Woven Planet Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, has agreed to acquire Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft, Inc. one of the largest ride-hailing companies in the world. This marks the first major deal for the newly established Woven Planet.

The deal will bring together world-class scientists and software engineers from Level 5, Woven Planet, and researchers from Toyota Research Institute, Inc. (TRI) already working together with Woven Planet. Woven Planet Group is an expansion of the operations of Toyota Research Institute - Advanced Development, Inc.

The resulting combined team of approximately 1,200 will represent one of the most diverse, well-resourced and talented groups in this field. Woven Planet says that the deal places it at the center of the connected and automated driving movement by providing:

• Talent: an international team of top-tier engineers, research scientists, and domain experts in mobility services.

• Technology: a robust set of sensing, computing, and software assets, and strategic capabilities in automated driving systems.

• International Footprint: once the acquisition is complete, Woven Planet will have an expanded footprint beyond its Tokyo headquarters, with offices and engineering teams in Palo Alto, CA and London, UK.

In addition to the acquisition of Level 5, Woven Planet and Lyft have signed commercial agreements for utilization of the Lyft system and fleet data to accelerate the safety and commercialization of the automated-driving technology that Woven Planet will develop.

Lyft will receive approximately $550 million in cash, with $200 million paid upfront subject to certain closing adjustments and $350 million of payments over a five-year period.