Hyundai Motor Group chairman, units to buy Boston Dynamics from SoftBank for up to $828m - source (updated)

Hyundai Glovis

11/12/2020 02:46

(Adds background on Boston Dynamics, Hyundai Motor, analyst
comments)
    SEOUL, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Group units and its
chairman have agreed to buy an 80% stake in robot maker Boston
Dynamics from SoftBank Group Corp  9984.T  for around 800
billion won to 900 billion won ($736 million-$828 million), a
person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
    Chairman Euisun Chung will own a 20% stake in Boston
Dynamics, while Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  and its affiliates,
Hyundai Mobis  012330.KS  and Hyundai Glovis  086280.KS , will
hold a combined 60% stake, two people said.
    Both Hyundai Motor and SoftBank declined to comment. 
    Hyundai becomes the latest owner of Boston Dynamics, which
was spun out from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1992, bought by Google  GOOGL.O  in 2013 and sold to SoftBank in
2017.
    The company's products include Spot, a four-legged dog-like
robot that can climb stairs, and have gained media attention
even as it struggled to build a commercial business.
    Clients include Ford Motor Co  F.N , which leased two Spot
robots in July as part of a pilot programme.
    The deal is the latest pullback by SoftBank from operating
businesses as CEO Masayoshi Son focuses on investing.
    Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung said last October that
robotics will account for 20% of the company's future business,
with carmaking taking up 50%, followed by urban air mobility at
30%.
    "This is part of Hyundai's plan to expand its business to
robots and not be limited to car manufacturing, with competitors
such as Honda and Toyota developing their own robots for years,"
said Moon Kwan-yong, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities.
($1 = 1,087.2200 won)

 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang, Kane Wu, and Sam
Nussey in Tokyo; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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Messaging: hyunjoo.jin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))