OTS - Establishing an international robotics key player - German United Robotics Group acquires SoftBank Robotics Europe in Paris (Part 1.)
2022. April 12. 08:00
Bochum, Paris, Tokyo, 12 April, 2022 (APA/OTS) - The United
Robotics Group (URG), a subsidiary of the RAG-Stiftung in Essen,
has reached an agreement with SoftBank Robotics Group Corp. (SBRG)
to acquire their French subsidiary SoftBank Robotics Europe SAS
(SBRE). SBRG will acquire a minority stake in URG and the two
companies will continue to cooperate in the global marketing of
various robots. By acquiring SBRE, URG will become one of the
leading service robotics companies in Europe.
With this acquisition, URG is following its strategy of
securing a leading position in the robotics market through organic
growth and acquisitions. The extensive know-how and experience of
SBRE's highly qualified employees not only ideally complement URG's
broad product range, but the combined forces will above all
accelerate research and development and thus further strengthen the
company's innovative power.
Headquartered in Paris, France, SBRE is a leader in humanoid
robotics and the developer and manufacturer of the world-renowned
Pepper and NAO robots. URG has been the master distributor in the
European market since October 2021, responsible for sales, service
and maintenance of Pepper and NAO. URG companies such as Humanizing
Technologies and ENTRANCE Robotics have already been partners of
SBRE since 2017.
URG, SBRG and SBRE will hold a strong partnership to develop
and distribute various robots including Pepper and will continue to
provide services together to customers around the world.
SBRE will revert to its former name of Aldebaran, a pioneer in
interaction robotics and academics market. General Manager of SBRE,
Xavier Lacherade, will continue to lead the company. The
transaction is subject to merger clearance and is expected to close
in the second quarter of 2022.
"We are pleased to welcome SBRE with more than 180
exceptionally motivated robotics specialists," said Thomas Hähn,
founder and CEO of United Robotics Group. "This is an important
step for us on the way to further internationalizing our company.
The future Aldebaran with their strong reputation in the market
will help us to further expand our great potential in combining
interaction robotics with our knowledge in collaborative industrial
robotics."
Fumihide Tomizawa, President & CEO, SoftBank Robotics Group,
said: "We are strengthening our strategic partnerships with various
robotics leader companies around the world. We are very pleased to
form a strong partnership with a successful company, URG. We will
leverage this great relationship to develop and market Pepper and a
variety of other robots."
Xavier Lacherade, General Manager of SoftBank Robotics Europe,
said: "We know URG as a strategic partner in sales, services and
software development. I am very excited about the combination of
the two companies into one large network. I am firmly convinced
that the short management paths, which are also characterized by
the German-French friendship, will inspire the work on both sides
of the Rhine and lead us to new successes in the near future."
(continue)