China blocked SoftBank’s acquisition of ABB robotics business, FT reports, Bloomberg says

Bloomberg reported on Nov. 5, 2026, that the Financial Times (FT) cited anonymous sources and reported that China had blocked SoftBank Group Corp.’s acquisition of ABB Ltd.’s robotics business. According to the FT, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) opposed the deal.

If the FT report carried by Bloomberg is accurate, the planned acquisition of ABB Ltd.’s robotics business faced opposition from China’s National Development and Reform Commission. The excerpts, however, do not explain the basis for the opposition or its specific impact on the deal, and it is not possible to determine how any regulatory obstacles might affect operations or robot supplies.

The report focuses not only on the planned acquisition of the robotics business but also on the reported role of a Chinese government decision in the deal’s progress. However, Bloomberg relayed an FT report based on anonymous sources; no official announcement or explanation of the decision was provided. At this stage, the legal status of the reported block and whether the deal has definitively fallen through cannot be established. We previously covered SoftBank Group’s robotics investments in a report on the company’s expansion of its robotics investments. Unlike news indicating interest in investment, this report points to the possibility that corporate acquisition plans can be affected by regulatory decisions. The previous article’s summary and this report alone, however, do not establish the acquisition’s place in SoftBank’s investment strategy or any specific connection between the two. From an industry perspective, acquiring an existing robotics business should be considered separately from developing or introducing new production capacity or products. The information available here concerns a reported deal of the former kind; there is no information on how the business would be run after an acquisition, changes to its technology or production structure, or effects on robot supplies. Even if a regulatory decision affected the deal, that alone would not mean ABB’s robotics business has become less competitive or that market supply has changed. Points to watch include whether the NDRC or the parties comment on the decision, what the basis and scope of the opposition are, and whether the deal terms or the parties’ response change. The Bloomberg excerpt provided does not specify the acquisition terms, review process or whether the decision is final. It would therefore be premature to speculate about the outcome of the deal or its impact on the Chinese market on that basis. See the original report for details.