AutoStore adds Softbank as investors in the company in a $2.8 billion transaction.

AutoStore, a Nedre Vats, Norway-based designer and manufacturer of high-speed robots, announced getting into an $2.8 billion transaction agreement for adding Softbank as investors in the company.

The deal puts the company at a $7.7 billion enterprise value and was made for a 40% equity stake in the company, in a deal made with existing shareholders EQT Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL).

THL will continue to be AutoStore's majority shareholder and THL, SoftBank and EQT will each have representatives on AutoStore's Board of Directors.   

AutoStore, founded in 1996 and led by CEO Karl Johan Lier, designs and engineers patented high-speed robots, highly modular and flexible cube storage grid systems, and proprietary controls software that enable its customers to achieve nearly four times the inventory storage relative to manual alternatives, with enhanced inventory picking speed and accuracy.

The company focuses on combining software and hardware with human capabilities to further develop the future of efficient warehouses. It says that it has more than 20,000 AutoStore robots deployed in over 600 installations across 35 countries.

AutoStore built sales partner network of qualified integrators who are its partners, is HQ-ed in Nedre Vats, Norway, and it has offices, warehouses and / or manufacturing sites in Norway, the USA, the UK, Poland, Germany, France, Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy and Austria.

AutoStore was acquired by private equity company Thomas H Lee Partners for $1.9bn in 2019. Prior to that, it was owned by the Swedish private equity EQT Partners, which acquired a stake in 2016.