ABB Chief Hogan to stand down for private reasons

ABB Chief Executive Joe Hogan is leaving the company for what it said were private reasons. His departure date has not yet been decided.

Hogan joined the Swiss industrial group as CEO in September 2008, and has invested some $20 billion to strengthen the company since then, including the major acquisitions of U.S. groups Baldor and Thomas & Betts and, in April this year, solar energy company Power One .

Late last month the company said it would step up cost-cutting measures to boost profit in what it expects to be a tough second half of the year after first-quarter profit fell short of expectations.

ABB said Hogan would lead the company until a successor was named to ensure a smooth transition, and that the board would look both within the company and externally for a replacement.

"This has been a difficult decision as I leave behind a strong and talented Executive Committee and a cohesive Board whose support I could always count on," Hogan said in a statement.

(Reporting by Martin de Sa'Pinto; Editing by David Cowell)