Faiveley Transport

Faiveley Transport S.A.
Société anonyme
Traded as Euronext: LEY
Industry Railway industry supplier
Founded 1919 (1919)
Founder Louis Faiveley
Headquarters Gennevilliers, France[1]
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Stéphane Rambaud-Measson
(Chairman and CEO)
Revenue €900.52 million (2011)[2][note 1]
€93.27 million (2011)[2][note 2]
Profit €51.17 million (2011)[2][note 3]
Total assets €1.47 billion (2011)[2][note 4]
Total equity €505.1 million (2011)[2][note 5]
Website FaiveleyTransport.com

Faiveley Transport (French pronunciation: [fɛvəlɛ tʁɑ̃spɔʁ]), formerly Faiveley, is an international manufacturer and supplier of equipment for the railway industry founded in 1919.[1][3] It introduced the single-arm pantograph in 1955.[4][5] The company has subsidiaries in more than 24 countries.[1][3]

History

First years

In 1919, Louis Faiveley founded in Saint Ouen, France, the Établissments Louis Faiveley,[5] a small assembly shop centered on electromechanical parts. It soon grew and became one of the French railway system's leading suppliers. It introduced in 1923 its first pantograph. In 1930, it also ventured in the manufacture of door systems for trains. By the 30s, it was already one of France's leading companies in all its fields of activity. In 1935, the company became a Societé Anonyme, although the shares' majority stayed in hands of the Faiveley family.[4]

After the Second World War, the company quickly recovered. In 1946, it introduced electric heating systems. In 1955, it helped set a new high-speed train record, as a Faiveley-equipped train exceeded 331 kilometres per hour. That year, Faiveley also introduced the first single-arm pantograph. This innovation helped the company to ensure its position as world leader in railway pantograph systems.[4][5]

Internationalisation

In 1961, the company created a research and development division with the aim of adapting electronic applications to the railroad industry, included automatic door systems. It also begun to equipe the new rubber-wheeled Paris Metro cars. In 1965, the company started to produce automatic doors for buildings, creating in 1968 a subsidiary specifically for this area: Faiveley Automatismes.[4]

The company continued its expansion. In 1966, it opened a subsidiary in Spain. In 1976, one in Brazil (Equipfer). In 1979, was created the Italian branch. Attempts to enter into the American and Canadian markets, however, were not as successful. Only in the late 90s it could settle in those countries.[4][5]

France remained as Faiveley's core market. During the 70s, the company introduced new corail coaches for the SNCF and provided equipment for a new generation of subway trains, the MF77. In 1972, Faiveley presented its first very-high-speed pantograph. Soon after, it introduced its first electric automated road system.[4]

In 1984, Faiveley purchased Saint-Gobain subsidiary Air-Industrie's transport division, giving it operations in passenger train air conditioning systems. That year, it acquired from the Matra's subsidiary Interlec its tachometry activities. Together with the company's other transportation-related activities, these subsidiary operations were gathered into a newly created subsidiary: Faiveley Transport.[4]

The company was one of the suppliers of the new SNCF's TGV trains. In 1990, its pantographs were key to achieve a new 513.3 kilometres per hour record by TGV Atlantique.[4]

In 1991, the company moved its headquarters to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps.[4][5]

Diversification

Faiveley supplied the pantographs of the 1981, 1990 and 2007 TGV's record trains.

With competition becoming more intense in its field of activity, Faiveley decided it was time to expand their operations.

In 1992, the company acquired plastics product maker Grand-Perret. In 1993, Faiveley moved to concentrate its activities around its historic core of railroad and transportation equipment and its brand new plastics division, selling its Faiveley Automatismes subsidiary. It also made an aggressive move to increase its business in the Japanese market, one of the most important at the time, forming a joint venture with Nabco called Nabco-Faiveley Ltd which became one of leading providers of Japan's railroad. Later, Faiveley partnered also with Mitsui.[6] That year Faivaley created a British subsidiary, to take a part of the business in the recently privatised rail system.

In 1994, Faiveley was listed on the Paris Bourse. In 1995, it acquired VPI-Verchère Plastiques Industriels, a thermo-injected plastic company. The following year, Faiveley added the operations of Rhône Moulage and Sepal Ltd, two companies also centered in plastics. By the end of the decade, that material had risen to nearly 20 percent of Faiveley's total sales.

