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The much-anticipated spin-off of ABB’s Robotics division was made official this week with the announcement of a deal to sell the unit to SoftBank for $5.4 billion. The division employs 7,000 people worldwide and generated revenue of $2.28 billion in 2024. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval in the company’s key markets.
According to SoftBank, the next frontier is physical AI—the fusion of robotics with superintelligence. The company plans to unite ABB Robotics under its vision to merge artificial superintelligence and robotics, pairing the ABB platform with its existing stakes in AutoStore, Agile Robots, and Skild AI, with the goal of accelerating innovation toward “artificial superintelligence.”
This deal is good news for ABB shareholders, who will benefit from a higher selling price than initially expected from plans to spin off the division as a separately listed company. In 2016, market observers speculated that robotics maker KUKA would be a good fit for Siemens when it was up for sale. Instead, the company was acquired by China’s Midea Group for a similar amount to the ABB–SoftBank deal.
According to ARC Research Director David Humphrey, “Despite their obvious kinship with industrial automation, robotics have always been difficult for suppliers to integrate into automation solution portfolios. While robotics integration with automation systems has made great leaps in recent years, the SoftBank acquisition may place ABB Robotics in more capable hands to transition to the next level of robotics with superintelligence.”