Mujin, Inc. completed its MBO, management buyout*, on February 14, 2019, led by the company’s two founders, Issei Takino and Rosen Diankov, who acquired the entire equity stake in Mujin held by The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Co., Ltd. ,“UTEC”. In a separate transaction, on February 13, 2019, Mujin secured ¥ 7.5 billion in financing in the form of a special overdraft agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ,“SMBC”.
*Management Buyout (MBO) is an M&A method used by the management of a company to take management control of the company by buying some or all of the outstanding shares of the company.
<MBO by the founders>
The Mujin management team has long believed that having a decision-making structure with long-term perspectives is critical in creating successful robotics technologies for industries around the world. For this reason, the team has been exploring ways for creating a secure and solid management structure. UTEC, in support of this vision, agreed to sell the entire Class A and Class B shares of Mujin it held, representing 33% of the outstanding shares of the company, to the company’s founders in the MBO transaction. Mujin can use the opportunities this MBO has provided to expand its stock option program to create better incentives for employees.
<7.5 billion yen financing>
Every since Mujin’s last capital infusion on July 31, 2014, Mujin has had a very healthy financial status and fast growth rate. Nevertheless, in order to expand the robotics market at an even faster pace, Mujin has decided to perform another round of fundraising. After carefully examining many fundraising options including equity financing, Mujin decided to enter into a special overdraft agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
*This is not related to funds for MBO above.
<3 key advantages gained by this financial strategy>
1. Secured solid management control by management team
2. Secured ample growth capital
3. Enabled the expansion of the employee stock option program
These three advantages for future growth enable Mujin to secure excellent talent, build a solid foundation for global business growth, and dramatically expand the business by helping companies increase corporate value through the best intelligent robot systems.
==
Please see the attached slides for the details of the MBO and financing, and its business.
◆About MUJIN
Founded in July 2011 as an intelligent industrial robot controller manufacturer, Mujin uses motion planning AI technology, developed by the current CTO and co-founder Dr. Rosen Diankov, which has been applied to thousands of robot systems around the world. In addition to manufacturing, Mujin has been offering advanced automation solutions in collaboration with the world’s leading E-commerce and logistics companies for places where it has been extremely difficult to apply robots in the past.
[Corporate Profile]
Corporate Name: Mujin, Inc.
Establishment: July, 2011
Representative Director: Issei Takino
Description of Business: Intelligent robot controller development and sales
URL: https://mujin.co.jp/en/
[Inquiries should be directed to]
PR Team, Mujin, Inc.
TEL: 03-4577-7596
E-mail: media@mujin.co.jp
Address: 1-1-9 Narihira, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0002