ABB

By Pierre Bertrand

ABB Ltd said on Thursday that it has agreed to pay approximately $150 million as part of a settlement with South Africa's national director of publish prosecution, relating to corruption investigations connected to the company's work on the country's Kusile power plant.

The payment is included in the roughly $325 million non-operational provision the Swiss technology group accounted for in late September regarding the Kusile project, ABB said. The company at the time said it didn't think it would need to take any additional provisions.

South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement Thursday that ABB had agreed to pay punitive reparations to the country, as part of its criminal investigation into corruption at the country's state-owned energy utility Eskom.

"This settlement represents a bold and innovative step toward accountability and justice for alleged offenders, particularly in the form of restitution for the serious crimes committed at Eskom during the state capture period," the prosecuting authority said, adding that the comprehensive settlement agreement was negotiated with partner countries including the U.S., Switzerland, Italy and Germany.

The settlement doesn't give immunity to those who broke the law, including directors, staff and contractors of ABB, the South African prosecuting authority said, adding that it will continue to pursue criminal prosecutions, with the support of ABB.

Eleven people, including former ABB employees, and seven companies have either been charged or arrested, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

ABB in 2015 was awarded a contract worth more than $160 million for control and instrumentation systems for the coal-fired Kusile power plant, run by Eskom.

In 2020, ABB agreed to pay Eskom about $104 million in damages to settle a probe into its role in improper payments and compliance issues relating to the Kusile facility.

"ABB hopes to reach a final resolution on the outstanding related matters soon," ABB said.

ABB has 60 days to pay the damages, the prosecuting authority said.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2022 11:48 ET (16:48 GMT)

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