Segway bought out by Chinese rival Ninebot
Chinese transport robotics firm Ninebot said on Wednesday it had acquired US rival Segway.
Chinese transport robotics firm Ninebot said on Wednesday it had acquired US rival Segway, the company behind the self-balancing scooter that became a technological marvel when it was launched in the early 2000s but whose hype then faded.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but Ninebot chief executive Gao Lufeng said in Beijing that Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China, among others, had invested US$80 million into Ninebot to help finance the acquisition.
New backers of Ninebot, which began producing scooters two years ago as a crowdfunded project, also included Xiaomi chief executive Lei Jun's personal private equity fund, Shunwei Capital Partners, Gao said.
The acquisition comes about six months after Segway named Ninebot in a patent infringement complaint.
Gao did not address the dispute yesterday but said the combined company would hold a significant lead in market share as well as a vast portfolio of more than 400 critical patents. The companies would operate as separate brands, he said.
Ninebot, which has several self-balancing scooter models including one without handles, will now have "the most comprehensive line-up of products in the industry", Gao said.
Ninebot's high-profile backers, Lei and Sequoia Capital China partner Neil Shen, both struck a nationalistic note in remarks toasting the deal.
"I have long thought Chinese companies should have more courage," said Shen, one of the country's most prominent tech investors.
"This acquisition is a display of Chinese self-confidence."
The acquisition caps a 14-year independent run for Bedford, New Hampshire-based Segway, which never lived up to the initial hype in 2001, when inventor Dean Kamen unveiled his scooter that could be driven simply by shifting one's weight.
Lei said Xiaomi's investment in Ninebot made sense for the smartphone company because its strategy was to support smart hardware companies everywhere and build a "device ecosystem" around its smartphones.
