APC 2011 Annual Report Download - page 13

112011 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
2011 IN BRIEF
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2011 in brief
Growth and acquisitions
Acquisition of Telvent
On June 1, 2011, Schneider Electric announced the signing of a
defi nitive agreement related to the acquisition, through a public
offer of Telvent GIT SA (“Telvent”), a leading solution provider
specializing in high value-added IT software and solutions for real-
time management of mission critical infrastructure in the fi elds of
electricity, oil & gas, water and transportation. By acquiring Telvent,
Schneider Electric integrates a high value-added software platform
that presents a good fi t with its own range in fi eld device control
and operation management software for the smart grid and
effi cient infrastructures. The Group also doubles its overall software
development competencies and enhances its IT integration and
software service capability, including weather services. Schneider
Electric made a cash tender offer for all of Telvent’s shares at a
price of USD40 per share, which represents a premium of 36% to
Telvent’s average share price over the last three months. This offer
has successfully been completed on August 30, 2011 .
Automation and Control
On June 9, 2011, Schneider Electric announced the signature
of an agreement to acquire Leader Harvest Power Technologies
Holdings Limited (“Leader & Harvest”), one of the leading
players in the fast-growing medium voltage drives market in
China. Headquartered in Beijing, Leader & Harvest develops,
manufactures and commercialises medium voltage (MV) variable
speed drives. The company employs over 750 people and has an
extensive inhouse nationwide sales and service support network
across 30 provinces. With an annual growth rate in excess of 20%
in the past few years, the company is expected to generate sales
of approximately USD150 million (approx. EUR100 million) for
2011. Leader& Harvest’s range represents an excellent addition
to Schneider Electric’s industrial automation range of products and
solutions. Medium voltage drives are a key element of energy effi cient
solutions to our key target segments of mining, minerals&metals
and water & waste water.
Low voltage
On July21, 2011, Schneider Electric announced it has entered into
a partnership with NVC Lighting Holding Limited (“NVC Lighting”) to
speed up its market penetration in smaller cities in China via NVC
Lighting’s well established diffused channels. The partnership will
give Schneider Electric an exclusive access to diffused channels
and bring forth strong revenue synergies. NVC Lighting has a solid
presence in China with broad diffused channels and extensive retail
management experience. It has the access to over 3,000 retail
outlets, half of which are located in smaller cities and townships.
On July22, 2011, Schneider Electric announced the signature of
an agreement to acquire the bresilian group Steck Da Amazonia
Industria Electrica Ltd. and affi liates (“Steck Group”), a key player
(950 employees, about BRL180 million (approx. EUR80 million)
in 2011) in the fast growing fi nal low voltage segment serving the
residential and commercial buildings and industries in Brazil. The
transaction will enable Schneider Electric to broaden its product
portfolio and market access and hence provide an opportunity to
expand its presence in new economies, particularly in Latin America.
Critical Power & Cooling
On January7, 2011, Schneider Electric announced the signature
of an agreement to acquire a majority of the shares in APW
President Systems Ltd. which designs and manufactures standard
and customized racks and enclosure systems in India, serving
in particular information technology and telecom end-users.
APW President Systems Ltd. has approximately 380 employees
and generated sales of INR1.08 billion (approx. EUR17 million)
for the twelve months ending September 30, 2010. With APW
President Systems Ltd., Schneider Electric is well positioned to
capture opportunities in the fast growing Indian IT infrastructure
market as well as in international markets, particularly in Asia Pacifi c
and Middle East. The Group will also be able to tap the talent pool
and increase its solutions execution capabilities from server rooms
to extra large data centres.
On March31, 2011, Schneider Electric announced the signature of
an agreement to acquire from Smartlink Network Systems Ltd. the
assets of the Indian company Digilink business, one of the leading
structured cabling systems providers in India. Headquartered in
Mumbai, the Digilink business has 92 employees and generated
sales of about INR1.55billion (approx. EUR25million) in calendar year
2010. With this acquisition the Group will be able to gain access to
Digilink’s well-established distribution network in the retail sector which
complements its presence in enterprise segments and will generate
signifi cant cross-selling opportunities for its Power and IT products.
On April4, 2011, Schneider Electric announced the signature of
an agreement to acquire in the United States Lee Technologies, a
leading service provider for the data centres of the North American
market. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, Lee Technologies has
over 300 employees and generated sales of about USD140million
(approx. EUR104 million) in 2010. Lee Technologies brings to
Schneider Electric capabilities ranging from consulting, site
assessment, design, equipment specifi cation and selection to
integration, commissioning, facility operations staffi ng, maintenance
and proactive 24x7 remote monitoring. This full repertoire of
services will reinforce Schneider Electric’s IT business skills in data
centre management and its ability to provide data centres, one
of the world’s fastest growing end-users of energy, with the best
standards in energy conservation and reliability.
On May30, 2011, Schneider Electric announced the signature of
an agreement to acquire 74% of Luminous Power Technologies
Pvt. Ltd., a market leader in India that provides inverters, UPS and
power storage systems to help homes and small and medium sized
businesses face frequent power cuts. Luminous is a leading player
in the around EUR800million Indian inverter and power storage
market that is growing at more than 20% a year. Luminous has
a strong presence in India and employs approx. 3,000 people in
8 different industrial sites in India and 1 in China. It has generated
revenues of INR11.0billion (approx. EUR170million) for the fi scal
year ending March 2011.With Luminous, Schneider Electric will
become the leader in the Indian inverters and secured power
market and gain access to a complementary retail network.