ABB asbestos plan goes unopposed; paves way for payments
Zurich, Switzerland—No appeals have been filed opposing ABB's revised reorganization plan for its U.S. subsidiary, Combustion Engineering (CE), and that is being taken to mean the plan is now final.
Zurich, Switzerland —No appeals have been filed opposing ABB ‘s revised reorganization plan for its U.S. subsidiary, Combustion Engineering (CE), and that is being taken to mean the plan is now final. In an announcement made last week, Fred Kindle, ABB president and CEO, said the company is pleased to “have a resolution of this important issue, which removes significant uncertainty that has harmed ABB over the years. The finalized plan brings benefits to both ABB and asbestos claimants.”
The finalization of the Combustion Engineering Plan of Reorganization clears the way for asbestos claimants to receive payments from the trust that will be set up according to the plan. The plan’s channeling injunction will protect ABB and its subsidiaries from current and future asbestos claims against CE. The Court’s final order ends a process that began Feb. 17, 2003, when CE filed for pre-packaged Chapter 11 protection in U.S. bankruptcy courts.
The action has its roots in claims made against CE that exposure to asbestos from boilers made by the company until the 1960s impaired health. From the time ABB acquired CE in 1990 until CE filed for Chapter 11 in 2003, approximately 438,000 claims were settled and approximately $1.1 billion paid to claimants. A case against another U.S. subsidiary, ABB Lummus Global Inc., is also in the process of being resolved. Some 96% of the claimants to the Lummus Plan of Reorganization have voted in favor of that plan.
—Control Engineering Daily News DeskJeanine Katzel, senior editor, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com
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