The Swiss electrotechnical company ABB Ltd. plans to change its strategy after the sale of the Robotics division to the Japanese SoftBank Group Corp. for $5.4 billion. This is reported in a press release from ABB.
ABB management intends to move from a strategy of increasing profits to growth through the acquisition of new assets, especially in the field of electrification and automation. From the perspective of ABB management, the M&A market will be one of the priorities in allocating ABB's capital, although most of the proceeds from the sale of the robotics division can be used to buy back shares.
ABB has previously considered the possibility of major acquisitions, including the French company Legrand SA, and held talks at the end of 2024, but they did not lead to an agreement. Legrand, with a market value of 38 billion euros ($44 billion), would be ABB's largest acquisition if combined.
According to French law, any deal with a Paris-registered manufacturer of electrical and digital construction equipment, including for data centers, is subject to the approval of the French government.
ABB's market value stands at $136 billion as a result of a 20% stock increase in 2025 amid an investment boom in the electric grid sector, taking into account the growing demand for electricity to create data centers and develop artificial intelligence.
ABB plans to list shares in Sweden or Switzerland in the second quarter of 2026 and focus on more profitable assets, including the energy sector, which has grown to 23.2% profitability.
ABB is a Swedish—Swiss multinational corporation in the field of electrical engineering and power engineering. The company was founded as part of the merger of the Swedish company ASEA and the Swiss Brown, Boveri&Cie. ABB includes divisions of robotics, automated process control systems, energy and electrical equipment. The headquarters are located in Zurich (Switzerland) and Västerås (Sweden).
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