SoftBank is considering acquiring Allied Universal - the top U.S. provider of security services - as Masayoshi Son looks for places to deploy AI-enabled robots. Its backers include Warburg Pincus and the Canadian pension manager La Caisse (formerly CDPQ), and when La Caisse invested in 2019 the company's valuation topped $7 billion.
Allied runs guard staffing for businesses and events, provides specialized protection such as intelligence analysts, canine teams and bomb technicians, and even handles facility services like cleaning, janitorial work and maintenance. Its contracts include security coverage for the New York City subway via the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The company also has a sizable role safeguarding data center projects, a part of the economy that is expanding in the U.S.
The company has been testing its own automation, including a five-foot-tall, 300-pound autonomous patrol unit. As its website puts it, "While Security Professionals will always be needed for strategic decision-making, situational analysis, and security response, machines excel at monotonous, computationally heavy, and sometimes hazardous or difficult-to-reach work."
People familiar with the talks say Allied's equity could be priced up to $18 billion. Bloomberg data show the company has roughly $12 billion in publicly traded debt, implying a transaction value approaching $30 billion. Talks remain preliminary and nothing has been finalized yet, including the price.
The report hit SoftBank's stock, with its ADRs touching a session low and dropping up to 9.9% to $14.72 in New York, amid a broader market downdraft. Representatives for SoftBank, Warburg Pincus and La Caisse declined to comment, and an Allied spokesperson did not respond.
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People familiar say Son views security as a practical test bed for robots built by his portfolio companies. They added that using fleets of machines instead of human guards for one-off events like concerts could pencil out economically. One person likened the idea to "robocops," while stressing the technology is not ready and humanoid-style security workers will likely take longer to arrive.
Son has been stepping up robotics bets as part of his broader AI strategy. Recent actions include acquiring ABB Ltd.'s industrial robotics business for $5.4 billion and putting $200 million into Gravis Robotics, a Swiss maker of autonomous software for construction machinery. SoftBank has also discussed increasing its stake in Agile Robots through a new funding round.
Last year, SoftBank created Robo HD to combine robotics holdings, transferring about 20 investments into the entity, including Berkshire Grey Inc., Agile Robots and Skild AI.
The wider AI boom has turned SoftBank into a frequent buyer. Its deals include a $3 billion acquisition of DigitalBridge Group Inc., a U.S. asset manager focused on digital infrastructure, to support Son's push into data center businesses.
A bid for Allied would stitch together a massive guard-services operator with a buyer intent on scaling AI and robotics. The numbers are big - up to $18 billion for equity and roughly $12 billion of debt - and investors already reacted, with SoftBank's ADRs dropping as much as 9.9% to $14.72. For portfolios tracking AI, automation and data centers, watch whether this early-stage discussion turns into a concrete offer and how SoftBank plans to mix human staffing with machines over time.
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