China has blocked SoftBank Group’s $5.4 billion takeover of ABB’s robotics division, the Financial Times reported at 03:02 UTC on 5 November, in a report headlined “China blocks SoftBank’s $5.4bn takeover of ABB’s robotics division”. Reuters carried the FT’s headline about three minutes later. We have read the headline only; the FT article is behind its paywall.
SoftBank agreed in October 2025 to pay $5.375 billion for the business. By our arithmetic, that is 2.4 times the division’s 2024 revenue of $2,279 million and 19 times its 2024 operational EBITA of $277 million, using the pro forma figures ABB supplied for SoftBank’s release.
Update, 5 Nov, 07:19Z: ABB confirms the block, and names the regulator. In a group press release published at 06:25 UTC on 5 November, ABB said: “ABB confirms that it has been informed by SoftBank that the Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review in China has prohibited the acquisition of the ABB Robotics business in China.”
The release adds that “the process to obtain the regulatory approvals is managed by SoftBank” and that “ABB and SoftBank are in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction.” It describes the prohibition as covering the acquisition of the Robotics business in China. It does not mention a break fee, a termination, a new timetable or a financial impact.
Asked by the AWP news agency, ABB “declined to comment further at this time on the possible implications for the sale as a whole and the next steps,” according to the Keystone-SDA report. The same report says ABB had expected net proceeds of about $5.3 billion and recently announced the purchase of Rotork for $5.5 billion.
ABB’s release went out 3 hours 23 minutes after the FT’s 03:02 UTC report, by our arithmetic from the release page’s 06:25 UTC publish time. At 07:17 UTC, SoftBank’s press-release lists in English and Japanese showed no release after 30 October.
Update, 5 Nov, 03:43Z: Bloomberg relays the FT report and names the regulator. Bloomberg News reported the block at 03:15 UTC, attributing it to the Financial Times: “China has blocked SoftBank Group Corp.’s deal to acquire ABB Ltd.’s robots unit, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people.”
According to Bloomberg’s account of the FT report, the deal “was opposed by China’s powerful state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission,” and SoftBank “was recently informed of the decision and is now trying to determine whether it can seek approval again.”
Bloomberg’s story relays the FT; it is not separate reporting, and the text we read gives no reason for the decision and no comment from either company. At 03:39 UTC, SoftBank’s English press-release list still showed no release after 30 October. ABB’s online newsroom could not be reached at 03:39-03:42 UTC, and a search of ABB’s and SoftBank’s sites found no November statement on the deal.
The FT’s headline says China blocked the deal. The headline does not say which authority acted or on what grounds, and we have not seen the article text. We had not found a decision notice from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation by 03:18 UTC.
At 03:10 UTC, SoftBank’s English press-release page showed no release after 30 October. ABB’s online newsroom could not be reached when we checked. (Update, 5 Nov: ABB has since confirmed the decision in a release; see the update above.)
SoftBank’s $5.375 billion price for ABB’s robotics division against the division’s 2024 revenue ($2,279 million) and operational EBITA ($277 million), pro forma and unaudited, from SoftBank’s and ABB’s releases of 8 October 2025. The block is the Financial Times’ report of 5 November 2026. The 2.4x, 19x and 393 days are our arithmetic.
Business Pill · Physical AI
A short Business Engineer explainer on physical AI. It teaches the general idea only and says nothing about ABB, SoftBank or China’s decision.
The key insight: China has blocked SoftBank’s $5.4 billion purchase of ABB’s robotics division, the Financial Times reported, 393 days after the deal was signed, by our arithmetic. SoftBank’s price was 2.4 times the division’s 2024 revenue and 19 times its operational EBITA, also our arithmetic from the companies’ pro forma figures.
The Deal ABB and SoftBank Signed
ABB announced on 8 October 2025 that it had signed an agreement to divest its Robotics division to SoftBank Group “for an enterprisevalue of $5.375 billion and not pursue its earlier intention to spin-off the business as a separately listed company.” ABB said the transaction was “subject to regulatory approvals and further customary closing conditions and is expected to close in mid-to-late 2026.”
SoftBank’s own release named the approvals. The deal “remains subject to customary regulatory approvals including in the European Union, China, and the United States”. ABB was to carve the business out into a new Zurich holding company, which a SoftBank subsidiary would buy outright.
