SoftBank in early talks to buy Allied Universal for up to $18B, eyeing robot guards
SoftBank is reportedly in early talks to acquire Allied Universal, the largest U.S. security-services company, at an equity value of up to $18B, according to The Rundown AI. Talks are preliminary with no price agreed, and adding roughly $12B of Allied debt could reportedly push the total transaction toward $30B. Masayoshi Son reportedly sees Allied's guard posts as a test bed for robotics from SoftBank's companies and would eventually replace some security staff with robots.
With about 770,000 employees across more than 100 countries, Allied could give SoftBank a vast customer network for future security robots, contingent on the robots becoming capable, reliable and affordable enough for clients.
This source is a digest of several news items (“SoftBank’s $18B bet on robot guards”). Find this story in the original.
#SoftBank#Allied Universal#Masayoshi Son#ABB#Gravis Robotics