(CWBN)_ Hyundai has agreed to purchase an 80% stake in robot maker Boston Dynamics from SoftBank, the South Korean automaker said Friday.
The deal is worth the robot firm at $1.1 billion, Hyundai stated and indicated that it offered $880 million to buy the 80% stake in the robot making company.
Boston Dynamics, the robot making company is famous for its robot dog, Spot, which recently went viral.
Hyundai would make use of the robot technology to expand automation at its mass-manufacturing and unionized car factories and also in its design autonomous vehicles such as self-driving cars, drones, and also delivery robots.
The planned deal to buy stake comes following the newly promoted Hyundai Motor Group chairman, Euisun Chung, promised to lessen dependency on traditional car manufacturing techniques, clearly stating that car-making would only consist half of the company’s future business. Urban air mobility would responsible for 30% and robotics at 20% of the car-manufacturing giant’s businesses.
The newly promoted Chairman will own a 20% stake in Boston Dynamics, although Hyundai Motor and its associates, Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis, will own a shared 60% stake.
“The transaction will unite capabilities of Hyundai Motor Group and Boston Dynamics to spearhead innovation in future mobility,” he said in a statement.
