Equities

China blocks SoftBank's takeover of ABB's China robotics arm as FT cites AI data fears

It's the second major deal China has blocked this year, after Meta's Manus purchase, and SoftBank is weighing whether to try again.

By Marcus Rodriguez · Nov 5, 2026, 11:00 AM EST

Why it matters: The prohibition puts the broader transaction in jeopardy; ABB declined to say what it means for the overall sale.

For information only, not investment advice.

ABB said SoftBank told it that China's foreign investment security review office has prohibited the acquisition of the ABB Robotics business in China.[^1]

According to a Financial Times report, the background includes, amongst other things, security concerns on China's part: Chinese authorities reportedly feared data from robotics production could go abroad and be used to train AI models, potentially including OpenAI's, in which SoftBank holds a significant stake.[^3] It's the second major deal China has blocked this year, after Meta was ordered to unwind its acquisition of AI start-up Manus.[^2]

SoftBank had assumed approval would be granted as recently as last week and is now assessing whether a fresh attempt is possible, the FT reported.[^3] The European Commission had already approved the takeover.

ABB, the Swiss-Swedish engineering group, agreed in October 2025 to divest the robotics division to SoftBank for an enterprise value of $5.375 billion and had expected net proceeds of around $5.3 billion. Its brief statement says the two sides "are in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction," but it doesn't say whether the rest of the deal can close without China.[^1] ABB declined to comment further to the AWP news agency on the consequences for the sale as a whole.[^3]

Tags: mergers-acquisitions · china · ai · regulation