Delphi acquires Singapore-focused NuTonomy for $450m

Delphi will pay $400 million up front, with an additional $50 million to come in performance-based earn-outs. The acquisition will double Delphi's team to 200 and give it its first office outside of the US. NuTonomy itself will continue to be based in Boston, where both it and Delphi are currently operating autonomous vehicle pilot programs. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

NuTonomy was spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013 by co-founders Karl Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzoli. It has put a significant amount of focus on Singapore, whose government is pushing autonomous vehicles as part of its broader smart nation initiative. The company aims to commercialize the world's first automated taxi fleet in the city-state by next year.

EDBI, the VC arm of Singapore's Economic Development Board, contributed to the company's $16 million Series A round last year led by Highland Capital Partners. Samsung Ventures, Fontinalis Partners and Signal Ventures, which contributed to a $3.6 million seed round earlier in 2016, also participated in that round.

The NuTonomy deal is part of Delphi's strategy to expand its leadership space in the global autonomous vehicle industry through acquiring other players in the space. Other recent acquisitions include software developer Ottomatika and data service companies Control-Tec and Movimento.

"The combination of the NuTonomy and Ottomatika's AD [autonomous driving] teams, along with Delphi's industry-leading portfolio of perception systems and smart vehicle architecture solutions, further enhances our competitive position as the industry's most formidable provider of autonomous mobility solutions," said Delphi CEO Kevin Clark in a statement. 

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