SoftBank putting $2.25B in GM

SoftBank is pouring $2.25 billion into General Motors’ autonomous-vehicle unit as the world’s biggest technology fund and America’s largest automaker join forces to take on Google in the battle to dominate the self-driving car business.

SoftBank Vision Fund will invest in GM Cruise Holdings in two phases, with $1.35 billion going in once Cruise deploys autonomous vehicles in an app-based ride-hailing service next year. Once SoftBank completes the investment, it’ll own 19.6 percent of GM Cruise, valuing the unit at $11.5 billion. GM jumped the most since the carmaker’s November 2010 IPO.

The deal combines two key players in the emerging technology of self-driving cars and services. GM intends to be the first automaker to bring an autonomous taxi service to public roads next year, positioning the company alongside Waymo, the unit of Google owner Alphabet Inc., among the leaders in the burgeoning field. SoftBank also can lend expertise and connections to fuel GM’s ambitions, as it’s invested in major ride-hailing companies including Uber Technologies and China’s Didi Chuxing.

“This gives GM Cruise the capital necessary to commercialize at scale,” GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said in Detroit. An additional $1.1 billion investment by GM will boost the total injection for Cruise to $3.35 billion.