Herbert Smith Freehills advises SoftBank Corp. on investment in vehicle-connectivity partnership

Leading international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Japan's SoftBank Corp. on its €473 million (US$514 million) investment in Dublin-headquartered Cubic Telecom for a 51% equity stake in the company.

Cubic Telecom is a leading global provider of connectivity solutions for vehicles.  SoftBank and Cubic Telecom will form a strategic global partnership to pioneer the future of software-defined connected vehicles and other high-value Internet-of-Things (IoT) assets.

"Connected vehicles and IoT devices are areas of huge interest for many companies," said corporate partner Joseph Fisher.  "Our Tokyo office's expertise in advising Japanese companies on outbound investments enabled us to support SoftBank on this and its recent investment into IoT service provider 1NCE."

According to a McKinsey report, 95% of new vehicles sold globally will be connected by 2030.  This could deliver as much as US$400 billion in annual incremental value for the ecosystem, with Cubic Telecom poised to capture a leading share of this rapidly growing market.

London partner and Global Head of M&A  Gavin Davies added: "SoftBank is a longstanding client of the firm and we're delighted to work on this exciting deal, creating a partnership that will provide cutting edge connectivity solutions for smart vehicles."

The SoftBank investment is subject to regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

Joseph Fisher led the team advising SoftBank together with Tokyo partner Graeme Preston and Gavin Davies in London.  Partner Adelaide Luke advised on regulatory and competition issues from Hong Kong.