SoftBank-backed warehouse robotics group AutoStore is planning a $12bn stock market listing in Oslo next month.
Japanese tech investor SoftBank bought a 40% stake in AutoStore, which is based in a small village in western Norway, for $2.8bn earlier this year. Its systems automate warehouse storage and retrieval processes and it manufactures for companies such as Puma and Ikea.
AutoStore is a pioneer of cube storage automation, which allows much higher storage volumes through vertical stacking that would be too risky for human operators. It has almost 700 installations in 35 countries for customers such as Gucci and Texas Instruments.
The group is also in the process of suing rival Ocado for alleged intellectual property theft. Boss Karl Johan Lier said AutoStore was “very comfortable on the outcome — we expect to prevail”. He added that Ocado had bought a cube storage system from it in 2012 and allegedly “used it to develop their own system”. Ocado has said it was “not aware of any infringement” of AutoStore’s rights.
