SoftBank in early talks to buy Allied Universal in deal worth up to $18bn

SoftBank Group is in early-stage talks to acquire Allied Universal, one of the world’s largest private-security companies, from its private-equity backers Warburg Pincus and La Caisse (CDPQ) in a deal that could value the firm at up to $18bn excluding debt, according to people familiar with the matter, as first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by the Wall Street Journal.

The talks are at a preliminary stage and a deal is far from certain, the reports say. Warburg Pincus, La Caisse and SoftBank all declined to comment; Allied Universal did not respond to requests for comment, according to dpa-AFX (https://www.tradingview.com/news/dpa_afx:ecdb80c0f9a59:0-softbank-reportedly-in-talks-to-buy-allied-universal/).

Allied Universal employs roughly 800,000 people and operates in more than 100 countries, with annual revenues of about $20-23bn, making it among the biggest private employers in the world.

The strategic rationale, per the reporting, centres on artificial intelligence and robotics: Allied has been building AI-powered tools including real-time data collection, incident tracking and GPS tracking. SoftBank has already committed $64bn to OpenAI and last year struck a $5.4bn deal for ABB’s robotics business.

Investors reacted warily: SoftBank’s US-listed ADRs fell as much as 9.9% to $14.72 in New York on Friday after the news broke, Bloomberg reported. TipRanks reports the shares closed at $14.80, down 9.37% on Friday (https://www.tipranks.com/news/softbank-eyes-18-billion-allied-universal-deal-after-stock-plunges-9-37).

(Bloomberg was the first to report the talks; the Wall Street Journal confirmed the discussions in its own reporting, syndicated via The Times: https://www.thetimes.com/business/wsj/article/softbank-in-early-talks-to-buy-allied-universal-hgtv2nhqk.)