SoftBank is to Buy the robotics division of the Swiss engineering group ABBfor which it will pay 5.4 billion dollars. The operation, confirmed in a statement, will help SoftBank advance its strategy of merging robotics with Artificial Intelligence.
The Japanese company already took its first steps in the world of robotics a decade ago with the launch of its Pepper robot, although shortly after it had to put its plans aside in the field of robotics. It seems that he has returned to them, added to AI, since in addition to this announcement, among his most recent investments are Berkshire Gray and AutoStore. He has also led a financing round for OpenAI, in which he has invested $40 billion. Additionally, last March it bought the chip design company Ampere for $6.5 billion.
This agreement that the company has just announced also implies that ABB has abandoned its plans to create an external company with this industrial automation division, which competes with the Japanese Fanuc and Yaskawa, and the German Kuka, in the manufacture of industrial robots.
It is also the first big decision of ABB under the direction of Su Ceo Morten WieroDwho took the position in 2024 with the aim of reversing the situation of the company, which has been mired for several years in a situation of problems with sales and falling profitability in its robotics area.
The ABB division that SoftBank just bought has 7,000 employees, and last year had revenues of $2.3 billion, 7% of ABB’s total revenues. Despite going well, ABB did not see how to integrate it more closely than what they have achieved so far with the rest of their areas, focused mainly on automation and electrification.
This is exactly what ABB wants to focus on from now on. Regarding the sale, Wierod highlighted that. They always said that «robotics is a market with much greater volatility. And that’s what we’ve seen over the years, both in terms of growth and margins. “Also, it is a slightly different market than the rest of ABB today.”
The operation will close between the middle and end of next year 2026, and will generate cash procedures to ABB of about 5.3 billion dollars. The company has highlighted that this money will be invested in the development of new technologies and production capacity in electrification and automationand could also finance new purchases for the company.
Sami Atiya, President of Robotics at ABB, takes over the company
In addition to the sale of its robotics division, ABB has also announced that, as a result of this operation, the President of ABB’s Discrete Automation and Robotics Division, Sami Atiya will leave the company at the end of 2026, when the operation closes. As part of the sale, ABB will also dissolve said business division at the end of 2025 and move its assets to three other different areas.
Atiya will also leave the ABB Executive Committee at the end of 2025, and will continue to support the Robotics area for several months, as well as the process of its separation, as a strategic advisor.
Morten Wierod, has highlighted about Atiya’s career that «Since joining ABB almost 10 years ago, Sami has played a key role in building a robotics business that spans from industrial robots to next-generation autonomous and collaborative mobile robots, supported by some of the most advanced software and artificial intelligence solutions. He has played a key role at ABB in establishing artificial intelligence as an important driver of value creation for customers and other stakeholders. We thank Sami for his extraordinary contribution to the success of our company and wish him the best in his future endeavors, both professional and personal.«.
Atiya himself has commented that «It has been an honor to work at ABB and I would like to thank our employees and customers for the close collaboration we have had since I joined the company. I am convinced that, with the acquisition by SoftBank, our robotics business will be in excellent hands, creating a growth platform that will benefit from the numerous opportunities in automation and artificial intelligence that we are seeing in many sectors and geographies.«.
