The battle settled: ABB cut not up – Svenska Dagbladet

ABB’s ceo Ulrich Spiesshofer message on Tuesday morning that the company will not sell or särnotera the company’s kraftdivision Power Grids. Photo: Ennio Leanza/AP

Christer Gardell has argued in favour of carving up the ABB in a verkstadsdel and a kraftdel and hive off kraftdivisionen.

ZURICH light of dawn was still far away when the ABB on Tuesday sent out its press release from its headquarters here in Zurich. After months of intense speculation, put the company’s management, with ceo Ulrich Spiesshofer in the tip down to the foot. The decision follows an investigation into whether the company would be divided, after pressure from the aktivistfonden Cevian Capital and its founder Christer Gardell.

the Force and the automationsbjässen "will continue to transform Power Grids under Abb’s ownership", said in the press release.

” In our strategic evaluation, we have listened carefully to all sides and opinions. After a very careful and detailed process, supported by leading advisors, we have concluded that a conversion of the Power Grids in Abb’s ownership creates the highest value for our shareholders and customers, ” says ceo Ulrish Spiesshofer.

the Power Grid is ideally positioned within ABB to drive long-term profitable growth, ” he adds, and stresses that ABB "in the past two years has become faster, smoother and more efficiently."

ABB will neither to sell or särnotera the company’s kraftdivision, which represent a little over one-third of the whole of the 125-year-old Swedish-swiss company. Power Grids with 35 000 employees will stay within the group. In total, the ABB group around 135 000 employees.

Christer Gardells Cevian owns 6 per cent of the ABB. Photo: Carl Bredberg

From the ABB management page does not display a tillsymmelse to doubts about the Power Grid’s future. Instead, talk about a new program – "Power Up" to increase the kraftdivisionens efficiency and value.

– Power Grids in Abb’s possession will result in maximum value for shareholders compared with other ägarlösningar as a sale, spinoff or joint ventures, according to ABB.

Christer Gardell has, however, been advocated to divide up the ABB in a verkstadsdel and a kraftdel and hive off kraftdivisionen. Both pure sale which separately list of the Power Grids has been discussed. The idea has been to give visibility to the host through a break-up of the company in the less transparent parts, and thus streamline operations.

Storägaren Investor, who owns 10 per cent of the ABB and Jacob Wallenberg as the vice president, however, has been less clear.

It can raise the market capitalization with almost 8 per cent, has Gardell argued against the background of low profitability, and share price trend for ABB.

– Large company that consists of diverse activities, which ABB is bureaucratic, slow and ineffective. To spin off and list the Power Grid is the only rational and logical affärsbeslutet, said Gardell, in a recent … interview.

Although american fund, Artisan, which owns around 1 percent of ABB, available share Gardells idea if the spin-off of the Power Grids. Storägaren Investor, who owns 10 per cent of the ABB and Jacob Wallenberg as the vice president, however, has been less clear, especially as Power Grids have improved their results in the past six months.

Investor Jacob Wallenberg owns over 10 per cent in ABB. Photo: Magnus Hjalmarson Neideman

But Ulrich Spiesshofer have had a different view of the matter than Gardell. In particular, it is considered to be synergies that have everything in the same business, then ABB’s customers often purchase products from multiple divisions. So buy for example, customers products from robotdelen and at the same time, Power Grids-products to the own power supplies, they are engaged. Fixed critics have pointed to the synergies not worked particularly effectively.

For their help during this tense time with djupnande conflict within the ABB Spiesshofer had several investment banks also argued against avknoppnings-the idea, among them Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and Credit Suisse.

Cevian owns 132 million shares in ABB, which is equivalent to nearly 6 percent of the company. Investor owns 232 million shares, which means that they own more than 10% of the force and the automationsjätten and is the largest shareholder.