China’s foreign investment security reviewers have halted SoftBank’s takeover of ABB’s robotics division without giving a reason. The unit runs a major manufacturing and development facility in Shanghai. SoftBank and ABB are now weighing a separately owned Chinese entity to rescue the deal. Citigroup estimates the setback halves ABB’s acquisition capacity to about $5 billion, Bloomberg reports.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 9th, 2026
