Motor company Ford is to make a major investment in computer software company
Pivotal Software Inc. (Pivotal). Ford which has headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, is a globally recognized brand. The company’s $182 million in Pivotal’s cloud computing capabilities gives it a 6.6% share of the company. The purpose of the investment is to strengthen Ford’s software capabilities as the company transitions to driverless cars and electronic vehicles through the formation of a new division - Ford Smart Mobility.
Pivotal, which has headquarters in Palo Alto, California, United States, is an EMC and VMware Inc. cloud-computing joint venture. The company’s cloud native platform “drives software innovation for many of the world’s most admired brands”. Cloud giant Microsoft is also set to make a $253 million investment in the company. While Pivotal had been considering an IPO, it is unlikely the company will go public in the near future. The investment from Ford and Microsoft will generate revenue for the company ahead of its purchase by Dell Inc.
“Investing in Pivotal builds on our current strengths in software development,” explained the Vice President and CIO of Ford, Marcy Klevorn in a press release. “We plan to quickly add new state-of-the-art software engineering capabilities across the Ford enterprise.” Mr. Klevorn will also join Pivotal’s board of directors.
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