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Legrand (company)

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Legrand S.A.
Company typeSociété Anonyme
Euronext: LR
CAC 40 Component
SBF 120[1]
CAC 40 ESG[2]
ISINFR0010307819 Edit this on Wikidata
IndustryElectrical equipment
Founded1865
FounderFrédéric Legrand
HeadquartersLimoges, France
Key people
Benoît Coquart (Chairman and CEO)
Revenue€6.994 billion (2021)
1,591,600,000 Euro (2023) Edit this on Wikidata
€835 million
Total assets14,026,800,000 Euro (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
39,000 (2019)

Legrand is a French industrial group historically based in Limoges in the Limousin region. It is one of the world leaders in electrical and digital building infrastructures and connected solutions.[3][4]

Legrand is established in 90 countries[5] and its products are distributed in nearly 180.[6] It generates 85% of its sales internationally.[7] The group has expanded its product range in sustainable development and energy saving technologies, and has developed new products for EV charging/electric vehicles,[8][9] lighting control and datacenters.[10][11]

Legrand has more than 300 000 references.[12]

History

Origins

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.[13] 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 an artisan from Limoges, Jean Mondot, who had started a small factory in Exideuil making electric switches using porcelain and boxwood.[14]

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 exclusively concentrate 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 more than 100[15] targeted acquisitions becoming a large and 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:[16][unreliable source?]

Internationalization in the second half of the 20th century

1966: First subsidiary outside France established in Belgium.

1977: Development outside Europe with the takeover of Pial in Brazil.

1980: Bought from GEC in Liverpool, UK. Plugs and sockets company formally Fluvent, transferred works to Milton Keynes, UK

1984: First subsidiary in the United States with Pass & Seymour.

1989: Acquisition of Bticino, Italy's largest electrical equipment manufacturer.

1996: Acquired Fael in Poland, Luminex in Colombia, MDS in India, and WattStopper in the United States.

1998: Acquisition of Ortronics, a US leader in structured cabling and Voice Data Image (VDI).

2000: Acquisition of Wiremold in the United States (doubling the Group's size there), and Horton Controls, a US lighting controls company, merged into its 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, US 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. Took over MACSE, the Mexican leader in cable trays, UStec, US 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, a US cable tray specialist; HDL, the No. 1 in Brazil producer of residential access control (entry phones); Estap, the Turkish leader in VDI enclosures, and Electrak, UK specialist in ground-laid cable trays.

2009: Legrand was severely affected by the economic crisis. The group saw a 15.6% fall in its turnover (to €3.6 billion). It still managed to maintain its operating margin at 17.6%, as against 17.7% in 2008. A return to growth was forecast for the second half of 2010.

2010:

  • The company returned to growth. Sales are up by 8.7%, operating income leaps by 35.5% and net income by 44.3% to €418.3 million. The group's operating margin reached previously unseen levels: 20.2%.[17]
  • 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 IndoAsian 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 enclosures, and Intervox Systèmes, French leader in assisted living for dependent persons.
  • In April, Legrand strengthened 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), enabled Legrand to strengthen its offering in this niche to customers in the hotel and conference centre market. In the last 12 months, Legrand made seven acquisitions totalling additional sales of €300 million. In November 2011: entered Prestons, New South Wales, with HPM

2012: Takeover of Numeric UPS of India in 2012.

2014: In March, Legrand signed an agreement to acquire Lastar, Inc. a Moraine, Ohio cabling and connectivity products supplier which, in 2013, reported more than $140 million in revenue and had nearly 1,000 total employees in nine locations in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Brands falling under the Lastar umbrella are the Quiktron and Cables to Go which became C2G in 2012.[18]

2015: Legrand North America acquired Raritan Inc., 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. In November, Legrand North America acquired Server Technology.

2019: Acquisition of Connectrac, floor-based cable management.[19]

2020: Acquisition of Focal Point LLC, a private architectural lighting manufacturer based in Chicago.[20]

2021: Acquisition of Ensto Building systems division of Ensto, a private electrification, lighting and EV charging manufacturer based in Finland. [21]

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 €1 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 appoints 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 [fr] (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 between 2006 and 2018, joined the company in 1989, with a degree in business studies, ex vice-president of the American merchant bank Merrill Lynch France. He joined Groupe PSA as Vice-Chairman in 2019.
  • Benoît Coquart (born 1973), general director since February 2018, joined the company in 1997, member of the board of directors since 2010.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Cotation de SBF 120. Actions et informations - Tribune.fr".
  2. ^ https://www.boursier.com/actions/societe/profil/legrand-FR0010307819,FR.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Legrand: more digital and more connected for top exit". Investir les Echos. 16 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Legrand company: world leader in electrical equipment". France Info.
  5. ^ "LEGRAND (LR)". Zone Bourse.
  6. ^ Nouvelle, L'Usine (9 July 2010). "Legrand strengthens in Turkey". L'usine Nouvelle.
  7. ^ "Benoît Coquart: "Working for a group that will have a positive impact on the world"". Investir les Echos. 27 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Growth, Creative Benchmarking, and the Cost of Sustainability". BBJ.
  9. ^ "New Green'up Legrand socket for electric vehicle". Bat Info. 13 October 2014.
  10. ^ "CES 2018: Legrand presents its connected strategy". Batirama.
  11. ^ "Legrand: Deutsche Bank remains Buy but lowers its price target". Boursorama. 3 October 2022.
  12. ^ ""The electric vehicle is a natural territory of expression for Legrand"". Les Echos. 26 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Legrand: une croissance «tout terrain» et davantage d'optimisme pour 2022". Le Figaro (published 2022-07-29). 29 July 2022.
  14. ^ "L'entreprise limousine Legrand connaît un succès international". France Bleu.
  15. ^ "LEGRAND". Neo Business.
  16. ^ "Our history - Legrand". www.legrandgroup.com. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  17. ^ "Forte hausse des résultats 2010 de Legrand, optimisme pour 2011". Reuters. 10 February 2011. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011.
  18. ^ Cogliano, Joe (February 5, 2014). "French company to buy Moraine firm". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  19. ^ "Connectrac Joins Legrand, North and Central America". 22 October 2019.
  20. ^ Legrand acquires Focal Point
  21. ^ Legrand acquires Ensto Building Systems
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