LG has acquired an 80 percent stake in Athom, a Dutch company best known for its Homey smart home platform. The deal, which LG says will see it acquire the remaining 20 percent of Athom within the next three years, has been forged to expand LG’s smart home ecosystem and should position it to better compete against Samsung’s rivaling SmartThings platform.
LG plans to integrate Athom’s existing Homey connectivity — which supports smart devices from Sonos, Ikea, Aqara, Philips Hue, and more — across its appliances through its ThinQ smart home platform. According to Homey, its users will soon be able to control ThinQ-enabled LG appliances via the platform. Homey has developed a significant user base since it was founded in 2014, with its f…