ABB is preparing to use the proceeds from the sale of its Robotics division to finance the largest acquisition in its history, marking a shift from robot manufacturing towards more established forms of industrial and process automation. The technology group has made a recommended cash offer of approximately $5.5 billion for British actuator manufacturer Rotork. ABB expects to fund most of the transaction with the roughly $4.8 billion in net cash proceeds it anticipates receiving from the sale of ABB Robotics to SoftBank. Both transactions are expected to be completed during the second half of 2026.
The transactions amount to a substantial reshaping of ABB’s automation portfolio. The company is selling a business that produces industrial robots, collaborative robots, autonomous mobile robots and associated software, while acquiring a company focused on equipment that controls the movement of valves in industrial installations. Rotork’s electric, pneumatic and hydraulic actuators are used to regulate the flow of liquids and gases in sectors including oil and gas, water treatment, power generation, chemicals and industrial manufacturing. Its portfolio also includes valve controllers, instrumentation and digital monitoring systems.
Although these products are increasingly connected and software-enabled, they represent a more traditional branch of industrial automation than ABB Robotics. Instead of automating the movement and handling of products in factories and warehouses, Rotork’s technology controls infrastructure and production processes that often operate continuously for decades. ABB said Rotork would expand its presence in energy and process industries and add actuators to its existing control systems, instrumentation and electrification portfolio. According to CEO Morten Wierod, the combination would allow ABB to offer more connected and autonomous solutions across these markets.
Different directions in automation
ABB originally planned to spin off its Robotics division as an independently listed company. It changed course in October 2025 after SoftBank agreed to acquire the business for an enterprise value of $5.375 billion. ABB Robotics generated approximately $2.3 billion in revenue in 2024 and employed about 7,000 people when the transaction was announced SoftBank views robotics as part of its wider strategy around artificial intelligence and what it describes as Physical AI. ABB, by contrast, is concentrating its remaining portfolio on electrification, motors, drives, process control and other automation technologies used across industrial infrastructure.
The Rotork acquisition reinforces that direction. ABB said the companies have overlapping customers, geographic operations and installed equipment bases. Electric actuators also fit with ABB’s electrification business because they can provide precise control while consuming energy mainly when movement is required. The portfolio change does not mean ABB is withdrawing from automation. Instead, it is choosing a different part of the market: one based more heavily on industrial components, process control and long-term installed infrastructure, and less on standalone robot systems.
