TOKYO: SoftBank Group is forming a joint venture with warehouse automation company Symbotic to build artificial intelligence (AI)-powered warehouses that will be majority owned by the Japanese technology investor, the companies say.
The firms are investing US$100mil (RM456.4mil) in the venture, which will be called GreenBox Systems.
The unit has also signed a contract to buy AI-powered systems from Symbotic that will be worth US$7.5bil (RM34.2bil) in the next six years.
Symbotic went public through a merger with a SoftBank Group Corp blank-check firm last June, with investment from SoftBank in public investment in private equity (Pipe) at a valuation of US$5.5bil (RM25.1bil).
The deal will give SoftBank warrants representing about 2% of the US company’s outstanding shares.
The Japanese firm said it had also bought 17.8 million shares of Symbotic from chief executive officer (CEO) Rick Cohen, upping its stake in the company from about 5% to 8%.
Based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Symbotic provides robotics warehouse automation solutions and counts Walmart as its major backer and customer.
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The company said it has a contracted backlog of US$12bil (RM54.8bil) as it helps to retrofit an existing facility to make it automated.
The JV will pursue customers who want to access the warehouse-as-a-service model to have more flexibility in multi-tenant facilities across the supply chain, according to Symbotic.
The move comes at a time when SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said his conglomerate plans to shift its stance to “offence mode” amid excitement over advances in AI.
The rise of ChatGPT this year has led to a flurry of investments in all things AI, even as wider funding dries up in an uncertain economy.
The Japanese company will have a 65% stake in GreenBox, with Symbotic owning the rest.
Symbotic said it expects more than US$500mil (RM2.3bil) in annual recurring revenue from the sale of software, parts and services to the JV once it’s operational.
For financial year 2022, Symbotic reported revenue of US$593.3mil (RM2.7bil), up 136% year-on-year, with a loss of US$139.1mil (RM634.9mil). — Reuters