China blocks SoftBank’s US$5.4 billion takeover of ABB’s robotics division
China’s state planner has told Japanese investor SoftBank it will not allow the US$5.4 billion acquisition of the robotics segment of engineering group ABB to go ahead, the Swiss firm said on Thursday.
The case marks the second major deal blocked by China this year after Meta Platforms was ordered to unwind its US$2 billion-plus acquisition of artificial intelligence start-up Manus. The news comes as Beijing tightens scrutiny of foreign investment in domestic start-ups that are developing...
