By Rthvika Suvarna


LG Electronics has acquired a majority stake in Dutch technology company Athom, part of the South Korean consumer-electronics giant's plans to develop a business in artificial-intelligence-powered home connectivity systems.

LG Electronics said Wednesday that it acquired an 80% stake in Athom and plans to fully acquire the company within three years. It didn't disclose financial details of the transaction.

Enschede, Netherlands-based Athom specializes in technology to connect home appliances, sensors and lighting devices, and it offers cloud subscription services. Its main product, smart-home hub Homey, has expanded primarily in Europe over the past decade and has a customer base of hundreds of thousands of users, LG Electronics said.

Homey devices are also available in Australia, Singapore, the U.S. and Canada.

LG Electronics said it plans to integrate Athom's capabilities with its own generative AI-enabled ThinQ platform to "create an AI home" in which generative AI manages appliances and Internet-of-Things devices. Athom will also continue to operate independently after the acquisition, LG Electronics said.

"LG's introduction of the AI home...underscores the company's commitment to transitioning from a hardware-focused to a software-based platform business," the company said.

LG Group said in March that it planned to invest more than $74 billion over the next five years to nurture AI and other future growth drivers. It said more than half of the investment would go toward research and development to position South Korea as a manufacturing hub with smart factories and other capabilities.


Write to Rthvika Suvarna at rthvika.suvarna@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-03-24 0202ET