ABB Ltd. is a Swedish–Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Västerås, Sweden, and Zürich, Switzerland.[6] It is traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zürich, the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Sweden and the OTC Markets Group's pink sheets in the United States.[7] It was ranked 340th in the Fortune Global 500 list of 2020 and has been a global Fortune 500 company for 24 years.[8]
ABB was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create Asea Brown Boveri, later simplified to the initials ABB. Both companies were established in the late 1800s and grew into major electrical equipment manufacturers, a business in which ABB remains active. Its traditional core activities include power generation, transmission and distribution; industrial automation, and robotics. Between 1989 and 1999, the company was also active in the rolling stock manufacturing sector. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, ABB acquired hundreds of other companies, often in central and eastern Europe, as well as in Asia and North America.
On occasion, the company's operations have encountered controversy. During 2001, an ABB entity pled guilty for bid rigging; the firm has also had three US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bribing resolutions against it; in 2004, 2010, and 2022.[9] In early 2002, ABB announced its first-ever annual loss, which was attributed to asbestos-related litigation. Within three years, the company had successfully restructured its operations. During the 2010s, ABB has largely focused its growth strategy on the robotics and industrial automation sectors. Prior to the sale of its Power Grids division to Hitachi in 2020, ABB was Switzerland's largest industrial employer.[10]
Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA, English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company) was founded in 1883 in Västerås, Sweden by Ludvig Fredholm[11] as manufacturer of electrical light and generators.[12]
Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC) was formed in 1891 in Zurich, Switzerland by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri[13] as a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies producing AC and DC motors, generators, steam turbines and transformers.
On 10 August 1987, ASEA and BBC announced they would merge to form ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB).[14] The new corporation would remain headquartered in both Zurich, Switzerland and Västerås, Sweden, with each parent company holding 50 percent. The merger created a global industrial group with revenue of approximately $15 billion and 160,000 employees.[14]
When ABB began operations on 5 January 1988, its core operations included power generation, transmission and distribution; electric transportation; and industrial automation and robotics.
In its first year, ABB undertook some 15 acquisitions, including the environmental control group Fläkt AB of Sweden, the contracting group Sadelmi/Cogepi of Italy, and the railway manufacturer Scandia-Randers A/S of Denmark.[15] During 1989, ABB purchased an additional 40 companies, including Westinghouse Electric's transmission and distribution assets, and announced an agreement to purchase the Stamford, Connecticut-based Combustion Engineering (C-E).[16]
During 1990, ABB bought the robotics business of Cincinnati Milacron in the US. The acquisition expanded ABB's presence in automated spot-welding and positioned the company to better serve the American automotive industry. ABB's 1991 introduction of the IRB 6000 robot, demonstrated its increased capacity in this field. The first modular robot, the IRB 6000, can be reconfigured to perform a variety of specific tasks. At the time of its launch, the IRB 6000 was the fastest and most accurate spot-welding robot on the market.[citation needed]
In the early 1990s, ABB started expanding in Central and Eastern Europe. By the end of 1991, the company employed 10,000 people in the region. The following year, that number doubled. A similar pattern played out in Asia, where economic reforms in China and the lifting of some economic sanctions, helped open the region to a new wave of outside investment and industrial growth. By 1994, ABB had 30,000 employees and 100 plants, engineering, service and marketing centers across Asia; numbers that would continue to grow. Through the 1990s, ABB continued its strategy of targeted expansion in Eastern Europe, the Asia–Pacific region and the Americas.[citation needed]
During 1995, ABB agreed to merge its rail engineering unit with that of Daimler-Benz of Germany; the goal of this arrangement was to create the world's largest maker of locomotives and railway cars. The new company, ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation (Adtranz), had an initial global market share of nearly 12 percent.[17][18] The merge took effect on 1 January 1996.[19]
A few months following the start of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, ABB announced plans to accelerate its expansion in Asia as well as to improve the productivity and profitability of its Western operations. The firm took an $850 million restructuring charge and shed 10,000 jobs as the firm shifted more resources towards emerging markets and scaled back some of its facilities in higher-cost countries.[20][21]
In June 1998, ABB announced that it would acquire Sweden-based Alfa Laval's automation unit, which at the time was one of Europe's top suppliers of process control systems and automation equipment.[22]
During 1999, as a final step in the integration of the companies formerly known as ASEA and BBC, the directors unanimously approved a plan to create a unified, single class of shares in the group.[citation needed]
That same year, ABB completed its purchase of Elsag Bailey Process Automation, a Netherlands-based maker of industrial control systems, in exchange for $2.1 billion.[23] The acquisition increased ABB's presence in the high-tech industrial robotics and factory control system sectors, which reducing its reliance on traditional heavy engineering sectors such as power generation and transmission.
