SoftBank's Masayoshi Son bought it for $38 billion.
A mega - merger and acquisition has taken place.
As you may have already heard, the Swiss ABB Group recently announced that it will spin off its entire robotics business unit to the SoftBank Group at a valuation of $5.375 billion (approximately 38.3 billion RMB). The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.
This is regarded as an "earth - shattering" deal in the global industrial automation field. ABB's robotics business is one of the "Big Four" in the global industrial robotics industry, with a profound heritage. It sought an independent IPO in the first half of this year, but unexpectedly, it has now been sold to Masayoshi Son at a high price.
Thus, the global robotics industry landscape has been reshaped. The competition has reignited, and everyone is vying for the short - lived window of opportunity.
The global robotics hegemon has been sold
According to the relevant agreement, ABB will first inject its robotics division into a newly established holding company, and then SoftBank Group will acquire 100% of the equity of this company in an "all - cash" transaction.
After the completion of the transaction, SoftBank Group will take over ABB's robotics business, including its 7,000 - strong engineering team, 500,000 installed robots, global service network, and all intellectual property rights. In 2024, ABB's robotics business had an annual revenue of $2.3 billion, accounting for 7% of the group's total revenue.
ABB seems to have made a sure - fire deal. The announcement shows that the transaction amount is approximately $5.3 billion. After deducting the approximately $200 million in costs related to this spin - off and the tax expenses of $400 - 500 million, ABB expects to net approximately $4.7 billion, and it is expected to generate approximately $2.4 billion (approximately 17.1 billion RMB) in non - operating pre - tax book profits.
Thus, the original plan to spin off and list the robotics business has fallen through.
In April this year, ABB announced its plan to spin off its robotics business and list it in the second quarter of 2026. However, the situation quickly changed. In September, SoftBank began negotiations with ABB Group regarding the acquisition. The boards of both companies quickly approved and signed the SPA, and the transaction entered the regulatory approval stage.
Regarding the abandonment of the IPO, ABB CEO Morten Wierod said bluntly: "Considering that the SoftBank deal can provide immediate funds, we finally decided to go with the sale option."
Moreover, when the independent listing was first announced, Swiss investment banks had estimated that the valuation of the spun - off robotics business would be less than $4 billion. In contrast, the $5.3 billion offered by SoftBank can be considered a "sky - high price."
In fact, ABB may feel relieved after accelerating the spin - off of its robotics business.
ABB's robotics heritage can be traced back to 1974 when ASEA in Sweden launched the world's first fully - electric industrial robot. In 1988, ASEA merged with Brown, Boveri & Cie of Switzerland to form ABB, and the robotics business became one of its core segments. At its peak, ABB's robotics business was among the "Big Four" in the global industrial robotics industry, along with Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric, and Kuka.
However, the competition in the traditional robotics market has become increasingly fierce. In 2024, the profit of ABB's robotics business declined by 39% year - on - year. Wierod publicly stated: "We have always emphasized that the robotics market is highly volatile. This market is slightly different from ABB's other businesses, which are currently focused on electrification and automation." In other words, the lack of synergy between the robotics business segment and other core businesses is also one of the reasons for this divestiture.
After this adjustment, ABB will be streamlined into three major business areas: electrical, process automation, and motion control. Although some people question that this is "giving up the ticket to the next industrial revolution too early," in any case, when the robotics business is no longer at the core of ABB's future development, an era has come to an end.
Masayoshi Son's ambition
Why did Masayoshi Son make this acquisition?
This is a bet on the technological evolution direction in the next decade. Regarding this acquisition, he said that through the combination with ABB Robotics, world - class technologies and talents will be integrated, thereby fusing artificial super - intelligence with robotics technology and driving a revolutionary change that will lead humanity forward.
Masayoshi Son has mentioned the concept of "artificial super - intelligence (ASI)" on multiple occasions. He believes that ASI will be 10,000 times smarter than humans and will be realized within 10 years. He has also set a new strategic goal - to make SoftBank the world's number one ASI platform provider.
