Setback in asbestos dispute

The Swedish-Swiss plant engineering company ABB has suffered in the dispute over the compensation of asbestos victims in the United States a major setback. The share accounted for a break double digits. Dormann, ABB's chief still believes in a comparison of "no additional cost."

Zurich - to years of litigation in American asbestos victim compensation in the electrical and engineering group ABB has suffered a surprising setback. A U.S. appeals court rejected a multi-billion dollar settlement proposal, as the Swiss-Swedish company said on Friday in Zurich. ABB's shares tumbled on Friday in the peak by about 13 percent, but was able to reduce their losses in the afternoon to around 3.60 percent.

"Surprised and disappointed": ABB CEO Jurgen Dormann
The case was remanded to a lower court. Previously, two other dishes as well as the overwhelming majority of the approximately 100 000 claimants had approved the proposed settlement. ABB had to settle claims for damages against its U.S. subsidiary Combustion Engineering (CE) 1.2 billion (€ 900 million) made available.
ABB's CEO Jurgen Dormann responded to the Court of Appeals decision "surprised and disappointed". He pointed out that the comparison was rejected only in certain parts and expressed confidence found in "a relatively short time and without significant additional costs" to a solution. The court criticized among other things, that other American ABB subsidiaries, namely, Lummus and Basic, should be protected from asbestos litigation. Dormann estimated the risk of further claims, however, is low.

The CE 1990 bought U.S. subsidiary had built up in the 1970s, the cancer-causing asbestos as insulation material in heating boilers. ABB had put the company in 2003 under Chapter 11 of U.S. bankruptcy law under bankruptcy protection. The compensation of the victims to be paid out of the CE in assets of 812 million dollars. There are also $ 350 million in cash.