General Motors agreed to buy out SoftBank and invest a further $1.35bn in the autonomous vehicle developer, which it spun off four years ago.
Car manufacturer General Motors (GM) agreed on Friday to acquire the stake in US-based autonomous driving technology developer Cruise held by internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund for $2.1bn.
Cruise has developed autonomous vehicles for use as taxis. It was spun off by GM in 2018, two years after it acquired the company in a $1bn cash and stock deal.
GM is also making a $1.35bn primary investment in Cruise which will replace the funding pledged by Vision Fund in 2018. It was set to be triggered when Cruise launched a commercially available autonomous taxi service, an event which occurred last month.
Vision Fund made the pledge when it invested an initial $900m as Cruise was spun off. It returned for a $1.15bn round the following year alongside GM, automotive manufacturer Honda and investment management firm T Rowe Price at a $19bn valuation.
GM…
Fernando Moncada Rivera
Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the CVC Unplugged podcast.
