Cevian Asks Consultant to Study Potential ABB Break-up
ABB's second-biggest shareholder, activist investor Cevian, has hired Boston Consulting Group to study a potential break-up of the Swiss engineering group, turning up the pressure for a revamp, Germany's Manager Magazin reported.
Sweden's Cevian, ABB and Boston Consulting declined to comment.
Talk of breaking up ABB has swirled for months as Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer has come under pressure from ABB's two biggest shareholders, Sweden's Investor AB with 10 percent of shares and Cevian with at least 5 percent.
ABB officials have opposed a major break-up of the group's energy and automation businesses but have left open the door for some divestments, the magazine reported.
ABB shares were up 1.9 percent in afternoon trade, boosting their gains this year to 2.7 percent.
Reporting by Oliver Hirt and Michael Shields
