After a period of retrenchment, SoftBank is now expanding its investing activity through this significant acquisition. It comes during a time where robotics has struggled to retain demand across Asia, with companies pausing investments on account of economic uncertainty.
Reuters reports that the ABB acquisition could fetch $5.4 billion and means the Swiss company is no longer spinning off and separately listing its industrial automation business, which makes factory robots.
Already a globally recognised brand, ABB’s robotics business is already known for its high performance. Now, SoftBank is poised to help “reignite” the business’ growth potential, it said in a statement, by investing in disruptive technologies like AI.
The move is one of the first large decisions made by ABB CEO Morten Wierod, who took the helm mid-2024. In recent years, ABB’s robotics business has struggled with profit and sales.
“ABB and SoftBank share the same perspective that the world is entering a new era of AI-based robotics and believe that the division and SoftBank’s robotics offering can best shape this era together,” Wierod said via the statement. “ABB Robotics will benefit from the combination of its leading technology and deep industry expertise with SoftBank’s state-of-the-art capabilities in AI, robotics and next-generation computing.”
The acquisition is expected to close in the later half of 2026, with the proceeds being used towards long-term capital allocation principles.
Currently, the robotics business employs roughly 7,000 people and last year generated sales of $2.3 billion – 7% of ABB’s total revenue. However, ABB hasn’t been able to crossover this area of its business with other areas across the company.
This is not the first time SoftBank has invested in robotics companies, already having segments in Berkshire Grey and AutoStore. It also has its own humanoid robot, Pepper, designed to connect with people.
Masayoshi Son, chairman & CEO at SoftBank Group Corp., said: “SoftBank’s next frontier is Physical AI. Together with ABB Robotics, we will unite world-class technology and talent under our shared vision to fuse Artificial Super Intelligence and robotics – driving a ground-breaking evolution that will propel humanity forward.”
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