Freshfields and Slaughter and May advised on ABB’s approximately £4.1 billion acquisition of Rotork plc.

ABB Ltd, a global technology leader in electrification and automation, has agreed to acquire Rotork plc, a market-leading global provider of mission-critical intelligent flow control solutions, for approximately £4.1 billion. The acquisition will be implemented through ABB Automation Holding UK Limited, ABB’s wholly owned subsidiary, by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Rotork shareholders will be entitled to receive 506 pence for each Rotork share, comprising cash consideration of 503 pence and a permitted interim dividend of 3 pence. The acquisition values Rotork at approximately £4.136bn on a fully diluted basis and implies an enterprise value of approximately £4.084bn, representing a multiple of approximately 5.3x Rotork’s sales and 19.5x Rotork’s adjusted EBITDA for the financial year ended 31 December 2025.

Freshfields advised ABB Ltd on the transaction.

The Freshfields team is being led by Piers Prichard Jones and Tamara Young. Alex Mitchell and counsel Rosemary Lobley are advising on debt financing matters. Helmut Bergmann and Martin McElwee are advising on regulatory matters. Peter Clements is advising on tax matters and David Mendel is advising on employment matters.

Slaughter and May advised Rotork plc on the transaction.

The corporate team comprised Partners Simon Nicholls, Hemita Sumanasuriya and Jack Wharton, and Associates Ashwini Ponnampalam, Edward Rochford, David Subel, Henrietta Kent, Anish Rajpal and Abena Oteng-Gyasi. The competition team comprised Partner Anna Lyle-Smythe, Senior Counsel Jacopo Pelucchi, and Associates Ty Wills, Gianni Fennings, Frankie Cox and James Arney. The pensions, employment and incentives team comprised Partners Phil Linnard and Chris Sharpe, and Associates Rachel Hunter, Will Amor and Olivia Harrison. The tax team comprised Partner Gareth Miles and Associates Gabrielle Pereira and Kasim Mehmood.