Legrand is a French industrial group historically based in Limoges in the Limousin region.
In 2011, Legrand Arteor was the largest globally for switches and sockets, with 20% of the global market, and it was also globally largest in cable management (15% of the global market), generating 75% of its turnover internationally. It ranks second in India for sales of switches and sockets, and ranks first for miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) and distribution boards (DBs).
The Group is also expanding its product range with regards to sustainable development and energy saving technologies, and also has developed new products for photovoltaic installations and lighting control.
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History
The company's origins date back to 1865, when a Limoges porcelain (in France's Limousin region) workshop was set up on the route to Lyon originally making porcelain dishes.
In 1904, the company was taken over by Frédéric Legrand, who gave his name to the company.
In 1919, the company entered into partnership with Jean Mondot, an artisan from Limoges who had started, in Exideuil, a small factory making electric switches using porcelain and boxwood.
Manufacturing subsequently gradually diversified into electrical equipment. At that time, before the appearance of plastic, porcelain was the best available insulating material.
In 1949, following a factory fire, the decision was made to concentrate exclusively on electrical wiring devices (switches and sockets). The company very quickly extended its range to cover protection products (fuse-holders and circuit breakers, etc.), cable management products (trunking and mini-trunking), emergency lighting, etc.
Since then, Legrand has made 120 targeted acquisitions, thus becoming a large, diversified maker of electrical wiring devices with more than 150,000 product items. As of 2006, it has bases in 70 countries and sales in 180 countries.
Some notable dates:
1966: First subsidiary outside France established in Belgium.
1977: Development continues outside Europe with the takeover of Pial in Brazil.
1984: First subsidiary in the United States with Pass & Seymour.
1989: Acquisition of Bticino, the Italian largest electrical equipment manufacturer.
1996: Legrand strengthens its presence in emerging countries with the acquisitions of Fael in Poland, Luminex in Colombia and MDS in India, and WattStopper in the United States.
1998: Acquisition of Ortronics, an American leader in structured cabling and VDI.
2000: Acquisition of Wiremold in the United States (doubling the Group's size there), as well as Horton Controls, an American lighting controls company, merged into WattStopper brand, and Quintela and Tegui in Spain.
2005: Acquisition of ICM GROUP (KZ and Cablofil brands), world leader in wire mesh cable trays.
2006: Acquisition of the electrical wiring devices division of TCL China (No. 1 in China) and Shidean, Chinese leader in audio and video door entry systems. Acquisition of Vantage Controls, American lighting control specialist.
2007: Acquisition of HPM, No. 2 in electrical wiring devices in Australia, and Kontaktor, the leading Russian manufacturer of power circuit breakers. In the same year, Legrand took over MACSE, the Mexican leader in cable trays, UStec, American specialist in residential networks, TCL Wuxi, Chinese specialist in modular circuit breakers and Alpes Technologies (Annecy, France), specialist in energy compensation and measurement.
2008: Acquisition of PW Industries, an American cable tray specialist; HDL, the No. 1 in Brazil in residential access control (entry phones); Estap, the Turkish leader in VDI (Voice Data Image) enclosures, and Electrak, UK specialist in ground-laid cable trays.
2009: Legrand is severely affected by the economic crisis. The Group sees a 15.6% fall in its turnover (to EUR3.6 billion). The Group still manages to maintain its operating margin at 17.6%, as against 17.7% in 2008. A return to growth is forecast for the second half of 2010
2010:
- The company returns to growth. Sales are up by 8.7%, operating income leaps by 35.5% and net income by 44.3% to EUR418.3 million. The Group's operating margin reaches previously unseen levels: 20.2%.
- Creation of the EV PLUG alliance between Legrand, Schneider Electric and Scame (Italy) to create a common, dominant standard in Europe for electric vehicle charging systems.
- Resumption of the acquisitions strategy with the takeover of Inform in Turkey (leader in UPS) and of Indo Asian Switchgear in India (specialist in modular circuit breakers). December 2010: takeover of the Italian company Meta System Energy, specialist in UPS.
2011:
- Takeover of the US company Electrorack, specialist in VDI (Voice, Data, Image) enclosures, and Intervox Systèmes, French leader in assisted living for dependent persons.
- In April, Legrand strengthens its position in emerging markets and the energy security market with the acquisition of SMS, Brazil's No. 1 in UPS.
- In May, the takeover of the American company Middle Atlantic Products (MAP - 520 employees and sales of $107 million), a company specialising in digital infrastructures (enclosures for audio and video applications), enables Legrand to strengthen its offering in this niche to customers in the hotel and conference centre market. In the last 12 months, Legrand has made seven acquisitions totalling additional sales of EUR300 million.
November 2011: Moving to Prestons, New South Wales, With HPM
2012 : Takeover of Numeric UPS of India in 2012.
2014 : In March, Legrand signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lastar, Inc. a Moraine, Ohio cabling and connectivity products supplier who, in 2013, reported more than $140 million in revenue and has nearly 1,000 total employees across nine locations throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Brands falling under the Lastar umbrella are the Quiktron and Cables to Go which became C2G in 2012.
2015 : In June 2015, Legrand North America announced an agreement to acquire Raritan, completed in September.
2017 : In June, Legrand started procedures to purchase Milestone AV, the manufacturer of AV racks and mounts in the US and overseas. Milestone manufactures products under the brand names Chief, Sanus, Echogear, Da-Lite, Projecta, and Vaddio.
Abb Electrical Switches And Sockets Video
Stock market
- 1970: listed on the Paris stock exchange for the first time.
- 2001: friendly share exchange/acquisition offer made by Schneider Electric for Legrand. This was vetoed by the European Commission due to the risk of distortion of competition. As the exchange of shares had already taken place, Schneider was obliged to resell all Legrand stock.
- 2003: purchase of the entire share capital by the investment funds Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Wendel Investissement. Legrand is withdrawn from the quoted market.
- 2006: return to the stock market with 20% of the capital or 57.7 million new shares for an additional capital of EUR1 billion. KKR and Wendel Investissement remain majority shareholders, each holding 30% of shares, while 16% are held by minority shareholders and 5% by management and employees.
At the end of 2006, the minority shareholders (banks and institutions) sell their holding via an accelerated private institutional placement, thereby taking traded shares to 35% of the capital and increasing the share's liquidity.
- 2007: Legrand welcomes Thierry de La Tour d'Artaise, CEO of Groupe SEB, and Gérard Lamarche, CFO of Groupe Suez, to its board of directors.
- 2008: End of the shareholder pact between KKR and Wendel Investissement. Rumours of a possible takeover of Legrand by a competitor (Siemens, ABB or General Electric) abound. In April 2008, KKR and Wendel Investissement decide to renew their shareholder pact until 2012.
Management
- François Grappotte (born in 1936 in Reims): CEO from 1983 to 2006, honorary chairman of the board of directors since 2006.
- Gilles Schnepp (born in 1958 in Lyon): CEO since 2006, joined the company in 1989, with a degree in business studies, ex vice-president of the American merchant bank Merrill Lynch France.
Main competitors
- ABB
- FEMI-CZ
- Hager
- KELVOLT
- Schneider Electric
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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