ABB announces biggest ever acquisition with $5.5 billion deal for Rotork
ABB's Strategic Acquisition of Rotork: Details and Implications
By John Revill
Overview of the Acquisition
ZURICH, July 16 (Reuters) - ABB announced a $5.5 billion deal for British automation company Rotork on Thursday, the Swiss engineering group's largest-ever acquisition after years of reshaping its portfolio with a string of large divestments and smaller purchases.
The recommended cash offer for Rotork exceeds ABB's $4.2 billion deal for electrical components maker Baldor in 2011 and its $3.9 billion purchase of motors and drives maker Thomas & Betts, which ABB bought in 2012.
About Rotork
Rotork's Product Portfolio and Market Reach
Rotork makes equipment that automatically opens, closes, and precisely controls valves that regulate the flow of liquids and gases, with customers in industries including oil and gas, water and wastewater, power generation, chemicals, marine, mining and processing.
Financial Performance and Growth
The company, which had 2025 revenue of around $1 billion, has been growing by around 8% annually, and will add around 3% to ABB's revenue.
With a profit margin of 24.6%, Rotork is also expected to be immediately accretive to ABB's own margin, which rose again during its latest quarter, the company also reported on Thursday.
Strategic Rationale and Industry Impact
ABB's Perspective on the Deal
"ABB has followed Rotork over many years," said ABB CEO Morten Wierod. "We are convinced of the compelling strategic fit of the transaction that will expand our automation offering at the field device layer."
Broader M&A Activity in the UK
The deal is the latest foreign bid for a UK company, putting Britain on track to outstrip all previous years for dealmaking in 2026.
ABB's purchase of Bath-based Rotork follows bids for Britain's Intertek, Schroders and Unilever's food unit, as well as U.S.-listed Ingredion's offer for Tate & Lyle, which came in June.
ABB's Acquisition Strategy and Financials
Recent Acquisition and Divestment Activity
ABB Chairman Peter Voser told Reuters earlier this year that ABB was eying larger acquisitions, as the company sought to speed up growth after years of divestments.
In recent years, ABB has raised more money from divestments than it has spent on acquisitions as part of greater emphasis on electrification and automation products.
Funding the Rotork Acquisition
ABB said it was funding the Rotork acquisition with the $4.8 billion proceeds from its decision last October to sell its robotics division to SoftBank Group.
ABB's Latest Financial Results
Second-Quarter Performance
The Rotork deal announcement came after ABB reported its second-quarter results.
The company, which makes electrification and automation products used by factories, ships and ports, said its operational earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) rose 20% to $1.93 billion in the three months to the end of June, beating forecasts for $1.88 billion in a company-gathered consensus of analyst estimates.
Revenue rose 14% to $9.48 billion, in line with forecasts, while net income rose 7% to $1.23 billion.
Orders, meanwhile, jumped 30% to $12.04 billion, said ABB, which has benefited from equipping data centres being built to support artificial intelligence.
Market Reaction
The company's shares were seen 3% higher in premarket activity in Zurich.
CEO Commentary
"Our second-quarter results reflect high demand in the majority of our customer segments," said CEO Wierod.
(Reporting by John Revill. Editing by Miranda Murray and Mark Potter)
