ABB has completed the divestment of 80.1 percent of its power grids business to Chinese conglomerate Hitachi, as planned. The transaction values the total enterprise at $11 billion.
ABB said the divestment will allow the company to focus on key market trends and customer needs such as the electrification of transport and industry, automated manufacturing, digital solutions and increased sustainable productivity. ABB plans to use the cash proceeds from the sale for a share buyback program of 10 percent of the company’s issued share capital, representing about 180 million shares.
The share buyback program will be executed on a second trading line on the SIX Swiss Exchange and is planned to run until the company’s annual general meeting on March 25, 2021, where ABB intends to request shareholder approval to cancel the shares purchased through the program and to announce further details on its ongoing capital structure optimization program.
“Our goal is to exe
