Legrand (company) - History

History

The company's origins date back to 1860, 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:

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.

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 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 :

• The company returns 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 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 €300 million.

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