- Blackstone has agreed to invest in South Korea’s actuator supplier, Futronic.
- The deal values the Korean company at $676 million.
- Blackstone says the embodied AI is a “key investment theme” for them.
$1.3 trillion U.S. asset manager Blackstone has agreed to invest in South Korea’s supplier of high-precision actuators, Futronic.
Blackstone said Monday private equity funds affiliated with the company entered a definitive agreement to “make a significant investment” in Futronic.
The firm didn’t 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 humanoids and other robots.
Actuators are the components that convert a control signal into physical motion, the parts that let a robot arm move, or a car system adjust.
The agreement was reached in partnership with Futronic founder Jin-ho Ko, who will be retained as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, according to the announcement.
The founder said Blackston would “help drive our expansion and solidify our leadership in actuation and motion control solutions.”
Blackstone positions for the robotics boom
Blackstone’s investment in Futronic comes as the global actuator market experiences rapid growth.
The global industrial actuator market was estimated at $30.4 billion last year, according to Global Market Insights. It’s expected to hit $32.5 billion in 2026 and double to $67.7 billion in 2035, driven by rising automation and robotics.
“Humanoids and broader automation are still in the early innings of exponential growth,” said Kyungmin Song, Principal, Blackstone Private Equity, adding that “we believe FUTRONIC’s motion control solutions will be an important enabler of this megatrend.”
Song mentioned that the convergence of AI and the physical world is a “key investment theme” for Blackstone’s Private Equity.
In May, the firm agreed to put $5 billion into a joint AI cloud company with Google.
Cryptopolitan reported that both companies intend to build 500 megawatts of computing capacity by 2027, with plans to scale beyond that.
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FAQs
How much is the Futronic deal worth?
Blackstone did not disclose a figure, but people familiar with the matter said the investment values Futronic at about one trillion Korean won, or roughly $675 million.
What does Futronic make?
Futronic, founded in 1993, is a South Korean supplier of high-precision actuators used in the automotive sector and in industrial robotics, and it has expanded into components for humanoids and general robotics. It runs primary operations in Korea and the United States.
Who will run Futronic after the investment?
Founder Ko Jin-ho will remain chairman and chief executive officer, working with Blackstone to accelerate the company's global growth and end-market expansion, according to Blackstone's statement.
Ibiam Wayas
Ibiam Wayas has covered the crypto news beat since 2019. He studied Computer Science at National Open University of Nigeria. His work has appeared on various crypto news platforms, including Coinfomania, Crypto News Australia, and AltcoinBuzz. Drawing on his background in Computer Science, he now focuses on crypto, robotics, and longevity news.
