics,” he said. “They have been quietly building their capacity and warehouse footprint during this time and are now aggressively capturing the current growing demand from customers.”