Chief executive officer of the Swiss-Swedish industrial electronics company ABB, Ulrich Spiesshofer (pictured), has agreed with the board of directors to step down from the position, with immediate effect, the company announced on Wednesday. He will be temporarily replaced by Chairman of the Board Peter Voser, while the company searches for a new, permanent CEO.

Spiesshofer joined ABB 14 years ago and became CEO in 2013.

"To achieve our key financial targets, we will proceed with the divestment of ABB’s Power Grids business as planned, simplify the organizational structure of the group and deliver cost savings. Finally, our four new leading businesses will be fully dedicated to meet our customer needs for digitalization, electrification, automation and robotics," said interim CEO Voser in a statement.