ABB nears sale of power grids units to Hitachi in $11 billion deal

Hitachi shares have declined 26 percent this year, valuing the company at about $28 billion

ABB Ltd. is nearing an agreement to sell about 80 percent of its power-grids unit to Hitachi Ltd. in a deal that would value the entire business at about $11 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Swiss engineering giant and the Japanese conglomerate are scheduled to announce the transaction as early as Monday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. A representative for ABB declined to comment while Hitachi couldn’t immediately be reached for comment outside of regular business hours.

A sale of the business -- which makes power transformers, long distance electricity-transmission