Legrand (company) - Stock Market

Stock Market

• 1970 : listed on the Paris stock exchange for the first time.
• 2001 : friendly share exchange offer by Schneider Electric for the whole of Legrand’s capital. 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 Legrand.
• 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 Legrand is withdrawn from the quoted market.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 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.

Takeover of Numeric UPS in 2012 .