China blocks SoftBank's $5.4 billion takeover of ABB robotics unit in China
China's foreign investment security review office has prohibited SoftBank's acquisition of ABB Robotics' China division, citing concerns that domestic operational data could be used to train artificial intelligence models abroad.
China's foreign investment security review office has prohibited SoftBank from acquiring the Chinese business of ABB Robotics, an arm of a broader takeover valued at $5.375 billion to $5.4 billion. The Financial Times first reported the regulatory roadblock citing sources familiar with the matter, before ABB confirmed the prohibition.[1][2][4][5][3]
China serves as the largest market for the Swiss-Swedish engineering group's robotics division, which operates a mega-factory in the Pudong district of Shanghai. Beijing intervened over concerns that industrial and robotics data generated within China could be transferred overseas to train foreign AI models.[2][4][3]
ABB indicated that both companies are still working constructively on the transaction despite the regulatory order. In the wake of the decision, SoftBank's shares dropped 7% during trading in Tokyo.[1][3]
Key facts
- China's foreign investment security review office prohibited SoftBank's takeover of ABB Robotics' China division as part of a $5.375 billion deal.
- China is the largest market for ABB's robotics business, which includes a mega-factory in Shanghai's Pudong district.
- The transaction was blocked over concerns that robotics data from China could be used to train AI models abroad.
- ABB stated that it and SoftBank are continuing to work constructively on the transaction.
- SoftBank's shares dropped 7% in Tokyo following news of the block.
Sources · 5 sources
- DE
Decrypt@DecryptMediaPost on X ·
China Blocks SoftBank's Takeover of ABB's Robotics Business in China. ABB said Thursday that China's foreign investment security review office has prohibited SoftBank's acquisition of ABB Robotics' China business, part of a $5.375 billion deal, and that both companies are working constructively on the transaction.
Open source - TE
Techmeme@TechmemePost on X ·
Sources: China has told SoftBank it will not allow the $5.4B acquisition of ABB's robotics division to go ahead; China is the division's biggest market (@davidkeo / Financial Times) (Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!)
Open source - CB
Coin Bureau@coinbureauPost on X ·
The calm in the U.S.–China AI race is misleading. The tariff truce runs until January, but BOTH governments are seen intervening to more AI and tech deals. 1. Meta x Manus AI ($2 BILLION) In April, Beijing ordered Meta to unwind its Manus acquisition amid reported national security and export-control concerns over AI talent and technology moving to the U.S. Manus went independent again in August, setting a precedent for Beijing to intervene even after an AI deal closes. 2. SoftBank × ABB Robotics ($5.4 BILLION) On Nov. 5, Beijing blocked the Chinese portion of Japan’s SoftBank’s $5.4B takeover of Swiss group ABB’s robotics unit. China was concerned that robotics data from China could be used to train AI models abroad. SoftBank's shares fell 7% in Tokyo, and ABB says the companies are still pursuing the deal. 3. Oracle × Tencent ($7 BILLION) On Nov 4, Oracle scrapped the lease after U.S. officials raised concerns. The same goes with Tencent, with Guangdong officials urging the firm to back domestic chipmakers. Tencent originally agreed to rent access to up to 100,000 advanced AI chips at Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia for five years. $ORCL fell 2% and $NVDA dropped 3.2% that day. 4. Nvidia’s 49% cap and China’s chip squeeze Recently, Nvidia reportedly told cloud partners to cap Chinese customers’ share of capacity at 49% in new contracts. This could curb TikTok owner ByteDance’s access to more advanced chips overseas. On Nov. 5, Reuters reported that about 600,000 H200 chips were sitting in Hong Kong as Beijing held off on approving bulk imports. ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent also ordered more than 3 MILLION RTX Pro 5500 cards with a combined sticker price above $35 BILLION.
Open source - TE
TechmemeArticle ·
Sources: China has told SoftBank it will not allow the $5.4B acquisition of ABB's robotics division to go ahead; China is the division's biggest market (David Keohane/Financial Times) David Keohane / Financial Times : Sources: China has told SoftBank it will not allow the $5.4B acquisition of ABB's robotics division to go ahead; China is the division's biggest market — Swiss-Swedish company's unit is focused on Chinese market and has mega-factory in Pudong — China has told SoftBank it will not allow …
Open source - BL
Bloomberg@businessPost on X ·
China has blocked SoftBank’s deal to acquire ABB’s industrial robots unit, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people. https://t.co/ITRiEfK21W
Open source