Chinese regulators have prohibited SoftBank’s purchase of ABB’s robotics business in China, adding pressure to SoftBank shares and a broader Japan–Korea tech selloff.
MoneyTurkey Foreign Markets Desk | 6 November 2026, 03:15 London
Key points
- SoftBank Group fell 9.27% to 3,611 yen (last trade before Tokyo’s lunch break).
- Nikkei 225 was down 5.27% at 57,858.61; KOSPI down 3.29% at 5,206.57.
- SoftBank and ABB confirmed China’s foreign-investment security review office blocked the China piece of the roughly $5.4bn robotics deal.
SoftBank Group led losses among major Japanese tech names after SoftBank and ABB said Chinese regulators had prohibited SoftBank from acquiring ABB’s robotics business in China. The Financial Times and Nikkei Asia also reported the block. The news landed on a session already weighed down by overnight selling in US technology shares.
What happened
In a 6 November statement, SoftBank Group said it was notified on 4 November that China’s Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review had prohibited the acquisition of ABB’s robotics business in China. ABB separately confirmed it had been informed by SoftBank of that decision. SoftBank and ABB said they remain in close dialogue and are working constructively on the wider transaction, which SoftBank agreed in October 2025 at an enterprise value of about $5.375 billion.
As of about 03:14 London (Yahoo Finance delayed quotes, moves versus Thursday’s close): SoftBank Group was at 3,611 yen, down 9.27%; the Nikkei 225 at 57,858.61, down 5.27%; KOSPI at 5,206.57, down 3.29%, with SK Hynix down 4.51% at 1,207,000 won and Hyundai Motor down 3.75% at 282,500 won. Taiwan’s weighted index was at 40,383.57, down 2.87%.
Why markets care
The China block raises fresh doubt over SoftBank’s push into industrial automation and “physical AI,” and it signals tighter scrutiny of foreign acquisitions in a sector Beijing treats as strategic. Investors marked down SoftBank and other Japanese and Korean names tied to global tech supply chains. Currency markets were quieter than equities: USD/JPY was around 157.87 and USD/KRW around 1,360.48.
Session context
Mainland China and Hong Kong were softer but far less volatile than Tokyo and Seoul. Shanghai Composite was down 1.06% at 3,650.92 and CSI 300 down 1.34% at 4,058.11. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.41% at 24,694.26. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.90% at 8,983.80, and New Zealand’s NZX 50 was down 0.52% at 14,018.28.
The regional declines follow a sharp drop in US technology shares overnight. Separate Korean coverage earlier in the session had linked Seoul’s selling in part to Wall Street’s AI-related slide and the US midterms outcome; those remain attributed market narratives rather than proven single causes of SoftBank’s move.
What to watch
- Any further SoftBank or ABB disclosure on how the China prohibition affects the global deal timeline
- SoftBank and other Japan tech names after Tokyo’s lunch break
- Whether Seoul and Taipei chip shares keep recovering from the open lows
- Follow-through in Nikkei futures after the cash close
For information only. Not investment advice.
Sources
- SoftBank Group (6 Nov 2026): Update on Acquisition of ABB Ltd’s Robotics Business
- ABB: Update on divestment of ABB Robotics
- Financial Times: China blocks SoftBank’s $5.4bn takeover of ABB’s robotics division
- Nikkei Asia: China blocks SoftBank’s $5.4bn deal for ABB robotics division
- Yahoo Finance quotes: SoftBank 9984.T, Nikkei 225, KOSPI, Taiwan Weighted, Shanghai Composite, CSI 300, Hang Seng, S&P/ASX 200, NZX 50, USD/JPY, USD/KRW
