❯ SoftBank is in talks to buy security firm Allied Universal for about $18 billion, eyeing robots to replace some guards

Still earlyReuters reported on October 16 that SoftBank is considering buying US security firm Allied Universal at about $18 billion; Bloomberg Law specified that is equity value. Talks are early, the price isn’t set, and SoftBank declined to comment.

America's largest guard companyAllied Universal is the largest US security services company, backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Canadian pension fund La Caisse, with about $12 billion of publicly traded debt. It places guards at businesses, venues and major events.

It also guards data centersAllied’s data center work runs from construction to operation: managing contractors, visitors and perimeters during building, issuing credentials and training during commissioning, and staffing monitoring centers and risk assessments in operation. It says it has served more than 30 million square feet of data center projects since 2014 and uses AI video analytics and GPS patrol tracking.

Robots on patrolSoftBank eventually hopes to replace some guards with robots, in line with Masayoshi Son’s bet on AI and robotics; SoftBank agreed last year to buy ABB’s robotics business for $5.4 billion. A source said humanoid guards are further off.

Buying the workplace firstWhat robot companies lack most is real workplaces and customers. Buying an existing guard company brings a large number of posts and a customer list, including booming data centers, where robots can be tried directly. But patrols, door duty and emergencies must be handled well on site, and whether robots can be more reliable and cheaper than people is still unanswered.

▮ SIGNALCapital betting on robots is starting to buy the industries that employ the most people, so the buyer now sets the pace of replacing labor.