ABB Sells Robotics Arm to SoftBank in $5.4 Billion AI Deal
Japanese tech giant deepens 'Physical AI' strategy, while the Swiss engineering firm nets significant cash from the divestiture.
ABB Ltd (ABBNY) has agreed to sell its robotics division to Japan's SoftBank Group in a landmark deal valued at approximately , a strategic move that pivots the Swiss engineering giant while significantly bolstering SoftBank's ambitions in artificial intelligence and automation.
The acquisition marks a strategic shift for ABB, which will abandon its previous, long-held plans to spin off the robotics unit into a separately listed company. For SoftBank, the purchase is a major step in advancing its 'Physical AI' strategy, which aims to fuse advanced AI with robotics to revolutionize industries. The deal underscores a growing trend of major technology players investing heavily in the hardware and automation sectors to bring AI innovations into the physical world.
ABB's robotics division, a major player in industrial automation with around 7,000 employees, generated approximately $2.3 billion in revenue in 2024. The sale provides a significant cash infusion for the parent company. ABB expects to realize a non-operational pre-tax book gain of around $2.4 billion and intends to deploy the roughly $5.3 billion in net cash proceeds in line with its , which include funding organic growth, pursuing acquisitions, and returning capital to shareholders.
Market reaction to the announcement was positive, with ABB's shares trading higher following the news. The certainty of a sale was welcomed by investors and analysts. RBC Capital Markets noted that the "swift sale ends all discussion and uncertainty around the exit and ," resolving questions that had surrounded the previously planned spin-off.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has been aggressively positioning the company as a leader in the AI revolution, with this acquisition adding a critical hardware component to its portfolio. The combination of ABB's leading industrial robotics technology with SoftBank's deep expertise in AI is expected to accelerate the development of next-generation automation solutions. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is anticipated to close in mid-to-late 2026, according to .