SoftBank, ABB Weigh China Carve-Out After Beijing Blocks Deal

SoftBank Group Corp. and ABB Ltd. are weighing whether to separate the Chinese operations of ABB’s robotics business from SoftBank’s planned $5.4 billion purchase after Beijing blocked the transaction, according to people familiar with the discussions.

SoftBank said Friday that on Nov. 4 it received notice from China’s Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review prohibiting the acquisition of ABB’s robotics business in China. The Japanese investor, which is managing the approval process, said it is in close dialogue with ABB and that both sides are working constructively on the deal. China gave no public reason; the robotics division runs a major manufacturing and development site in Shanghai.

A carve-out and other options

One idea under discussion is to place the China business in a separately owned entity, which could address Beijing’s concerns about industrial technology and data while letting the rest of the unit pass to SoftBank, the people said. SoftBank is pushing that approach. The talks are early and may not produce an agreement. China is the division’s single largest market, so any separation would be significant.

ABB is also studying alternatives, the people said, including a sale to a different buyer that could value the business at $2 billion to $3 billion, well below SoftBank’s price. Another path is reviving the spinoff ABB had planned before it agreed to sell, with Switzerland or Sweden as possible listing venues.

Market fallout

SoftBank agreed to buy the unit in October 2025, and ABB had expected the deal to close before year-end. The block complicates ABB’s plans to redeploy the proceeds into acquisitions; one Citigroup analyst estimated it could cut ABB’s acquisition firepower roughly in half, to about $5 billion. ABB shares fell Friday and were down more than 5% for the week, while SoftBank’s stock slid 11% in Tokyo amid a broad technology selloff.

ABB’s robotics business had $2.3 billion of revenue in 2024, about 7% of group sales, and about 7,000 employees, with plants in China, Sweden and the U.S. It competes with Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric and Midea-owned Kuka.