New share listed on the Swiss Exchange and in
Stockholm, Frankfurt and London
Zurich, Switzerland, June 28, 1999 - ABB is
introducing the new ABB Ltd single class share today
on the Swiss Exchange and the stock exchanges in
London and Frankfurt. Listing in Stockholm began on
June 22 and the company is also introducing Rule 144A
American Depositary Shares in the U.S. via a private
placement.
The listing of ABB Ltd, the new Zurich-based holding
company of the ABB Group, follows the successful
offer to exchange the shares of the previous parent
companies, ABB AG of Switzerland and ABB AB of
Sweden. With a market capitalization of about CHF 40
billion (US$ 26 billion), ABB will be the 8th largest
company in Switzerland and among the 50 largest in
Europe.
The symbols for the new share will be ABBN on the
Swiss Exchange, ABB in Stockholm, ABBN in London and
ABA in Frankfurt.
"With the introduction of the single-class share, ABB
expects an increase in the liquidity of ABB's shares,
improved transparency and enhanced financial
flexibility," said G”ran Lindahl, ABB's President and
CEO. "The introduction of the single share is also an
important step in preparing for a full U.S. stock
exchange listing."
As part of the implementation of the single share,
the share capital of ABB Ltd was increased from CHF
100,000 to CHF 3,000,023,580 by issuing 299,992,358
registered shares by way of an ordinary capital
increase. The new shares will be delivered via book
entry to shareholders that have tendered their ABB AB
and ABB AG shares. ABB Ltd will initiate the process
to cancel the remaining non-tendered ABB AG shares
today and to issue shares of ABB Ltd to such
shareholders on the same terms as in the ABB AG
exchange offer. For non-tendered ABB AB shares, ABB
Ltd will initiate a compulsory acquisition process
through a subsidiary to acquire all of the remaining
non-tendered ABB AB shares for cash. The amount of
cash compensation will be decided by a Swedish
arbitration panel.
For ABB AB shareholders, payment of the proceeds from
the divestment of fractions of shares will be made by
July 19 and for ABB AG shareholders on July 9, 1999. |
