ABB, Investor and partners launch new venture group

The Zurich-based international technology group Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) and Sweden's largest holding company, Investor, have announced a major effort to promote business over the Internet.

The Zurich-based international technology group Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) and Sweden’s largest holding company, Investor, have announced a major effort to promote business over the Internet.

They have launched “b-business partners”, a new company with a capital base of more than €1 billion focused on business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce.

A statement said that “b-business partners” would invest in and develop business-to-business e-commerce companies across Europe and aimed to forge closer links between “new economy” and traditional enterprises.

ABB and Investor will each contribute €300 million to the venture’s initial capital. Other partners include SEB, a European leader in Internet banking, as well as AstraZeneca, Atlas Copco, Electrolux, Saab, Sandvik, StoraEnso and WM-data.

“The launch of “b-business partners” underlines our determination to explore the great opportunities offered by combining the entrepreneurial spirit and new skills of the B2B e-commerce world with the business skills of the industrial sphere,” said Göran Lindahl, ABB president and chief executive officer.

The statement said that the member companies in “b-business partners” would gain both from their financial return on investment, as well as from collaboration on new Internet business applications.

“They aim to build broader business relationships, as customers or suppliers, to the e-B2B companies selected for venture capital support,” it added.

swissinfo with agencies