ABB Acquires Energy-Related Financial Services Company in the U.S.

ZURICH, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 1999--ABB, the international engineering and technology company, has agreed to acquire the business of Energy Capital Partners, a U.S.-based finance company serving the North American energy services market.

The business will be continued through a new company, ABB Energy Capital LLC, which will be located in Boston, Massachusetts. The new company will be part of ABB's Financial Services segment. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Energy Capital Partners provides financing for energy service companies, with a focus on improving energy efficiency for industrial, utility and public sector customers. The company specializes in small- and medium-sized projects, up to US$15 million in size. At the end of 1998, Energy Capital Partners had an active financing portfolio of about US$ 100 million. The company offers a comprehensive range of financial products and services to its customers - with its hallmark product - performance-based project financing, in which payment is linked to the achievement of pre-set efficiency improvement targets.

The acquisition is expected to provide ABB with new opportunities to deliver its high-efficiency technology to the U.S. energy market, enhance its ability to provide financial services to the U.S. domestic energy industry, and increase ABB's project financing business capabilities.

"This transaction confirms ABB's strategy to grow further in knowledge-based activities", said ABB President and CEO G"ran Lindahl.

The ABB Group <http://www.abb.com> serves customers worldwide in power generation, transmission and distribution; automation; oil, gas, and petrochemicals; industrial products and contracting; and financial services. The Group reported orders in 1997 of US$ 35 billion and employs about 210,000 people in more than 100 countries.