ABB to sell robots business to SoftBank in $5.38 billion deal

ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss engineering group ABB on Wednesday said it has agreed to sell its robotics business to SoftBank Group in a deal that values the business at $5.38 billion. The deal means ABB has abandoned its original decision to spin off and separately list the industrial automation business, which competes with Japan's Fanuc, Yaskawa and Germany's Kuka in making factory robots. The transaction is expected to close in mid-to-late 2026 and generate cash proceeds of roughly $5.3 billion from the divestment, ABB said. It said the money will be used towards its long-term capital allocation principals, which include investing in organic growth, acquisitions and returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. The robotics business, which employs 7,000 people, generated sales of $2.3 billion last year, equivalent to 7% of ABB's total revenues, but ABB saw limited crossover with the rest of its business, which is largely focussed on electrification and automation. (Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Miranda Murray)

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