ABB, Combustion Engineering, Plaintiffs Reach Asbestos Agreement

ZURICH - Swiss company ABB and asbestos defendant Combustion Engineering have announced that they have gotten approval from plaintiffs representatives for a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan they expect to file later this year.

The agreement, announced Jan. 17, would put Combustion Engineering into Chapter 11 reorganization and create a trust that will handle all pending and future asbestos claims once the bankruptcy court has approved the reorganization plan.

According to a statement released by ABB, the deal was reached with plaintiffs counsel representing current asbestos claimants and proposed futures representative David Austern, who is also general counsel for the Johns-Manville personal …