In 1999, the company sold its stake in the Adtranz train-building business to DaimlerChrysler. Instead of building complete locomotives, ABB's transportation activities shifted increasingly toward traction motors and electric components.[24] That same year, ABB and France-based Alstom, announced the merger of their power generation businesses in a 50-50 joint company, ABB Alstom Power. Separately, in December 1999, ABB agreed to sell its nuclear power business to British Nuclear Fuels of the United Kingdom.[25]
During 2000, ABB divested its interests in ABB Alstom Power and sold its boiler and fossil-fuel operations (including Gas turbines) to Alstom.[26] Thereafter, ABB's power business was focused on renewable energy and transmission and distribution.
In early 2002, ABB announced its first-ever annual loss, a $691 million net loss for 2001.[27] The loss was caused by ABB's decision to nearly double its provisions for settlement costs in asbestos-related litigation against its American subsidiary Combustion Engineering from $470 million to $940 million; these claims were linked to asbestos products sold by Combustion Engineering prior to its acquisition by ABB.[28][29] At the same time, ABB's board announced it would seek the return of money "paid in excess of obligations to Goran Lindahl and to Percy Barnevik," two former chief executive officers of the group. Barnevik received some $89 million in pension benefits when he left ABB in 2001; Lindahl, who succeeded Barnevik as CEO, had received $50 million in pension benefits.[30][31]
In 2004, ABB sold its upstream oil and gas business, ABB Vetco Gray, to a consortium of private equity investors for an initial sum of $925 million; despite the sale, ABB continued to play an active role in the oil and gas industry via its core automation and power technology businesses.[32][33]
During 2005, ABB delisted its shares from the London Stock Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.[34][35] During the following year, the company ended its financial uncertainties via the finalization of a $1.43 billion plan to settle asbestos liabilities against its US subsidiaries, Combustion Engineering and ABB Lummus Global, Inc.[36] A three-part capital strengthening plan also aided in ABB's recovery.[37]
In August 2007, ABB Lummus Global, ABB's downstream oil and gas business, was sold to CB&I in exchange for $950 million. The sale led to ABB making an accelerated $204 million payment to the CE Asbestos PI Trust, a trust fund covering the asbestos liabilities of Combustion Engineering.[36][38]
During 2008, ABB agreed to acquire Kuhlman Electric Corporation, a US-based maker of transformers for the industrial and electric utility sectors.[39] In November 2008, ABB acquired Ber-Mac Electrical and Instrumentation to expand its presence in Western Canada's oil and gas industries.[40]
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In September 2010, the company bought K-TEK, a manufacturer of level measurement instruments, for $50 million; it was incorporated into ABB's Measurement Products business unit within ABB's Process Automation division.[41]
During July 2010, ABB in Cary, North Carolina received a $4.2 million grant from the US federal government to develop energy storing magnets.[42]
On 10 January 2011, ABB invested $10 million in ECOtality, a San Francisco-based developer of charging stations and power storage technologies, to enter North America's electric vehicle charging market.[43] On 1 July of that year, the company announced its acquisition of Epyon B.V. of the Netherlands, an early leader in the European EV-charging infrastructure and maintenance markets.[44]
During early 2011, ABB acquired Baldor Electric in exchange for $4.2 billion in an all-cash transaction; this move aligned with ABB's strategy to increase its market share in the North American industrial motors business.[45] On 30 January 2012, the company announced the acquisition of Thomas & Betts, a North American specialist in low voltage products for industrial, construction and utility applications, in a $3.9 billion cash transaction.[46] On 15 June 2012, ABB completed its acquisition of commercial and industrial wireless technology specialists Tropos.[47]
In July 2013, ABB acquired Power-One in a $1 billion all-cash transaction, to become the leading global manufacturer of solar inverters.[48] That same year, Fastned selected ABB to supply more than 200 Terra fast-charging stations along highways in the Netherlands.[49]
In 2016, ABB was awarded a contract on the TANAP gas pipeline project in Turkey to deliver the telecommunications, security and control infrastructure to contribute to safe, secure, and reliable operation of the pipeline throughout its lifetime.[50] The TANAP pipeline is the largest diameter and with 1,850 km length, the longest pipeline ever built in Turkey, crossing 20 districts and will bring Azerbaijan's natural gas through Georgia, Turkey and Greece into the rest of Europe. The $11 billion TANAP pipeline will interconnect with the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) at Turkey's border with Georgia and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) at its border with Greece.[citation needed]
On 6 July 2017, ABB announced it had completed its acquisition of Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik (B&R), the largest independent provider of product and software-based open-architecture for industrial automation.[51]
During January 2018, ABB became the title partner of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the world's first fully electric international FIA motorsport series.[52] On 30 June 2018, the company completed its acquisition of GE Industrial Solutions, General Electric's global electrification business.[53]
On 17 December 2018, ABB announced it had agreed to sell 80.1% of its Power Grids business to