MoFo Advises SoftBank in $2.8 Billion Acquisition of 40% Stake in AutoStore

Morrison & Foerster is advising SoftBank Group Corp. in connection with its agreement to acquire 40% of AutoStore for $2.8 billion from funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”) and EQT Private Equity (“EQT”), among other shareholders.

Founded in 1996, AutoStore is a robotics technology company that invented and continues to pioneer Cube Storage Automation, the densest storage technology. It currently has a global blue-chip customer base with more than 600 installations and 20,000 robots across 35 countries. AutoStore’s automated storage and retrieval systems, coupled with its proprietary software, provide customers with high throughput, enhanced configurability, and high levels of flexibility to serve the increasing demands of today’s supply chains.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in April 2021.

The MoFo team advising SoftBank was led by London corporate partner Andrew Boyd, together with associates Leo Martin, Jennifer Buckby, and Steph Craw, London corporate partner Simon Arlington, and San Francisco corporate partner Eric McCrath.

Read more in the companies’ press release.