In this vision, robots are an important carrier for ASI to enter the physical world.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Masayoshi Son valued the interface value of ABB's robotics business in the AI era, which can create an ideal physical carrier and practical application platform for ASI. At the same time, the addition of ABB Robotics will fill the key gap in SoftBank's industrial scenario applications.
Following data centers and semiconductors, robotics is another key investment area for SoftBank. Prior to this, SoftBank had SoftBank Robotics, which focuses on humanoid robots, and has invested in collaborative robots such as Thinker Robot and JAKA Robot, warehouse automation company Berkshire Grey, industrial mobile robots such as Youibot and Keenon Robotics, and robot AI software Skild AI.
In January this year, at the board meeting, SoftBank Group decided to establish an intermediate holding company, "Robot Holdings," to integrate the robot - related investment enterprises held by the group. Now, these investment portfolios will complement ABB's robotics platform, professional capabilities, and its existing local layout, promoting the evolution of robots from traditional automation tools to intelligent agents with perception and learning abilities.
"The next frontier for SoftBank Group is physical AI." Masayoshi Son emphasized in a statement. Different from pure software algorithms, physical AI emphasizes the embodied application of artificial intelligence in the real world, which is exactly the strength of industrial robots. When robots with a physical form are equipped with AI, all industries will undergo fundamental changes.
In July this year, Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, also said in a public speech that the next wave of artificial intelligence is physical AI. On NVIDIA's official website, the concept of physical AI is clearly explained - physical AI enables autonomous systems such as robots, self - driving cars, and smart spaces to perceive, understand, and perform complex actions in the real (physical) world.
As Jensen Huang said, this will be the fourth - generation artificial intelligence revolution after perception AI, generative AI, and agent - based AI.
A new era for the robotics industry
SoftBank's acquisition has accelerated the competition in this field.
With the in - depth integration of AI and robotics, perhaps the traditional pattern of the "Big Four" in the industrial robotics industry will become history. Before Masayoshi Son's move, NVIDIA had earlier cooperated with Yaskawa Electric. Every traditional industrial automation company is re - evaluating its position in the AI era.
On October 4th, Elon Musk posted a video on social platform X showing Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus sparring with a human martial arts coach and responded that all movements were completed based on its own AI system's real - time judgment, rather than remote control. Musk has said that Tesla aims to achieve mass production of Optimus in 2026, with the primary application scenarios being manufacturing and industrial production.
"The rules of the game in industrial automation have changed, and all players will be reshuffled."
Looking back, for Chinese robotics companies and the manufacturing industry, this is both an opportunity and a challenge.
As the world's largest market for industrial robots, the market share of domestic enterprises in China has now exceeded 50%. The strategic adjustments of international giants can, to some extent, accelerate the domestic substitution and independent innovation of domestic enterprises. ABB entered the Chinese market early. With its combination with SoftBank to launch new solutions, it will ultimately improve the automation level of Chinese factories and benefit the Chinese manufacturing industry.
However, this also increases the competitive pressure. Whether it is Kuka, which has been acquired by Midea Group, or domestic enterprises such as Estun, STEP, EVAT, and Siasun, all are facing a giant competitor. Especially during the critical period of Chinese enterprises' overseas expansion, encountering such a behemoth with a global distribution network will make the competition in the overseas market even more intense.
It is certain that future competition will no longer be a comparison of hardware performance but a competition of ecosystem and AI capabilities. As some analysts have pointed out, the window period for intelligent transformation may only be 5 - 10 years. Therefore, whoever can master physical AI technology first will gain the initiative in the new round of industrial revolution.
This just - started revolution will determine the global manufacturing landscape for the next few decades.
No one can truly predict the future, but it is certain that Chinese enterprises will surely play an important role in this disruptive transformation of the robotics industry.
This article is from the WeChat official account "M&A Frontline." Author: Yang Jiyun. Republished by 36Kr with permission.