SoftBank's $5.375 billion acquisition of ABB's robotics business blocked by China

ABB stated on November 5 that SoftBank has informed it that China's Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review has prohibited SoftBank from acquiring ABB's robotics business in China, but the two sides have not yet announced termination of the overall transaction. The deal was reached in October 2025 with an enterprise value of $5.375 billion and was originally planned to close in mid-to-late 2026; ABB's robotics business has about 7,000 employees and 2024 sales revenue of $2.3 billion, ranking second in the global industrial robotics market.