The Swiss-Swedish group ABB (turnover of USD 22.7 billion in 2000 with 160,000 employees) launched a friendly take-over bid on the French electrical material company ENTRELEC (turnover of the EUR 186 million for the 1999-2000 financial year and a workforce of 2,000 people) at EUR 63 per share, valuing at EUR 310 million. The offer concerns all of the capital in ENTRELEC or 4.9 million shares.