Ocado to acquire two robotics companies for $287m
Ocado has announced that it plans to buy two robotics companies – Kindred Systems and Haddington Dynamics – for a total of $287 million, in an effort to grow its business and accelerate delivery and innovation.
The acquisition will enhance Ocado’s robotic manipulation capabilities and accelerate the commercial delivery of grocery robotic picking for its Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) clients.
Ocado has agreed to purchase Kindred Systems, which designs, supplies and services advanced piece-picking robots for e-commerce and order fulfilment, for approximately $262 million.
Based in San Francisco and Toronto, Kindred Systems has around 90 employees who will join Ocado’s existing technology team. The company is expected to generate revenues of over $35 million in 2021, with Ocado planning to expand Kindred’s customer base and robot deployment in the USA and globally.
Meanwhile, Ocado will purchase Las Vegas-based Haddington Dynamics, a robotic-arm designer and manufacturer, for approximately $25 million.
The news came as Ocado raised its full-year profits expectations by 50%, as the group continues to see high demands with consumers moving to online grocery “in record numbers”.
“We consider the opportunities for robotic manipulation solutions to be significant, both for OSP clients and across the fast-growing online retail and logistics sectors,” said Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado.
He added: “Ocado has made meaningful progress in developing the machine learning, computer vision and engineering systems required for the robotic picking solutions that are currently in production at our customer fulfilment centre in Erith. Given the market opportunity we want to accelerate the development of our systems, including improving their speed, accuracy, product range and economics.”
Both acquisitions are subject to customary conditions and are expected to close during calendar year 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment