Alat and SoftBank Group form a strategic partnership to manufacture groundbreaking industrial robots in the Kingdom

February 20, 2024

Alat
SoftBank Group Corp.

Riyadh, February 20, 2024 – Alat, a PIF company launched on February 1, 2024 by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alat, has today announced the establishment of a strategic partnership with SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank Group”) to establish a next generation industrial automation business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that will manufacture groundbreaking industrial robots.

Alat, headquartered in Riyadh, has been established to create a global champion in electronics and advanced industrial segments and mandated to create world class manufacturing enabled by global innovation and technology leadership. With an allocated investment budget of US$100 billion, Alat is partnering with global technology leaders to transform industries while establishing world class businesses in the Kingdom, powered by clean energy.

Today, Alat is proud to announce the creation of a joint venture (“JV”) with SoftBank Group that will manufacture industrial robots for a wide variety of industrial manufacturing and assembly processes that will radically transform manufacturing. The partners will invest up to US$150 million to establish a fully automated manufacturing and engineering hub in Riyadh that will serve local and global demand. The first factory is targeted to open in December 2024.

Amit Midha, CEO of Alat, said: “We want this to be the start of a gamechanger for manufacturing around the world. Together with SoftBank Group, we see an immense market opportunity for robotics both in the Kingdom, the Gulf, and globally. With this initial set-up, we predict a contribution of 1 billion dollars to Saudi Arabia GDP by 2025. Our ambition is to fundamentally transform industrial manufacturing by robots, manufactured in the Kingdom.”

Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, said: “The combination of Saudi Arabia’s vision, economic growth, and leading logistics location coupled with abundant access to green energy and Alat’s mandate to manufacture sustainably, made this strategic partnership between us very compelling. Today’s announcement marks a historic milestone for how future manufacturing will take place.”

The new JV will build industrial robots based on intellectual property developed by SoftBank Group and its affiliates that will perform tasks with minimal additional programming, that are ideally suited for industrial assembly and applications in manufacturing and production. The robot manufacturing factory that the JV will create in the Kingdom is a lighthouse factory, that will use the latest technology to manufacture unprecedented next generation robots to perform a wide variety of tasks.

By 2030, Saudi Arabia’s extensive infrastructure investments will be the foundation to accelerate the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution applications in the Kingdom, enhancing supply chains and logistics. By 2035, some 32,000 factories are expected to be operating in the country powered by clean energy and enabled with leading edge technology. Saudi Arabia is one of the most intense sunlight regions in the world receiving around 105 trillion kilowatt hours a day, which is equivalent to 10 billion barrels of raw oil in energy terms. Alat is focused on transforming manufacturing making it carbon zero manufacturing, with sustainability at the heart of everything.

About Alat

Alat is a company focused on transforming global industries (electronics and industrials) and creating a world class manufacturing hub in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia powered by clean energy to build a better tomorrow. Alat will deliver sustainable manufacturing to help global companies reduce their emissions and move towards carbon zero manufacturing. Alat, a PIF company, is an essential enabler of the Vision 2030 goals for economic diversification, industrial development, innovation, and job creation.

Alat's primary goal is to ensure that global companies set up sustainable manufacturing solutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, benefitting from abundant green energy resources, the country´s unique geolocation and its investments in technology. Initially its key strategic business areas will be semiconductors, smart devices, smart buildings, smart appliances, smart health, advanced industrials and next gen infrastructure technologies. For more information visit www.alat.com

About SoftBank Group

The SoftBank Group invests in breakthrough technology to improve the quality of life for people around the world. The SoftBank Group is comprised of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), an investment holding company that includes stakes in AI, smart robotics, IoT, telecommunications, internet services, and clean energy technology providers, as well as a majority stake in Arm Holdings plc, which is building the future of computing; and the SoftBank Vision Funds and SoftBank Latin America Funds, which are investing more than US$160 billion to help extraordinary entrepreneurs transform industries and shape new ones. To learn more, please visit https://group.softbank/en.

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