Zurich, Switzerland, February 27, 2004 -- Fred Kindle will become the next chief executive officer of ABB Group. He will replace Jürgen Dormann as CEO next year. Kindle, currently chief executive of Swiss-based technology company Sulzer AG, will join ABB on September 1, 2004 and formally take over as CEO in January 2005.Dormann, who has been CEO since September 2002, will revert to the singe role of chairman in January. He had already announced that his successor would be named during the course of this year.
“The board of directors is very pleased that Fred Kindle has agreed to take on this challenging and exciting task,” said Dormann. “I and my fellow board members are convinced that he will provide the right leadership and we look forward to working with him.”The board’s nomination and compensation committee conducted a careful and extensive search for a new CEO over the past year. A number of external and internal candidates were reviewed.Kindle said, “I look forward to my new task at ABB.
The know-how and commitment of the people at ABB, the reputation of the ABB brand and the strong global market position of the company provide an excellent foundation for an exciting and successful future.”As CEO of Sulzer AG, Kindle led the company through a period of fundamental strategic realignment. He has been with Sulzer AG since 1992. In 1999 he became responsible for Sulzer Industries, before being appointed CEO of Sulzer AG two years later.
He was elected to the board of directors in 2003.ABB ( www.abb.com ) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enables utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.
The company's U.S. operations employ about 9,500 in manufacturing and other facilities in 40 states.