SoftBank in Early Talks to Acquire Allied Universal in Robot Deployment Push

SoftBank Group is considering acquiring Allied Universal, the largest security services company in the U.S., according to media reports citing people familiar with the matter. The talks are still at an early stage, and no final decision or price has been determined.

Allied Universal's equity value could reach as high as $18 billion, and the company also has about $12 billion in publicly traded debt, putting its total valuation near $30 billion, the reports said.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son reportedly sees the security industry as an ideal testing ground for the robot technology developed by his companies. Allied Universal provides security services for businesses, event venues and infrastructure, and also operates in monitoring, facility maintenance and data center security. For SoftBank, which is pushing so-called physical AI, acquiring a company with an extensive existing customer base and mature operation network would avoid starting from scratch to find application scenarios.

Allied Universal has also been exploring robot programs, including a 5-foot-tall, 300-pound autonomous robot designed for patrol and surveillance tasks. The company notes on its website that machines excel at repetitive, compute-intensive, and sometimes hazardous or hard-to-reach work.

SoftBank ADRs extended losses to 9% in late Friday trading on the news. The conglomerate has recently stepped up investments in AI and robotics, including setting up an intermediate holding company, Robo HD, to manage robot-related investments, and preparing to list its AI and robotics platform, Roze AI. Earlier this week, SoftBank issued a record $11 billion bond with coupons reaching as high as 9.75%.