ABB

ABB LTD.

We are a global leader in power and automation technologies that are designed to improve performance and lower the environmental impact of our utility and industrial customers. We provide a broad range of products, systems, solutions and services that are designed to improve power grid reliability, increase industrial productivity and enhance energy efficiency. Our focus on power transmission, distribution and power-plant automation serves electric, gas and water utilities, as well as industrial and commercial customers. We also deliver automation systems that measure, control, protect and optimize plant applications across a full range of industries. We apply our expertise to develop creative ways of integrating our products and systems with our customers' business processes to enhance their productivity and efficiency.

The ABB Group was formed in 1988 through a merger between Asea AB and BBC Brown Boveri AG. Initially founded in 1883, Asea AB was a major participant in the introduction of electricity into Swedish homes and businesses and in the development of Sweden's railway network. In the 1940s and 1950s, Asea AB expanded into the power, mining and steel industries. Brown Boveri and Cie. (later renamed BBC Brown Boveri AG) was formed in Switzerland in 1891 and initially specialized in power generation and turbines. In the early to mid 1900s, it expanded its operations throughout Europe and broadened its business operations to include a wide range of electrical engineering activities.

In January 1988, Asea AB and BBC Brown Boveri AG each contributed almost all of their businesses to the newly formed ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd, of which they each owned 50 percent. In 1996, Asea AB was renamed ABB AB and BBC Brown Boveri AG was renamed ABB AG. In February 1999, the ABB Group announced a group reconfiguration designed to establish a single parent holding company and a single class of shares. ABB Ltd was incorporated on March 5, 1999, under the laws of Switzerland. In June 1999, ABB Ltd became the holding company for the entire ABB Group. This was accomplished by having ABB Ltd issue shares to the shareholders of ABB AG and ABB AB, the two publicly traded companies that formerly owned the ABB Group. The ABB Ltd shares were exchanged for the shares of those two companies, which, as a result of the share exchange and certain related transactions, became wholly owned subsidiaries of ABB Ltd and are no longer publicly traded. ABB Ltd shares are currently listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (traded on SWX Europe), the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (in the form of American Depositary Shares).

Our business is international in scope and we generate revenues in numerous currencies. We operate in approximately 100 countries and have structured our global organization into four regions: Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). We are headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

We manage our business based on a divisional structure. Our business comprises five divisions: Power Products; Power Systems; Automation Products; Process Automation and Robotics.

Following the sale of the majority of our non-core activities, Non-core and Other is no longer presented separately but included in Corporate and Other.