US $1.3 trillion asset manager Blackstone has agreed to invest in South Korean supplier Futronic of high-precision motors.
Blackstone said on Monday that the company’s private equity funds had entered into a definitive agreement to “make a significant investment” in Phototronic.
The company did not disclose the size of the investment. However, the deal values the South Korean company at 1 trillion won ($676.04 million), according to people familiar with the agreement.
Futronic has operations in the United States and Korea. The company makes high-precision actuators used in cars, including robots and other robotics.
Actuators are the components that convert a control signal into physical movement, or the parts that allow a robot arm to move, or adjust a vehicle system.
The agreement was reached in partnership with Phototronic founder Jin Ho Kuo, who will be retained as chairman and CEO, according to the company. advertisement.
Blackstone “will help drive our expansion and solidify our leadership in actuation and motion control solutions,” the founder said.
Blackstone positions the robotics boom
Blackstone’s investment in Futronic comes at a time when the global motor market is experiencing rapid growth.
The global industrial motor market was valued at $30.4 billion last year, according to Global Market Insights. It is expected to reach $32.5 billion in 2026 and double to $67.7 billion in 2035, driven by increasing automation and robotics.
“Humanoid robotics and broader automation are still in the early stages of exponential growth,” said Kyungmin Song, Director at Blackstone Private Equity, adding, “We believe FUTRONIC’s motion control solutions will be an important enabler of this megatrend.”
Song mentioned that the convergence of artificial intelligence and the physical world is a “key investment theme” for Blackstone private equity.
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