Head of ABB Power Systems Leaving

Brice Koch, head of the Power Systems division at ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has decided to leave ABB to become chief executive officer at Oerlikon, based in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland.

Koch joined ABB in 1994 and held a number of roles in Switzerland before taking over as global head of the Transformers business unit in 2002. In 2007, he became head of ABB in China and North Asia, and joined the Executive Committee in 2010 as head of Marketing and Customer Solutions. He has been responsible for the Power Systems division since March 2012.

“Brice has been a very supportive colleague and friend of ABB in recent years. He has done so much to drive collaboration and performance at ABB, and we will miss his valuable contribution,” said CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. Thanks to his efforts, the repositioning of the Power Systems division continues, and I’m pleased that Brice will continue to drive this as we conduct the succession process,” he added.

The company says an orderly succession process has been initiated, which Koch will support before leaving the Group. ABB aims to have a permanent successor in place by the end of the first quarter of 2014.