Mersen, previously called Carbone Lorraine, is a French international company in electrical power and advanced materials. In 1937, the company was admitted to Bourse de Paris.

Mersen SA
Company typeSociété anonyme
EuronextMRN
ISINFR0000039620 Edit this on Wikidata
IndustryExpert in Electrical Power and Advanced Materials
Founded1891
Headquarters,
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Luc Themelin
(CEO)

Olivier Legrain (Chairman)

Thomas Baumgartner (Chief Financial Officer)
Products
Revenue€923 million (2021)
€102.1 million (2019)Increase
€58.4 million (2021)
Number of employees
6,968 (2021)
Websitewww.mersen.com

History

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Mersen, previously named Carbone Lorraine (until May 20, 2010), was created in 1891 by the Compagnie lorraine de charbons pour l’électricité in Pagny-sur-Moselle (Lorraine), where the Group still owns a plant.[1] In 1937, it merged with Le Carbone, a company based in Gennevilliers, (Hauts-de-Seine) where the Group kept and operated the original plant.

 
Carbone Lorraine's factory in Gennevilliers

La Compagnie lorraine de charbons pour l’électricité was founded in Meurthe-et-Moselle in1891. It first manufactured motors, dynamos and lighting lamps before producing « carbons » for electric lighting. At the same time, Le Carbone, founded in 1892 in Paris, produced brushes for electric motors. In 1893, Charles Street, an engineer at Le Carbone, discovered and patented the process of carbon graphitization which allowed the manufacture of synthetic graphite.[2] He patented his idea under the title « Continuous electric furnace system »[3]

During the 80s, Groupe Pechiney acquired a majority stake (61 percent) in Carbone Lorraine and financed an expansion and diversification process. The company expanded beyond its core production of graphite brushes, starting to manufacture carbon–carbon disc brakes for racing motorcycles and developing specific components for nuclear and aerospace industries

In addition, it acquired a number of competitors such as Ferraz, one of the biggest manufacturers of fuses and electrical protection systems.[4] Then, it took the control of Stackpole, which led it to become one of the world leaders in graphite production.[5]

In 1995, Pechiney sold 21% of its stake to Paribas Affaires Industrielles (PAI).[6] In the following years, Carbone Lorraine strengthened its position by making acquisitions in Europe and in the United States, in particular in 1999 the acquisition of the Gould-Shawmut Protection Electrique division; enabling it to become a leader in power semiconductor protection. Paribas sold its Carbone Lorraine shares on the market in 2005.[7]

In May 2010, the General Shareholders' Meeting approved the change of name of the group proposed by management. Carbone Lorraine became Mersen.[8] This name is a tribute to Marin Mersenne, a 17th-century mathematician and philosopher, and is also the acronym for Material, Electrical, Research, Sustainable, Energy.

Luc Themelin is Mersen’s Chief Executive Officer since May 11, 2016. He joined Mersen in 1993 as a Research and Development engineer[9],.[10] In 2018, the Group announced having won a contract with Longi, one of the Group’s historical partners in the solar market in China.[11] In 2020, Mersen announced the signature of a long-term agreement with the Marquardt Group.[12] In 2021, Mersen announced the signing of an order worth more than 2 million euros with RongXin Power Electronic.[13] That year, Mersen also announced a strategic technical partnership with Soitec to develop a new family of silicon carbide substrates for the electric vehicle market[14],.[15]

