SoftBank weighs $18 billion acquisition of Allied Universal, source says

Oct 16 — SoftBank Group is considering an acquisition of Allied ​Universal in a deal that could value the US security services provider at about $18 billion, a source familiar ‌with the matter said on Friday.

• Allied Universal provides security staffing for businesses, venues ⁠and major events, and ​has a growing presence in ⁠the data center industry, supporting both development and operation of ‌facilities

• The potential ‌acquisition would complement SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's increasing focus ⁠on AI, as he is ⁠exploring the use of AI-powered robots across industries, and looking to strengthen the infrastructure needed to support the technology

• With Allied, SoftBank would look to eventually replace some staff with robots for certain security tasks, though the deployment ‌of humanoid security workers is likely to ​take longer.

• Deliberations are preliminary and no final decisions have been made, including on the potential price, Bloomberg News first reported the news

• SoftBank declined to comment on the report, while Allied Universal did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment

• SoftBank is widely known for ​making large technology investments through its Vision Fund. It was an ‌early investor in ‌Alibaba, ⁠owns a majority stake in Arm, and was a major backer of the office-sharing startup WeWork

• The deal builds on SoftBank's broader push into robotics and automation, following its agreement last ‌year to acquire swiss ​engineering group ABB's robotics business ‌for $5.4 billion

(Reporting by Apratim Sarkar ⁠in Bengaluru ​and Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and ​Anil D'Silva)

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