ABB has agreed to acquire Rotork in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.5 billion, expanding its automation portfolio with mission-critical flow control, instrumentation and electric actuator technologies.
Under the terms of the recommended offer, Rotork shareholders will receive 503 pence in cash for each share they own. The offer represents a premium of approximately 60% to Rotork’s average share price during the three months preceding the announcement.
Rotork shareholders will also be eligible to receive an interim dividend of up to 3 pence per share for the period ending June 30, 2026, without reducing the cash consideration offered by ABB.
Rotork’s board has unanimously approved the proposed transaction and intends to recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the acquisition. The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2027, subject to shareholder approval, regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions.
The acquisition supports ABB’s strategy of concentrating its business around electrification and automation. Rotork’s products are used to control the movement of liquids, gases and other materials through pipelines, processing facilities and industrial infrastructure.
Rotork is a major independent manufacturer of electric actuators, which operate valves and other flow-control equipment. Its technologies are used in industries including oil and gas, chemicals, water, power generation, industrial processing and data centers.
ABB believes Rotork’s portfolio will complement its existing automation technologies and strengthen the company’s position at the field-device level. Field devices sit close to physical industrial processes and collect information, measure conditions or control machinery based on instructions from broader automation systems.
Adding Rotork’s actuators, instrumentation and associated software would expand ABB’s ability to support the full industrial automation cycle. The company describes this process as the “sense-control-act” loop, in which equipment measures operating conditions, software interprets the information, and devices take physical action to adjust the process.
Rotork’s products help customers manage flow, pressure, temperature and other conditions across complex industrial systems. These technologies are frequently deployed in applications where reliability, safety and precision are essential.
Through the acquisition, ABB expects to offer customers a more complete portfolio combining sensors, control systems, industrial software, and intelligent devices that physically regulate processes.
The transaction would also increase ABB’s exposure to higher-margin products, aftermarket services and recurring lifecycle revenue. Rotork generates revenue not only from equipment sales but also from maintenance, upgrades, replacement parts, diagnostics and services associated with its installed base.
ABB plans to continue expanding those lifecycle offerings after the transaction closes. The company believes its global service presence and customer relationships can help Rotork provide additional maintenance, monitoring and asset-management services throughout the operating lives of its products.
Rotork would gain access to ABB’s international scale, distribution reach, digital technologies and relationships with customers across major industrial markets.
ABB expects these capabilities to help Rotork expand within its existing sectors while entering new applications, geographic markets and customer accounts.
The companies also see an opportunity to combine Rotork’s devices with ABB’s digital platforms to develop more advanced diagnostics and asset-management capabilities.
Connected actuators and instrumentation can continuously monitor equipment performance and identify developing problems before they result in failures or unplanned downtime. This information can help industrial companies improve maintenance planning, increase equipment availability and extend the useful lives of important assets.
ABB’s involvement earlier in the planning of major industrial projects could also help Rotork participate in larger and more strategically important contracts. By integrating Rotork’s products into broader automation proposals, ABB may be able to increase the company’s exposure to major infrastructure, energy and industrial developments.
Following completion of the acquisition, ABB expects Rotork to operate as a separate division within its Automation business area.
The division will operate under a strategic growth mandate while maintaining the decentralized structure emphasized by the ABB Way operating model. ABB’s approach gives individual divisions responsibility for operating decisions and financial performance while keeping management close to customers and local markets.
ABB believes this structure will allow Rotork to retain the entrepreneurial culture, technical expertise and customer relationships that have contributed to its growth.
Rotork generated approximately $1 billion in revenue during 2025 and reported an adjusted operating profit margin of 24.6%.
The company achieved average annual organic revenue growth of approximately 8% from 2022 through 2025. That performance was supported by demand across oil and gas, chemicals, industrial processing, water, power and data-center markets.
Rotork is expected to increase ABB’s total revenue by approximately 3%. Within ABB’s Automation business area, the acquired company would add approximately 12% to revenue.
ABB also expects Rotork to be immediately accretive to the Operational EBITA margin of both the overall company and the Automation business area.
The approximately $5.5 billion enterprise value represents about 5.3 times Rotork’s 2025 revenue and approximately 19.5 times its 2025 EBITDA.
ABB expects the EBITDA valuation multiple to decline toward the mid-teens after accounting for anticipated synergies from the combination.
Potential synergies could come from increased sales through ABB’s global customer network, expanded service revenue, purchasing efficiencies, technology collaboration and the integration of Rotork products into broader automation projects.
The acquisition will increase ABB’s exposure to industries investing in automation to improve productivity, safety, energy efficiency and environmental performance.
Industrial operators are increasingly using connected equipment and software to monitor facilities in real time, reduce manual intervention and manage increasingly complex operations.
Flow-control equipment is particularly important in facilities where the failure of a valve, actuator or monitoring device can stop production, create safety risks or release hazardous materials.
Rotork’s position in these mission-critical applications makes its products deeply integrated into customer operations. The resulting installed base can create recurring demand for service, maintenance, replacement and modernization.
The transaction also gives Rotork access to ABB’s research and development capabilities. The companies expect to collaborate on intelligent diagnostics, predictive maintenance and digital asset-management tools that combine device-level information with broader industrial automation data.
ABB intends to maintain Rotork’s significant presence in the United Kingdom. Rotork is an established UK engineering and manufacturing employer with a longstanding role in the country’s industrial base.
ABB said it has no current plans to make substantial changes to Rotork’s UK footprint. The country is expected to remain an important manufacturing and technology center for the company following completion of the acquisition.
ABB currently employs more than 1,700 people in the UK. The company plans to support leadership continuity and work with Rotork’s management team to facilitate the integration of the businesses.
ABB will finance the acquisition using existing cash and committed bank facilities. As of June 30, 2026, the company had approximately $5.8 billion in cash and marketable securities.
ABB also expects to receive approximately $4.8 billion in net cash proceeds from the pending sale of its Robotics business to SoftBank. That transaction is targeted to close during the second half of 2026.
The company described the Rotork acquisition as a redeployment of capital following the Robotics divestment. ABB expects to retain sufficient financial capacity for additional acquisitions while continuing its previously announced share repurchase program.
ABB’s capital allocation framework prioritizes investments in existing operations, value-enhancing acquisitions and returns of capital to shareholders.
The transaction represents a substantial investment in the company’s core automation strategy while enabling ABB to replace revenue and earnings associated with the divested Robotics unit with a complementary industrial technology business.
The acquisition will be implemented through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under the UK Companies Act. This structure requires approval from Rotork shareholders and the relevant court, along with applicable regulatory clearances.
Barclays is serving as ABB’s sole financial advisor, while Freshfields is acting as the company’s legal advisor.
KEY QUOTES:
“ABB has followed Rotork over many years, and we admire the execution excellence, engineering quality and customer trust that Rotork’s teams deliver each day. We are convinced of the compelling strategic fit of the transaction that will expand our automation offering at the field-device layer, generating significant value for customers, employees and shareholders of both companies. As part of ABB, Rotork is expected to accelerate its growth and value creation while preserving its entrepreneurial spirit and customer proximity that make this business so successful. With our strong balance sheet, ABB has room for additional M&A and execution of its announced share buyback program.”
Morten Wierod, CEO of ABB
“The Board believes that the offer from ABB reflects the high quality of Rotork and recognizes the significant progress delivered through the successful implementation of our Growth+ strategy, while providing an attractive opportunity for Rotork shareholders to accelerate the value creation of the company’s strong future prospects in cash at closing. The combination brings together two companies whose purposes are closely aligned, with a shared focus on automation and electrification to enable more sustainable and efficient operations. The Board also believes that ABB’s decentralized operating model and commitment to run Rotork as a separate division will benefit the group’s business, employees and wider stakeholders. As a result, the Board has unanimously agreed to recommend the offer to Rotork shareholders.”
Dorothy Thompson, Chair of Rotork
