* ABB shares rise more than 4%
* New CEO comes with reputation for decentralising
* Rosengren will start new position in March(Adds chairman comments, share prices)
By John Revill
ZURICH, Aug 12 (Reuters) - ABB shares jumped morethan 4% on Monday as investors welcomed news the Swissengineering group had poached Bjorn Rosengren from Swedishmining equipment firm Sandvik to be its next chiefexecutive.
The 60-year-old Swede will join the Zurich-based maker ofindustrial drives and robots in February and take over as CEO inMarch, the company said on Sunday.
ABB, whose previous CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer left suddenly inApril, is in the middle of overhauling its business followingyears of lacklustre profit and bungled acquisitions.
Chairman Peter Voser, who has taken on CEO functions on aninterim basis, said on Monday he was confident he had got theright man.
"He has a great track record of empowering businesses in adecentralised way, that is what he has done at Sandvik and athis earlier businesses as well," Voser said.
"He is focused on driving performance," added the former CEOof oil major Royal Dutch Shell who will revert back tohis chairman role when Rosengren takes charge.
During his four years at Sandvik, Rosengren revamped themetal-cutting tools and mining gear maker and sold offunderperforming businesses.
TRACK RECORD
Voser said Rosengren would follow ABB's strategy of reducingits corporate centre and giving more power to its four businessunits - industrial automation, electrification, motion androbotics and discrete automation.
"Over the last few months ... the company has outlined astrategy and we are following through on that," Voser said.
"But a strategy will not be cast in stone for five years."
ABB, whose shares have lost 14% over the last five years, isselling its power grids business to Hitachi and last monthannounced a deal to quit the solar energy inverters business.
Voser has launched a review of businesses which generate $3billion of revenue, or 11% of ABB's total, which could beimproved or sold.
"With the appointment of Rosengren, ABB will have a CEO witha proven track record and a strong reputation in the capitalmarkets for delivering operational improvement," said Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynch analyst Alexander Virgo.
"In our view, his success at Sandvik in implementing adecentralised business model should make him a good match forABB."
ABB's largest shareholder Investor AB alsowelcomed the appointment of Rosengren, who before Sandvik wasCEO of Wartsila, which makes and services powersources for the marine and energy markets.
"From his previous leading roles in several companies, hehas a proven track record in driving a decentralised culture,improving performance and delivering value," said JohanForssell, CEO of Investor, which holds 11.2% of ABB.
Sandvik's shares have increased by 78% with Rosengren incharge, as margins improved, while Wartsila's share priceincreased 83% on his watch.
Activist investor Cevian Capital, ABB's second-biggestshareholder with a 5.3% stake, said ABB shares could almostdouble in value if Rosengren could lift margins and valuationsto match rivals.
"If these gaps are closed, ABB should be worth more than 35CHF (Swiss francs). That is Bjorn's main task," said Cevianmanaging partner Christer Gardell.
At 0940 GMT, ABB shares were up 4.3% at 18.29 francs(Reporting by John Revill; Additional reporting by SimonJohnson in Stockholm; Editing by David Holmes and Mark Potter)
