RTR: SoftBank to take 40% stake in warehouse robotics firm AutoStore for $2.8bn

REUTERS reports:

SoftBank Group Corp has agreed to buy a 40% stake in AutoStore for $2.8 billion, the Norway-based robotics firm said on Monday, in yet another big investment by the conglomerate in warehouse automation technology that optimizes e-commerce operations.

The Japanese company will acquire the stake from funds affiliated with AutoStore’s majority shareholder Thomas H. Lee (THL) Partners and other investors including EQT Private Equity, valuing the firm at $7.7 billion.

Founded in 1996, AutoStore has 20,000 robots deployed across 35 countries and counts Puma, Best Buy and Siemens among its customers. The company also touts a design method that allows customers to store four times the inventory in the same space in a warehouse.

The full story can be read here.

The full press release is here.