In 1995. Faiveley purchased the German railroad air conditioning company Hagenuk Fahrzeugklima from its parent company Siemens. The purchase was a key step into the German market as well as the Asian through is Chinese subsidiary Shanghai Hagenuk Refrigerating Machine, but also brought losses to the company during the following years. This led to a reorganisation that included staff reductions in Germany and France and changes in the Board of Directors.[4]

In December 2002, Faiveley purchased a 75 percent stake in the Czech pantograph and electro-mechanical equipment supplier Lekov.[7] In 2004, it acquired the train brakes manufacturer Sab Wabco and the air conditioning manufacturer Neu Systèmes. In eary 2007, it purchased the electronic systems and rolling stock manufacturer ESPAS group.[5] Faiveley CX pantographs were fitted in the V150 TGV's record-breaking attempt of 2007, which set a new world railway speed record of 574.8 kilometres per hour.[8]

In April 2008, the company acquired from Carbone Lorraine its sintered brake material manufacturing and design department.[9] In July of that year, it purchased the American freight wagon components' manufacturer Ellcon-National.[10]

In September 2009 Faiveley SA and its subsidiary Faiveley Transport merged into a sole company, called Faiveley Transport SA.[1][11]

In March 2011, the company purchased an 80 percent stake in the rolling stock heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment manufacturer Urs Dolder AG and the remaining stake of Lekov.[7][12]

On 3 February 2012, Faiveley Transport completed the purchase of Graham-White, an American designer and manufacturer of compressed air drying and brake systems for rail transport.[13]

In February 2013, the company won a trial against Wabtec for the acts of unfair competition and secrets violation.[14]

Current activities

The pantographs of the SNCB Class 13 were manufactured by Faiveley.

Faiveley Transport offers a wide range of products related to the train equipment, such as cabin heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); HVAC system room, air distribution ducts, exhaust, urs dolder heaters; pantographs and high voltage switches, energy meters, auxiliary power converters, master controllers and driver awareness system. The company also provides access and information systems, such as platform screen doors and automatic platform gates, portal platform, door systems, passenger information systems and CCTV vigilance. In addition, it provides checks and security products, including couplers, odometry/tachometry systems and event recorders, brake control units, oil-free air generator BURAN, Nowe sanding, axle mounted disc, magnetictrack brake, disc brakes controllers, air generation and air treatment, and pantograph compressor. The company provides renovation, maintenance, installation and consultancy services, including torque and engineering maintenance and spare parts and logistics. It serves tram, metro, high speed locomotives, and regional market segments trains.[1][3]

Ownership

As of 31 December 2010, the company reported the following shareholding structure:

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Between 31 March 2011 and 31 March 2012.
  2. ↑ Between 31 March 2011 and 31 March 2012.
  3. ↑ Between 31 March 2011 and 31 March 2012.
  4. ↑ As of 31 March 2012.
  5. ↑ As of 31 March 2012.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Company Description: Faiveley Transport SA". businessweek.com. BusinessWeek. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Annual Report Financial 2011/2012" (PDF). Faiveley Transport. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Company Profile: Faiveley Transport SA". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 International Directory of Company Histories 31. St. James Press. June 2001. ISBN 1558624449.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Faiveley is on the right track". Manufacturingtoday-europe.com. May–June 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Faiveley s'ouvre les portes du Japon" [Faiveley opens the doors of Japan]. L'Usine Nouvelle n°2448 (in French). Usinenouvelle.com. 17 March 1994. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Faiveley Transport SA Becomes 100% Owner of Lekov, Its Czech Subsidiary, by Acquiring the Remaining 25% Capital". reuters.com. Reuters. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Pantographs participate in the TGV speed record" (PDF), Industrial Engineering News Europe 33 (8), 2007: 15
  9. ↑ "Faiveley Transport Reinforces its Position in High Energy Braking by Completing Acquisition of Carbone Lorraine’s Sintered Brake Material Sector". Railway-technology.com. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Faiveley Transport Successfully Completes the Acquisition of Ellcon-National". Railway-technology.com. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Profile: Faiveley Transport SA". biz.yahoo.com. Yahoo! Business. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Faiveley Transport SA To Acquire 80% Interest Of Dolder AG". reuters.com. Reuters. 25 February 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Faiveley Transport SA Finalizes Its Acquisition of 100% of Graham-White". reuters.com. Reuters. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Faiveley Transport SA Wins Trial Against Wabtec Before The Court Of Appeal Of New York". reuters.com. Reuters. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "2010 Annual Report" (PDF). Faiveley Transport. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.