SoftBank Group (SBG), led by Chairman Son Jeong-ui (Japanese name Masayoshi Son), said on the 8th that it had signed a contract to acquire the robotics business of Swiss conglomerate Asea Brown Boveri (ABB).
The purchase price is $5.375 billion (about 7.6 trillion won), and the acquisition process is expected to be completed in the middle to latter half of next year.
ABB's robotics division has a total of 7,000 employees and posted $2.3 billion in sales last year. That is equivalent to 7% of the company's total sales.
SoftBank Group said, "ABB decided to separate its robotics business, create a holding company, and hand it over," and added, "When the transaction is completed, this holding company will become a subsidiary of SoftBank Group."
SoftBank Group said it will "accelerate innovation in AI robotics by complementing the technological foundation of existing units such as SoftBank Robotics Group, and vigorously drive evolution and growth toward realizing artificial superintelligence (ASI)."
Reuters interpreted the deal as meaning that ABB abandoned its plan to spin off its industrial automation business and list it separately.
According to Reuters, this transaction is the first major decision since ABB CEO Morten Virolad took office last year. The decision was reportedly made as the robotics business struggled for years with declines in profitability and sales.
CEO Virolad said, "ABB and SoftBank share the view that the world is entering an era of AI-based robotics," and added, "ABB Robotics' leading technology and industrial expertise can be combined with SoftBank's cutting-edge capabilities."
After the announcement of the sale of the robotics division, ABB's share price rose 3% on the Zurich stock exchange.