SoftBank-backed warehouse robotics group AutoStore is planning a stock market listing next month in Oslo that could value the business at almost $12bn.
Japanese tech investor SoftBank bought a 40 per cent stake in AutoStore, which is based in a small village in western Norway, for $2.8bn earlier this year. Its systems automate warehouse storage and retrieval processes and it manufactures for companies such as Puma and Ikea.
AutoStore had revenues of $182m last year but is aiming for $300m in 2021 and more than $500m next year, as demand from grocery retailers and online sellers increases sharply. Its margin for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is about 50 per cent, a level it claims it can maintain in the medium term.