Acquisitions

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Date Society Expertise/Business
2021 Acquisition of Fusetech[16] Industrial fuses Specialist
2020 Acquisition of GAB Neumann[17] Specialist in graphite and silicon carbide heat exchangers
2019 Acquisition of the Columbia site (United States)[18],[19] Speciality graphite manufacturing plant
2019 Acquisition of Advanced Graphite Materials Italy[20] Specialist in graphite and carbon fiber insulation
2018 Acquisition of FTCap[21] Designer and manufacturer of capacitors
2018 Acquisition of Idealec[22] Designer and manufacturer of laminated bus bars
2018 Acquisition of the remaining capital of Cirprotec Specialist in lightning and overvoltage protection
2016 Joint venture, named Hatan Electrical Carbon, with Harbin Electric Carbon in China Player on the railway market
2015 Acquisition of ASP Specialists in overvoltage protection
2014 Majority stake in Cirprotec[23] Specialists in lightning and overvoltage protection (SPD)
2011 Acquisition of Eldre[24] Specialists in laminated busbars
2010 Purchase of a majority shareholding in Yantaï[25] Strengthening in solar energy
2010 Acquisition of a majority shareholding in Boostec Silicon carbide specialist
2008 Acquisition of Calcarb[26] World n°2 in rigid carbon felts
2008 Acquisition of Xianda and Mingrong Electrical Protection (MEP)[27] Anticorrosion equipment and Electrical protection and control
2006 Acquisition of R-Theta Specialists in power electronics
1999 Acquisition of a division of the Gould-Shawmut group[28] Specialists in electrical protection
1991 Acquisition of Stackpole's assets (United-States) Electrical and high temperature applications
1985 Acquisition of Ferraz[29] Manufacturer of industrial fuses  

Activities and markets

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Mersen provides its products and solutions to many markets like the renewable energies (solar, wind), the semi-conductors,[30] the electric vehicles,[31] or the railways. To this end, the group is structured around two segments. The Advanced Materials segment which develops equipment and technologies for high temperature resistance,[32] protection against corrosion[33],[34] and Electric Power Transfer.[35] The other segment focuses on the Electrical Power with power conversion and equipment and people protection.[36]

Global footprint

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Mersen site in Bommasandra, close to Bangalore, India

Mersen has 53 manufacturing sites in 35 countries on five continents:[37] 22 sites in Europe, 13 in North America and Asia-Pacific and 5 in South America and Africa.[38] The Group has also 18 R&D centers.

The percentage of the 2021 turnover of 923 M€ by region is: 34.5% in Europe, 32.5% in North America, 30% in Asia Pacific, 3% in South America and Africa.[39]

Shareholder

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List of major shareholders as of October 30, 2021.[40]

Bpifrance Participations SA / Private Equity 10,8%
Janus Henderson Investors UK Ltd. 4,96%
CDC Croissance SA 4,89%
Invesco Advisers Inc. 4,88%
Norges Bank Investment Management 4,00%
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP 3,01%
Sycomore Asset Management SA 2,97%
The Vanguard Group 1,93%
Canaccord Genuity Wealth Ltd. 1,58%
Oddo BHF Asset Management SAS 1,55%

