China's NDRC-run security review has blocked the China part of a global robot takeover, a new risk for foreign buyers of manufacturers with large local production like ABB's.
China’s foreign investment security review has prohibited SoftBank Group from acquiring ABB’s robotics business in China, ABB said on November 5, blocking the China portion of a US$5.375 billion deal just over a year after it was announced. In a statement reported by Robotics 24/7 and Shanghai’s The Paper, the Swiss engineering group said SoftBank had told it that the review body "has prohibited the acquisition of the ABB Robotics business in China." The Financial Times first reported the decision.
According to Reuters, in a report republished by WHTC, SoftBank expected the deal to close until it was told last week that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the state planner that screens foreign investments with national security implications, had blocked the purchase. The FT reported that the NDRC was concerned robotics data could be sent abroad and used to train AI models, including those of OpenAI, in which SoftBank is a major investor. SoftBank declined to comment, and the NDRC did not respond to Reuters.
No formal notice has been published, 24/7 Wall St. noted, and the reported reasons come from unnamed sources rather than Beijing. ABB has not called the deal off. It said the two companies "are in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction," and that SoftBank is responsible for the regulatory approval process.
The China business is the core of what SoftBank agreed to buy
ABB announced the sale on October 8, 2025, dropping a plan to spin off the robotics division as a separately listed company. The division had 2024 revenue of US$2.3 billion, about 7% of ABB Group revenue, and about 7,000 employees. Closing was expected in mid-to-late 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said at the time that "SoftBank’s next frontier is Physical AI."
China accounts for about 30% of ABB’s robot-related business, and more than 90% of the robots ABB delivers to Chinese customers are built in China. The Paper reported that China is ABB’s largest robot delivery market, that its Shanghai "super factory" is one of three global robot manufacturing bases, and that the robotics unit has nearly 300 research and development staff in China. Reuters added that ABB Engineering (Shanghai) hosts the global robotics headquarters, a research center and a production base.
ABB shares fell 1.1% in morning trading after the news became public, Reuters reported, while SoftBank shares closed down 6.8%.
Beijing’s review office has the power to stop a deal outright
The body ABB named, the Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review (外商投资安全审查工作机制办公室), sits inside the NDRC, according to a 2020 NDRC Q&A on the rules that created it. The working mechanism is led jointly by the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce. Under the Measures for the Security Review of Foreign Investment (《外商投资安全审查办法》), it can clear a deal, clear it with conditions or prohibit it, and a prohibited investment may not proceed. The measures cover investments in key technologies and in important information technology products and services where a foreign investor gains actual control.
At the Foreign Ministry’s November 5 briefing, spokesperson Guo Jiakun was asked whether the NDRC was blocking the deal and said the question should be put to the relevant Chinese authorities, 21st Century Business Herald reported. Its report and ABB’s statement name the review office; the NDRC’s role comes from press accounts.
Reuters described this as the second major deal China has blocked this year, after Meta was ordered to unwind its purchase of AI startup Manus, which was worth more than US$2 billion. It also noted a diplomatic dispute between China and Japan since November last year over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan. Scrutiny of cross-border AI deals now runs in both directions: this week, Oracle canceled a US$7 billion AI chip lease with Tencent under US pressure.
SoftBank is working out whether it can reapply
24/7 Wall St., citing the FT, reported that SoftBank is trying to determine what went wrong and whether it can seek approval again, and that nobody involved has said the deal is over. ABB’s statement that the parties are "working constructively on the transaction" leaves open a restructured deal, but neither company has said what a revised version would look like or given a new closing date.
The China operations weigh heavily in any revised deal: people close to SoftBank told the FT that ABB’s China business was an important factor in the purchase, The Paper reported. Reuters also tied the decision to SoftBank’s wider plans: Son has called robotics a core part of the group’s AI investment strategy. The next concrete signal will be an update from ABB or SoftBank on the deal’s timetable or structure, or a published decision from the review office, which has so far said nothing in public.