ABB acquires the subsea control business of GEC Marconi

Zurich, Switzerland, February 12, 1996 - ABB, the international electrical engineering company, has acquired the subsea control business of GEC Marconi Limited, one of the world leaders in these specialized control systems. The acquisition will be established as a new company to be called ABB Seatec, based in Bristol, U.K. and will be a subsidiary of ABB in Norway where ABB's worldwide oil, gas and petrochemical business activities are headquartered. GEC Marconi Limited employs approximately 200 people in subsea control activities and is a member of the General Electric Company, the U.K. engineering group. In the last fiscal year, they received orders in this field of approximately US$ 50 million.

ABB Seatec has particular strengths in the design and supply of remote control and monitoring systems for subsea wells, especially those located in deep water and at long distances from production facilities, whose installation and maintenance must be accomplished without divers. ABB is already a world leader in subsea oil and gas development with a global market share of over 30 percent. The market for subsea oil and gas production systems is growing rapidly as technological advances over recent years have made the development of satellite and marginal fields economically feasible. This acquisition establishes ABB as the worlds most complete supplier for such projects, able to deliver total system solutions with closer cooperation between customer and contractor.

ABB's oil, gas and petrochemical business activities employ approximately 8,000 people and focus on the development and up-grading of oil and gas installations, refineries, and petrochemical and chemical installations worldwide. The business is part of ABB's Industrial and Building Systems segment, which employs over 89,000 people worldwide with orders in 1994 of over US$ 13 billion.

The ABB Group employs approximately 212,000 people with orders in 1994 of nearly US$ 32 billion.


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