Top owner Investor AB bought ABB shares for one billion SEK in fourth-quarter

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Investor AB, the largest owner in automation and robotics firm ABB <ABBN.S> <ABB.ST>, increased its stake in the company further in the fourth quarter buying shares for 1 billion crowns ($104.95 million), it said on Wednesday.

"ABB has strong market positions in attractive industry segments, and we see potential for operational improvements under the leadership of the new CEO Bjorn Rosengren," Investor Chief Executive Johan Forssell said in the company's year-end report.

Rosengren, currently CEO at engineering group Sandvik <SAND.ST>, will join ABB on February 1.

Investor has an 11.8% stake in ABB, holding 255 million shares worth around 57 billion crowns ($6 billion) by the end of 2019. Investor said it bought ABB shares for 4.3 billion crowns during 2019.

(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom;Editing by Simon Johnson)