China Notifies SoftBank Group It Will Not Approve ABB Robotics Acquisition

Chinese authorities notified SoftBank Group that they would not approve its planned acquisition of ABB's robotics business. ABB announced the notice on November 5, 2026. The acquisition, announced in October 2025, is valued at $5.375 billion (about ¥850 billion), and SoftBank Group had aimed to complete it in 2026.

The Chinese authorities' notice of nonapproval affects the outlook for the timing and process of the $5.375 billion acquisition, which SoftBank Group had aimed to complete in 2026. ABB says it will continue discussions toward the deal, and the notice alone does not establish that the acquisition has been terminated or indicate the outcome of reviews in other regions.

The key development is that Chinese authorities have notified the parties they will not approve the $5.375 billion deal. However, the notice alone does not confirm that the transaction has been terminated. ABB said it was consulting closely with SoftBank Group and working constructively toward the deal. The decision could affect the target of completing the transaction in 2026, but no change to the timeline or cancellation has been announced. The article says SoftBank Group is pursuing a strategy to equip robots with AI, known as physical AI. The acquisition of ABB Robotics is positioned as part of that strategy, but the information provided does not explain how the business would be operated or its technology integrated after the acquisition. Report on SoftBank's expanding investment in robotics covers the company's robotics-related investments, but does not outline specific plans to link them to this acquisition. The status of the acquisition should therefore be considered separately from the broader continuity of SoftBank Group's robotics investments. On the review process, the parties received a notice from the office that reviews foreign investment in China, and SoftBank Group is handling the approval procedures. The article says reviews by competition authorities in Europe and the United States are also underway. The information available therefore confirms only China's decision; it does not show that reviews in other regions have reached the same conclusion. The information provided does not state why China rejected the deal or how the notice will specifically affect the transaction process. In a related article, this newspaper reported that Bloomberg cited an FT report on the same day, November 5, 2026. FT reports China blocked SoftBank's acquisition of ABB's robotics business, Bloomberg says also says the reasons for the decision and its impact on the deal have not been confirmed. The points to watch are the reasons behind China's decision, the procedural response from SoftBank Group and ABB, and the status of reviews in Europe and the United States. Until those details are known, it is not possible to draw firm conclusions about whether the acquisition will proceed or how it will affect SoftBank Group's physical AI strategy.