ABB to spin out its robotics division
Swiss industrial equipment giant ABB is to spin out its robotics division.
With 7,000 employees and 2024 revenues of $2.3bn, this would create the world’s second largest robotics company after Mitsubishi Electric Automation. Fanuc in Japan is third largest in revenue with $1.38bn.
To do this, the company is launching a process to propose this at its 2026 Annual General Meeting. This would see the robotics business start trading as a separately listed company during the second quarter of 2026 as the electronics market recovers.
ABB has been building up the division with the acquisition of ASTI in Spain in 2021 and a strategic investment in Sevensense Robotics and has been capitalising on the boom in automated battery gigafactories through deals with Italvolt and Morrow. It has manufacturing hubs in Sweden, China and the United States.
The company says the robotics market has ‘seemingly stabilized’ after what has been an unusually volatile market situation with excess inventory.
“There are limited business and technology synergies between the ABB Robotics business and the remainder of ABB divisions, with different demand and market characteristics,” said ABB CEO Morten Wierod. “We believe this change will support value creation in both the ABB Group and in the separately listed pure play robotics business,”
The deal will see the Machine Automation division, which is part of the Robotics & Discrete Automation business, will become a part of the Process Automation business. This holds a leading position in the high-end segment for solutions based on PLCs, IPCs, servo motion, industrial transport systems and vision and software.
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