ABB confirms China foreign-investment security review barred SoftBank from buying its China robotics unit; $5.375bn deal still under discussion. | China Day chinaday.news
Swiss group ABB said on 5 November it had been informed by SoftBank that China's Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review had prohibited SoftBank from acquiring ABB's robotics business in China. ABB recalled its October 2025 agreement to divest Robotics to SoftBank for an enterprise value of $5.375 billion, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions managed by SoftBank; ABB and SoftBank remain in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction. Earlier the same day the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, said China's NDRC would block the deal amid concerns that robotics data could be moved overseas to train AI models—including those of OpenAI, in which SoftBank is a major investor—and about retaining manufacturing capability in China; Reuters then said it could not independently verify the report and SoftBank/ABB had not responded. Lianhe Zaobao, citing Reuters and Bloomberg, later noted ABB's confirmation and that China accounts for about 30% of ABB's robotics business, with the global robotics HQ in Shanghai. MFA spokesperson Guo Jiakun, asked at the regular briefing, said the question should be directed to the competent Chinese authorities. At the 14:00 patrol only the unverified FT account was available; today's node is ABB's official confirmation.
Read full issue →