References

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  1. ^ "Carbone Lorraine se rebaptise " Mersen " pour verdir son image". Les Echos (in French). 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  2. ^ Liszt, Franz; Saffle, Michael; Street-Klindworth, Agnes (2000). Franz Liszt and Agnes Street-Klindworth: A Correspondence, 1854-1886. Pendragon Press. ISBN 9781576470060. charles street carbone lorraine.
  3. ^ "A 100 ans, la société Mersen garde une santé de fer". leparisien.fr (in French). 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  4. ^ "Carbone Lorraine: Ferraz Shawmut s'empare de Lenoir Elec". www.zonebourse.com (in French). 23 November 2006. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  5. ^ "History of Carbone Lorraine S.A. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  6. ^ "Le Carbone Lorraine quitte le giron du secteur public". Les Echos (in French). 1995-04-07. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  7. ^ "Carbone Lorraine - Sale of BNP Paribas' 21% interest - 25% increase in the free float". www.edubourse.com. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  8. ^ "A 100 ans, la société Mersen garde une santé de fer". leparisien.fr (in French). 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  9. ^ "L'organigramme de Mersen". Les Echos (in French). 2017-12-18. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  10. ^ Parrino, Béatrice (2016). "État Major Mersen". Le Point.
  11. ^ "Capital - Actualités économiques, bourse & finance". Capital.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  12. ^ Fassot, Frédéric (2020-12-14). "Fusible pour véhicule électrique : Mersen remporte un contrat potentiel de 20 à 25 M€". VIPress.net (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  13. ^ "Mersen : contrat de 2 ME avec RXPE". Boursier.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  14. ^ Nouvelle, L'Usine (2021-12-07). "Le français Mersen veut tripler son activité pour les semi-conducteurs d'ici à 2030" (in French). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ Eremian, Christelle (2021). "Soitec et Mersen deviennent partenaires pour développer de nouveaux substrats en SiC destinés au marché des véhicules électriques". Electroniques.
  16. ^ Fassot, Frédéric (2021-02-17). "Mersen rachète le solde du capital de Fusetech". VIPress.net (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  17. ^ "Mersen met la main sur l'allemand GAB Neumann". Investir (in French). Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  18. ^ "MERSEN : acquisition stratégique de capacités de fabrication de graphite de spécialités". Capital.fr (in French). 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  19. ^ Soubiran, Christophe (2022-06-02). "Mersen : " Le groupe entame une période d'investissements industriels importants "". Mieux Vivre Votre Argent (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  20. ^ "MERSEN annonce une nouvelle acquisition dans le graphite". Capital.fr (in French). 2019-12-03. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  21. ^ Higgelke, Ralf. "Merger: Mersen acquires capacitor specialist FTCAP". www.elektroniknet.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  22. ^ "Mersen: acquisition d'Idealec finalisée". VotreArgent.fr (in French). 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  23. ^ "MERSEN se renforce au capital de Cirprotec". Capital.fr (in French). 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  24. ^ "Mersen annonce la réalisation de l'acquisition d'Eldre". Filière 3e (in French). 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  25. ^ "Mersen va acquérir 60% du chinois Yantai Zhifu Graphite". Investir (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  26. ^ "Carbone Lorraine: rachète la totalité de Calcarb". ABC Bourse (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  27. ^ "French Mersen controls 100% in Chinese Mingrong Electrical Protection". Renewablesnow.com. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  28. ^ "Ferraz to buy Gould Shawmut". Electrical Wholesaling. 2003-08-01. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  29. ^ "Ferraz to buy Gould Shawmut". Electrical Wholesaling. 2003-08-01. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  30. ^ "Mersen: lancement d'un produit d'isolation Calcarb". VotreArgent.fr (in French). 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  31. ^ "Des objectifs 2025 ambitieux chez Mersen, bien positionné dans les semi-conducteurs et le véhicule électrique". Investir (in French). 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  32. ^ "INTERVIEW Carbone Lorraine vise plus que jamais l'énergie". Investir (in French). 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  33. ^ "L'usine amiénoise de Mersen a de l'énergie à revendre". Courrier picard (in French). 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  34. ^ "Alstom, Mersen, Rexel et Spie". Investir (in French). 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  35. ^ "Entretien avec Thomas Baumgartner, Directeur financier de Mersen : " Le groupe entame une période d'investissements industriels importants "". La Lettre de la Bourse (in French). 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  36. ^ "La nouvelle jeunesse de Mersen". La Croix (in French). 2022-03-28. ISSN 0242-6056. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  37. ^ Martinich, Matthew (2020), "Mormons in North America, Latin America, the South Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Asia: An Overview", The Palgrave Handbook of Global Mormonism, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 323–341, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-52616-0_11, ISBN 978-3-030-52615-3, S2CID 229252131, retrieved 2022-11-30
  38. ^ "Regards de dirigeants #9 : Luc Themelin, Mersen". Techniques de l'Ingénieur (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  39. ^ Bourse, Zone. "Mersen : Résultats annuels 2021 | Zonebourse". www.zonebourse.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  40. ^ Bourse, Zone. "MERSEN : Actionnaires Dirigeants et Profil Société | MRN | FR0000039620 | Zonebourse". www.zonebourse.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-30.