Legrand (company)

Legrand S.A.
Société Anonyme
Traded as Euronext: LR
Industry Electrical equipment
Founded 1904,[1] by Frédéric Legrand
Headquarters Limoges, France
Key people
 Gilles Schnepp (Chairman and CEO)
Products Switches, electrical connectors and other circuit components, circuit breakers, electrical cabinets, conduits and other cable management products
Revenue €4.499 billion (2014)[2]
€757.6 million (2010)[3]
Profit €418.3 million (2010)[3]
Total assets €6.065 billion (end 2010)[3]
Total equity €2.736 billion (end 2010)[3]
Number of employees
 36,000 (end 2014)[3]
Website www.legrand.com

Legrand is a French industrial group historically based in Limoges in the Limousin region. In terms of sales, the firm is a world leader in products and systems for electrical installations and information networks.

In 2011, Legrand 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. The company is market leader in at least one of its main areas of business in 27 countries. 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.

History

The company's origins date back to 1865, when a Limoges porcelain workshop was set up on the route de Lyon in Limoges (in France's Limousin region), 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 all around the world, 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:[4]

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 No. 1 in electrical equipment.

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 : Like everyone else in the electrical industry, Legrand is severely affected by the economic crisis. The Group sees a 15.6% fall in its turnover (to €3.6 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 :

2011 :

November 2011: Moving too Prestons,New South Wales With HPM

2014 :

Stock market

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.

Takeover of Numeric UPS in 2012 .

Management

Main competitors

See also

industry, home automation, Switchgear,

References

  1. ↑ , Legrand website
  2. ↑ "facts and figures 2014" (PDF). Legrand. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Annual Results 2010" (PDF). Legrand. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.legrandgroup.com/EN/history_12508.html
  5. ↑ "Forte hausse des résultats 2010 de Legrand, optimisme pour 2011". Reuters. 10 February 2011.

External links

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