Segway sold to Chinese group Ninebot

Chinese company Ninebot has bought Segway, the US maker of the eponymous two-wheeled vehicle that has regularly grabbed headlines but failed to match its early hype.

Gao Lufeng, chief executive, said Ninebot bought its US rival for an undisclosed sum but said at the same press conference in Beijing that it had secured $80million in investment from Xiaomi, a Chinese phonemaker, and Sequoia Capital, the venture capital firm.

Rod Keller, Segway president, who filed a legal complaint against Ninebot and other Chinese companies last September for alleged patent infringement, welcomed the deal.

“The strategic alliance with Ninebot will enable us to provide more intelligent and valuable products for our customers,” he said.

Ninebot, which makes a similar transporter to the Segway, was created two years ago as a crowdfunded robotics initiative. Its products are now available in more than 38 countries.

The US International Trade Commission agreed in November to investigate the complaint by Segway, which is seeking to block imports to the US of Ninebot's transporters. It is not clear what the Chinese acquisition of Segway will mean for the deal.

Segway was launched amid great fanfare in 2001 but the electric scooter with a top speed of 12.5mph has made less-than-flattering headlines on several occasions. In 2003, George W Bush, then US president, fell off one, and three years later all the 23,500 vehicles sold up to then were recalled due to a software glitch that could cause the wheels to suddenly reverse direction.

In 2010 British entrepreneur Jimi Heselden, who had bought the company earlier in the year, died after falling off a cliff while riding one of the off-road versions of the vehicle.

Segway last changed hands in February 2013 when the company was bought by Summit Strategic Investments for an undisclosed amount.

In addition to its two-wheeled transporter, Ninebot also makes a single-wheeled version called the Ninebot One.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015