ABB Said to Seek Board Replacements for Von Gruenberg, Treschow
July 17 (Bloomberg) — ABB Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of power grids, is seeking replacements for Chairman Hubertus von Gruenberg and board member Michael Treschow, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The successor for von Gruenberg will most likely come from outside the company, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. While both directors are approaching 72, the statutory age limit for holding an ABB board position, the company has the power to adjust that rule at any time and will probably not choose to do so, the person said.
ABB spokesman Antonio Ligi declined to comment on whether a search is under way for a new chairman and board member.
Board-level changes will complement a changing of the guard at ABB’s executive committee in the last 18 months with Ulrich Spiesshofer replacing Joe Hogan as chief executive and Eric Elzvik taking over as finance chief from Michel Demare. Changes extend to supervisory board members, five of whom have served for 11 years or more.
The new chairman will work together with Spiesshofer to fix ABB’s struggling power systems unit, where project delays have dragged down group profit.
Switzerland‘s Bilanz magazine reported July 1 that ABB may look for a successor for von Gruenberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Winters in Zurich at pwinters3@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Thiel at sthiel1@bloomberg.net Andrew Noel, Robert Valpuesta
