SoftBank Takes Full Control of BALYO, Tightening Grip on Robot Logistics

ARCUEIL, France – December 04, 2025 – In a decisive move that underscores the fierce consolidation underway in the automated logistics sector, SoftBank Group Corp. is moving to fully acquire and delist French robotics specialist BALYO. Through its subsidiary Silver Bands 4 (US) Corp., the Japanese technology conglomerate has initiated a public buy-out offer for all remaining shares it does not own, to be immediately followed by a mandatory squeeze-out.

The offer, priced at €0.60 per share, aims to absorb the final 8.57% of BALYO held by minority shareholders and remove the company from the Euronext Paris exchange. This transaction marks the final chapter of BALYO's journey as a public entity and its full integration into SoftBank's sprawling global technology ecosystem, a portfolio heavily invested in the future of AI, robotics, and intelligent infrastructure.

A Premium Price with a Past

For the remaining minority shareholders, the offer presents an immediate and certain exit. The €0.60 price tag represents a substantial 95% premium over the volume-weighted average trading price of the last 20 days and a 92% premium over the closing price just before the announcement. In a market where BALYO's stock has suffered from low trading volumes—with an average daily rotation of just 0.09% of its free float over the past 60 days—such a premium offers a compelling liquidity event.

However, the offer price is not without context. It stands notably below the €0.85 per share that another SoftBank entity offered in a successful tender offer back in 2023, which first gave the conglomerate its commanding majority stake. This discrepancy may leave some long-term investors pondering the valuation, especially given BALYO's recent operational developments.

The company has been making significant strategic shifts, pivoting aggressively towards a direct sales model that is bearing fruit, particularly in the United States. The US market became BALYO's largest in 2024, with sales surging an impressive 186% to €15.3 million. This strategic success, coupled with a recent and substantial capital increase of €36.6 million in November 2024, has significantly strengthened BALYO's financial footing and extended its cash runway. The company now appears better positioned than ever to capitalize on the growing demand for warehouse automation, raising the question of whether the current offer fully captures this renewed long-term potential.

Integrating a Key Piece of the Automation Puzzle

The strategic rationale for SoftBank extends far beyond administrative savings. BALYO, with its innovative “Driven by Balyo™” technology that transforms standard forklifts into intelligent, infrastructure-free autonomous vehicles, is a critical component in SoftBank's vision for the future of logistics. The conglomerate's portfolio includes extensive investments in transportation, logistics, and AI, and BALYO's robotic solutions are a natural fit for creating end-to-end automated supply chains.

By taking the company private, SoftBank can foster deeper integration between BALYO and its other 470+ portfolio companies. The press release notes that while BALYO's technology has been considered for logistics sites in the US, it has also secured an initial proof-of-concept order from another SoftBank affiliate for its forklift kits. Privatization will remove the constraints and reporting obligations of a public company, enabling what the offer document calls more "agile management."

This agility will allow SoftBank to steer BALYO's research and development with a long-term view, focusing on product innovation and commercial acceleration without the pressure of quarterly earnings reports. The goal is to leverage synergies between artificial intelligence and robotics, deploying BALYO's technology within SoftBank-led projects across manufacturing and logistics infrastructure. This move effectively transforms BALYO from a publicly-traded technology partner into a core, privately-held asset in SoftBank’s global robotics strategy.

Delisting as a Bellwether for European Tech

BALYO’s impending delisting is symptomatic of a broader trend affecting the European technology landscape. Increasingly, promising European tech companies are being acquired and taken private by larger, often American or Asian, global corporations and investment funds. While these deals provide vital capital and global scale, they also contribute to a hollowing out of European public markets, leaving fewer opportunities for public investors to participate in the growth of homegrown innovation.

The reasons for this trend are multifaceted. For a company like BALYO, the regulatory and administrative burdens of a public listing can divert significant resources that could otherwise be invested in R&D and commercial expansion. Furthermore, the immense capital pools controlled by entities like SoftBank provide a level of financial security and strategic patience that public markets, with their focus on short-term performance, often cannot match.

As BALYO prepares for its transition into a fully private subsidiary, its story serves as a powerful case study. It highlights the immense value locked within specialized European technology firms but also raises important questions about the long-term ability of the continent's public exchanges to nurture and retain their most promising innovators. The squeeze-out, expected to be finalized in early 2026, will provide a clean exit for BALYO's remaining shareholders but will also remove one more robotics innovator from the public stage, folding it into a global technology giant building the connected infrastructure of tomorrow.