Appointment

ABB Ltd
01 November 2004



Michel Demare joins ABB Group as new CFO


Zurich, Switzerland, November 1 - ABB today announced that Michel Demare,
currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the European operations of Baxter
International, will join ABB as CFO and member of the Group Executive Committee
on February 1, 2005.

Demare, 48, a Belgian citizen, comes to ABB after an international finance
career with The Dow Chemical Company (1984-2002) and most recently with Baxter
International, a U.S. health care group.

'With Michel Demare, we strengthen our leadership team with a finance expert who
is both multicultural by outlook and experience, as well as a solid team player,
' said ABB chairman and CEO Jurgen Dormann.

 'With his experience, Michel Demare will play a key role as we progress
steadily towards the goals we have committed to for 2005, and in keeping ABB on
its path of sustainable profitable growth.'

Dormann said ABB's board of directors appointed Demare after a candidate
selection process involving both the board and CEO-designate Fred Kindle.
Kindle will take over from Dormann as the CEO of ABB on January 1, 2005, with
Dormann remaining as chairman of the board of directors.

Demare joined Dow Chemical as finance manager in Brussels in 1984. After a
succession of posts in France and at Dow's headquarters in the U.S., he moved to
its center for Europe, Middle East and Africa in Zurich in 1992. He became group
finance director of Dow's global polyolefins division in 1997. In 2002, Demare
joined Baxter International as a Vice President and CFO of Baxter Europe, also
based in Zurich.

Demare succeeds Peter Voser, who recently resigned from ABB to rejoin Shell as
the oil group's CFO.



ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable
utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering
environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100
countries and employs about 103,000 people.



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