South Korea's HL Group said Tuesday it plans to acquire Stanley Robotics, a French robotics parking company, by purchasing a controlling stake. HL Robotics, a group subsidiary, is set to acquire 403,647 shares of Stanley Robotics for approximately 32.2 billion won (US$23.9 million) to secure a 74.1 percent stake in the French company. According to the group, Stanley Robotics is the world's first company specializing in outdoor autonomous parking robots. Through this acquisition, HL Robotics aims to lead the development of autonomous parking robot technology, positioning it as a key growth driver for the HL Group. Stanley Robotics successfully commercialized its parking robots at Lyon Saint-Exupery Airport in France in 2018 and signed a contract for parking robots with the Canadian National Railway in September 2023. HL Robotics sees high expectations for additional orders from other airports in North America and Europe, the group said. Stanley Robotics' flagship product, Stan, is an autonomous parking r obot that operates without spatial or structural constraints, and it is widely regarded as leading the global commercialization of parking robots. Source: Yonhap News Agency