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 public prosecution, relating to corruption investigations into the company's work on the country's Kusile power plant.

The payment is included in the roughly $325 million nonoperational provision the Swiss technology group accounted for in late September regarding the Kusile project, ABB said.

South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement Thursday that ABB had agreed to pay punitive reparations to the country.

"This settlement represents a bold and innovative step towards 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 it was negotiated with partner countries including the U.S., Switzerland, Italy, and Germany.

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 South Africa's state-owned energy untility 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 over the facility.

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


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-01-22 0948ET