ABB Says China Barred SoftBank’s Purchase of ABB Robotics in China

ABB said on November 5, 2026 that SoftBank had informed it of a Chinese prohibition on the acquisition of the ABB Robotics business in China, creating a regulatory obstacle for the planned divestment, which has an enterprise value of $5.375 billion.

The decision came from China’s Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review. SoftBank manages the process for obtaining the transaction’s regulatory approvals, which remain outstanding alongside customary closing conditions.

The prohibition covers the business in China. ABB and SoftBank remain in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction, leaving the wider divestment active but facing a jurisdiction-specific ownership restriction.

Sale Replaced ABB’s Planned Spin-Off

The agreement was signed on October 8, 2025, when ABB chose the divestment over its earlier intention to spin off Robotics as a separately listed company. The original timetable expected closing in mid-to-late 2026.

ABB chairman Peter Voser said the board evaluated SoftBank’s offer against that spin-off plan and viewed the sale as creating immediate value for shareholders. ABB planned to deploy the proceeds under its capital-allocation principles while continuing its long-term strategy in electrification and automation. The separation rationale also included limited business and technology synergies between Robotics and ABB’s remaining operations, together with different demand and market characteristics.

At signing, ABB estimated that closing would produce a non-operational pre-tax book gain of approximately $2.4 billion and cash proceeds net of transaction costs of approximately $5.3 billion. The separation also changed ABB’s reporting structure in the fourth quarter of 2025: Robotics moved to discontinued operations, while Machine Automation joined Process Automation.

Robotics Scale and SoftBank’s Physical AI Plan

ABB Robotics develops, manufactures and sells industrial robots. At the time of the agreement, ABB reported approximately 7,000 employees and $2.3 billion of revenue in 2024, representing about 7% of ABB Group revenue.

SoftBank’s acquisition announcement placed the purchase within a strategy spanning AI chips, AI robots, AI data centers and energy, alongside its stated mission to realize artificial super intelligence. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s chairman and CEO, summarized the robotics ambition directly: “SoftBank’s next frontier is Physical AI.”

SoftBank said the acquisition would strengthen its AI robotics business by combining ABB’s platform, expertise and existing local footprint with technology foundations from SoftBank Robotics Group, Berkshire Grey, AutoStore, Agile Robots and Skild AI, among other investments. ABB’s extensive sales channels and customer relationships added an established commercial base to that planned combination.

Under the agreed structure, ABB would carve the business into a newly established holding company and a SoftBank subsidiary would acquire all of its shares. The holding company would become a SoftBank subsidiary after closing, completing a full transfer of the carved-out business.

The companies face a mismatch between the regulatory decision and the transaction’s design: the prohibition covers the business in China, while the agreement calls for SoftBank to buy every share of the holding company. Their response will shape whether ABB can complete its planned separation and whether SoftBank can make ABB Robotics an industrial foundation for its Physical AI strategy.