Credit facility signed

ABB Ltd
18 December 2002





ABB signs US$ 1.5 billion credit facility



Agreement with banks covers liquidity needs for next two years

Zurich, Switzerland, December 18, 2002 - ABB, the leading power and automation
technology group, said today it has signed a US$ 1.5 billion credit facility
agreement with a group of 20 banks, covering the company's liquidity needs for
2003 and 2004.



The facility is secured by a package of ABB assets, including the Oil, Gas and
Petrochemicals division, which is earmarked for divestment in 2003.



'The agreement provides sufficient liquidity for 2003 and 2004, and allows us to
implement our program to lower our cost base, focus on our core businesses, and
achieve the best value from our divestments,' said Peter Voser, chief financial
officer.



The agreement is a one-year revolving credit facility for US$ 1.5 billion with a
further one-year term-out feature. The term-out gives ABB the option to retain
up to US$ 750 million in borrowings under the facility, repayable in 2004.



The arranging banks and bookrunners are Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit
Suisse First Boston and HypoVereinsbank.



The new credit facility replaces an existing facility, which expired on December
17, 2002.



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 more than 100
countries and employs about 146,000 people.



The company will host a conference call for analysts and investors at 10:00
Central European Time. Teleconference callers should dial [phone] in
Europe and [phone] in the U.S. and Canada. The facility is also
available to the media on a 'listen only' basis.

The audio playback of the conference call will be available for 72 hours after
the call commencing 2 hours after the conference call on [phone]
(Europe) and [phone] in the U.S. and Canada. The PIN number is 337#.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange