Management will be busy with the company's restructuring for the next year and a half, Spiesshofer told Reuters on the sidelines of a press conference. Future acquisitions would depend on ABB having the management capacity to integrate the target company.
"You should not expect acquisitions in the tens of billions," Spiesshofer said, adding smaller technology purchases could still be possible in areas like measurement technology.
"At the moment the plan is very clear, we are going to return the money - we have a strong cash flow and a clear direction going forward."