The division has a workforce of about 7,000. ABB said its 2024 revenues of $2.3 billion were about 7% of group revenues, with an operational EBITA margin of 12.1%. SoftBank’s table shows revenue of $2,258 million in 2022, $2,452 million in 2023 and $2,279 million in 2024, a 7% fall in the last year by our arithmetic.
What ABB Stood to Book
ABB said that “upon closing, the divestment will result in a non-operational pre-tax book gain of approximately $2.4 billion with expected cash proceeds, net of transaction costs, of approximately $5.3 billion.” It put separation costs at about $200 million and transaction-related cash tax outflows at $400 million to $500 million.
The book gain and the cash proceeds were the figures ABB tied to closing. ABB said it would report Robotics as discontinued operations from the fourth quarter of 2025.
What Happens Next
The sale replaced a spin-off. In April 2025 ABB said it would propose to its 2026 annual meeting a 100% spin-off of Robotics, with “Plan for a listing in the second quarter of 2026”. Chairman Peter Voser said in October 2025 that SoftBank’s offer had been “compared with our original intention for a spin-off.”
Neither 2025 release mentions a break fee or a termination fee; we searched both texts. Neither says what ABB would do with the division if the sale did not close. Whether ABB returns to the listing, looks for another buyer or contests the decision is for ABB to say.
China is part of the business itself. ABB’s spin-off release said the division operates “through its local-for-local set-up with regional manufacturing hubs in Europe (Sweden), Asia (China) and the Americas (United States).”
The Business Lever
The business lever is the approval. SoftBank framed the purchase as part of its push into “(ii) AI robots”, one of four areas alongside AI chips, AI data centres and energy. Masayoshi Son said: “SoftBank’s next frontier is Physical AI.”
As we read the two 2025 releases, the deal ran on a timetable of approvals that SoftBank itself listed: the European Union, China and the United States.
As we read ABB’s releases, China is one of the division’s three regional manufacturing hubs, so the country whose decision the FT reports also hosts part of the business.
As we read SoftBank’s release, the ABB purchase was the industrial base for its robotics holdings, which it listed by name.
Peter Voser, Chairman of ABB, 8 October 2025
“SoftBank’s offer has been carefully evaluated by the Board and Executive Committee and compared with our original intention for a spin-off.”
Three Implications
FOR ABB ABB put its expected cash proceeds at about $5.3 billion and its pre-tax book gain at about $2.4 billion, both upon closing; its April 2025 plan was a spin-off with a listing in the second quarter of 2026.
FOR SOFTBANK SoftBank named AI robots as one of four areas of investment, with AI chips, AI data centres and energy; SoftBank said the $5.375 billion ABB division would be combined with the robotics investments it already holds.
FOR BUYERS OF ROBOTICS ASSETS SoftBank’s release listed China among the approvals the deal needed, alongside the European Union and the United States.
The analysis says: “Layer 9 answers to geopolitics, not to engineering.”
As we read it, a merger review is part of that governance layer: the FT reports that China has blocked a deal that ABB and SoftBank had priced and signed. The analysis predates the report and does not discuss ABB or SoftBank.
What Is Not Established
The block rests on the FT’s report, which we have read as a headline only. Which Chinese authority acted, its reasons and the form of the decision are not established here. ABB and SoftBank had not commented in the sources we checked. (Update, 5 Nov: ABB has since confirmed that China’s foreign-investment security review office prohibited the acquisition of the Robotics business in China; SoftBank had not issued a release when we checked at 07:17 UTC.)
The revenue and EBITA figures are 2024 pro forma, unaudited numbers that SoftBank says may differ from the business as it would run on its own. The 2.4 times, 19 times, 7% and 393 days are our arithmetic.
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China has blocked SoftBank’s $5.4 billion purchase of ABB’s robotics division, the FT reported, 393 days after the two companies signed, by our arithmetic. The price was 2.4 times the division’s 2024 revenue. ABB’s expected $5.3 billion of cash and $2.4 billion book gain were both stated as results of closing.
A note on sourcing. The block is the Financial Times’ report of 5 November 2026, which we read as a headline only; Reuters relayed the headline. Deal terms, quotations and the division’s figures are from ABB’s releases of 17 April and 8 October 2025 and SoftBank Group’s release of 8 October 2025; the revenue and EBITA figures are 2024 pro forma and unaudited. The 2.4 times, 19 times, 7% and 393 days are our arithmetic.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
