By Milana Vinn
Oct 16 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group is considering an acquisition of Allied Universal in a deal that could value the US security services provider at about $18 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.
• Allied Universal provides security staffing for businesses, venues and major events, and has a growing presence in the data center industry, supporting both development and operation of facilities
• The potential acquisition would complement SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's
increasing focus on AI, as he is exploring the use of AI-powered robots across industries, and looking to strengthen the infrastructure needed to support the technology
• With Allied, SoftBank would look to eventually replace some staff with robots for certain security tasks, though the deployment of humanoid security workers is likely to take longer.
• Deliberations are preliminary and no final decisions have been made, including on the potential price, Bloomberg News first reported the news
• SoftBank declined to comment on the report, while Allied Universal did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment
• SoftBank is widely known for making large technology investments through its Vision Fund. It was an early investor in Alibaba, owns a majority stake in Arm, and was a major backer of the office-sharing startup WeWork
• The deal builds on SoftBank's broader push into robotics and automation, following its agreement last year to acquire swiss engineering group ABB's robotics business for $5.4 billion
(Reporting by Apratim Sarkar in Bengaluru and Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Anil D'Silva)
