ABB to Acquire ASTI Mobile Robotics Group

Global technology company ABB will acquire ASTI Mobile Robotics Group, a manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) powered by a proprietary software suite. The acquisition will expand ABB’s robotics and automation offerings. The acquisition agreement was signed July 19 and is expected to close in mid-summer 2021. Both parties agreed not to disclose details regarding the purchase price.

In a press release, the companies said AMRs will support a range of flexibility, from production, logistics, intralogistics, and fulfillment, through to retail and health care environments. This will enable ABB’s and ASTI’s common vision to help customers replace today’s linear production lines with fully flexible networks, where intelligent AMRs autonomously navigate materials, parts, and finished products between smart connected workstations in factories, logistics centers, laboratories, shops, and hospitals.

ASTI’s headquarters in Burgos, Spain, will become ABB’s AMR business headquarters, with core functions, including R&D, engineering, product, and project value chain, continuing at ASTI’s facilities. ABB will significantly expand production capacity at the AMR business headquarters to support the planned sales expansion in Europe and the Americas. To facilitate the growth potential for AMRs in China and Asia, ABB will also establish an Asia AMR hub, including full value chain and manufacturing, at its new robotics factory, which will open in Shanghai in 2022. China is projected to account for $1.8 billion of AMR sales annually by 2025.

ABB Robotics’ acquisition comes shortly after the company’s announcements to expand robotics automation for new sectors and first-time users, and its announcement that it will advance automation in the construction industry.