re. Asbestos agreement

ABB Ltd
21 March 2005


ABB reaches agreement on term sheet for amended plan to settle asbestos issue

Confirmation of amended plan required by bankruptcy court

Zurich, Switzerland, March 21, 2005 -- ABB announced today that it has reached
agreement on a term sheet that will form the basis for an amended plan of
reorganization for Combustion Engineering (CE) and ABB Lummus Global to resolve
the asbestos claims of both companies.

The term sheet is the result of recent intensive discussions between the company
and the representatives of asbestos claimants and has been agreed to by Steven
Kazan, the representative of certain cancer claimants, John Cooney and the
official creditors committee of CE and other leading representatives of asbestos
claimants, as well as David Austern, the futures' representative of the CE
asbestos trust.

'I am pleased that the cooperative efforts of the parties involved have resulted
in a commonly agreed proposal for an amended plan in this short period of time,'
said Fred Kindle, ABB President and CEO. 'This agreement is a vital step towards
a final resolution of our asbestos issue.'

All parties to the term sheet believe the amended plan of reorganization will
fully address the issues raised in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals decision of
last December as well as the objections raised by certain asbestos claimants to
the original plan.

The term sheet requires ABB to contribute an additional fixed amount of $232
million to the trust fund. This contribution will be derived from the sale of
ABB Lummus Global assets within two years of the plan's effective date or by a
direct contribution from ABB.

The parties intend to cooperate to produce an amended plan of reorganization
expeditiously, with a view to prompt confirmation by the bankruptcy court.

Given the subsequent nature of this event, ABB will revise its already published
financial results for 2004 to incorporate the full impact of this amended plan.

ABB will host a telephone conference today for financial analysts, investors and
the media starting at 10:00 Central European Time (CET). Callers from the U.K.
should dial [phone], from the rest of Europe, dial [phone],
and from the U.S. [phone]. Lines will be open 15 minutes before the
start of the conference. The audio playback of the conference call will start
one hour after the end of the call and be available for 96 hours. Playback
numbers: [phone] (U.K.), [phone] (rest of Europe) or +1 (1) 866
416 2558 (U.S.). The code is 367, followed by the # key.


For more information please contact:


Media Relations:                             Investor Relations:
ABB Corporate Communications, Zurich         Switzerland: Tel. [phone]
Thomas Schmidt, Wolfram Eberhardt            Sweden: Tel. [phone]
Tel:  [phone]                        USA: Tel. [phone]
Fax: [phone]                         [e-mail]
[e-mail]
     


For your business and technology editors:


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 102,000 people.



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