Image: ABB official press image (source: ABB)

On 16 July 2026, ABB announced a definitive agreement to acquire Rotork, the world's leading independent manufacturer of electric valve actuators, in an all-cash transaction valuing the company at an enterprise value of approximately USD 5.5 billion. The deal — the largest in the electric actuator industry in years — is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Key Deal Terms:

· Offer: 503 pence per Rotork share in cash, a premium of approximately 60% to the three-month average share price;
· Structure: all-cash offer implemented as a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under the UK Companies Act;
· Valuation: approximately 5.3x EV/Sales and 19.5x EV/EBITDA based on 2025 actuals, moving toward the mid-teens for EBITDA once synergies are included;
· Shareholder treatment: Rotork shareholders will also receive an interim dividend of up to 3 pence per share (for the period to 30 June 2026) with no reduction in offer value;
· Timing: completion expected in H1 2027, subject to Rotork shareholder approval and regulatory clearances;
· Financing: funded from existing cash and committed bank facilities. ABB held approximately USD 5.8 billion in cash and marketable securities as of 30 June 2026, and the planned divestment of its SoftBank Robotics business is expected to add around USD 4.8 billion in net proceeds (targeted to close in H2 2026).

Image: Rotork electric actuators (site archive)

About Rotork

Rotork, headquartered in the UK, is a global provider of mission-critical intelligent flow control solutions and the leading independent electric actuator manufacturer. The company generated revenue of approximately USD 1 billion in 2025 at a 24.6% adjusted operating margin, with average organic revenue growth of 8% per year over 2022–2025. Its customers span oil and gas, chemicals, process and industrial markets (including data centers), water, and power.

For ABB, the acquisition completes the field-device layer of its "sense–control–act" loop: Rotork is expected to add roughly 3% to ABB revenues and about 12% to Automation business area revenues, and to be immediately accretive to ABB's Operational EBITA margin.

Management and Brand Arrangements

ABB stated that Rotork will operate as a separate division under ABB's decentralized "ABB Way" model, and committed to maintaining Rotork's UK presence (ABB already employs more than 1,700 people in the UK). ABB CEO Morten Wierod said: "we admire the execution excellence, engineering quality, and customer trust that Rotork's teams deliver each day." Rotork Chair Dorothy Thompson said the offer "reflects the high quality of Rotork and recognises the significant progress delivered through... Growth+".

Editor's Note: The deal underlines how strongly the major automation groups value electric actuators as the critical "last mile" of flow control in process industries. The Rotork brand and product portfolio will be retained, and continuity of supply, spares and support for users worldwide is expected to be unaffected. We supply the full Rotork electric actuator range and spare parts — contact us for selection and technical support.

Source: ABB press release (16 July 2026): ABB expands automation offering with acquisition of Rotork