Landis+Gyr AG is a publicly listed, multinational corporation operating in over 30 countries and headquartered in Cham, Switzerland. Landis+Gyr makes meters and related software for electricity and gas utilities.
 | |
| Company type | Publicly traded limited company |
|---|---|
| SIX: LAND | |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | 1896 in Zug, Switzerland |
| Founder | Richard Theiler Adelrich Gyr |
| Headquarters | , Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Andreas Umbach (Chairman) Werner Lieberherr (CEO) |
| Products | |
| Revenue | US $1.4 Billion |
Number of employees | 5,000 |
| Website | www |
History
editLandis+Gyr was founded in 1896 as Theiler & Co. in Zug, in the canton of Zug, Switzerland, by technician Richard Theiler and entrepreneur Adelrich Gyr.[1] It began by manufacturing electricity meters that were developed by Theiler.[1] Heinrich Landis joined the business in 1903,[2] acquired it in 1904 and introduced Karl Heinrich Gyr as a partner in 1905, renaming it Landis & Gyr.[1] The company benefited from the rise of the electronics industry and expanded abroad over the following years.[1] By 1914, when it was made a joint-stock company, it was the largest employer in the canton of Zug, with over 800 employees.[1]
In the 1920s, Landis & Gyr opened offices in New York City and Australia and took over competitors to form a global technology group.[1][3] From the 1930s, the company diversified with telemetry and remote control products.[1] After leadership struggles in the 1950s, a new management reorganized the financing and accounting and converted Landis & Gyr into a holding company.[1] The range was expanded to include service machines, air conditioning and ventilation products.[1] Landis & Gyr increased its personnel, with 14,000 employees around 1970 (5,200 of them in Zug).[1]
From the mid-1970s and especially after 1984, the group was frequently restructured.[1] In 1987, Landis & Gyr was acquired by Stephan Schmidheiny, who sold it to Elektrowatt in 1995.[1] It is today a part of Siemens Building Technologies. The company was also known for producing optical phone cards until 2006. Landis+Gyr phone cards were used in many countries such as Israel, Belgium, Switzerland and more.[3]
Ownership and acquisitions
edit- 1976 – Landis+Gyr acquired Duncan Electric Company of Lafayette, Indiana.
- 1987 – Landis+Gyr acquired MCC Powers of Chicago. MCC Powers had by then been a long established entity in the US building management market. Spurred by the liberalization and deregulation of global markets, Landis+Gyr re-oriented its business, adding electronic products.
- Late 1990s – In the late 1990s, Landis+Gyr went through a series of different investors and owners, amongst them Elektrowatt, KKR and Siemens.
- 2004 – Landis+Gyr was acquired by then Australia-based Bayard Capital for an undisclosed amount. Bayard Capital had already acquired the British metering company Ampy Automation-Digilog. As Bayard Capital continued to add other acquisitions to the group, 2008 saw the Landis+Gyr name being extended to the whole group in May 2008. An organizational realignment took place under Bayard Capital's ownership. The company moved to a regional structure, assigning regional corporate structures for North America; South America; UK/Pre-Payment; Europe; and Asia Pacific.
- 2006 – Landis+Gyr acquired Finnish Enermet Group, and also Hunt Technologies and Cellnet Technologies, both of which are from the United States.
- 2011 – Landis+Gyr was acquired by Toshiba Corporation of Japan for US$2.3 billion.
- 2017 – On July 21, 2017, Landis+Gyr listed its shares (ticker symbol: LAND) on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Utilities
editVarious utilities have worked with Landis+Gyr in meeting their consumers' demand for energy management tools by rolling out smart meters. Below are some of the utilities that have worked with Landis+Gyr in deploying smart metering technology to energy consumers.
- Europe, Middle East & Africa: British Gas; Iberdrola; Électricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF); E.ON; Järvi-Suomen Energia Oy; Vattenfall; Eskom; RWE.
- Asia Pacific: Energex; Ergon Energy; Ausgrid; Essential Energy; Western Power; ESTA; Genesis Energy Limited; Meralco; China Light & Power; Singapore Power.
- North America: Oncor Energy; Pacific Gas and Electric; Hydro-Québec; AEP Texas.
- South America: Copel; AES Eletropaulo; Ampla – Enel/ENDESA Group; Light; CEMIG; National Electricity Administration, Paraguay (ANDE); Cooperativa Regional de Electricidad, Bolivia (CRE); EDESUR - Enel/ENDESA Group (Argentina); CODENSA – Enel/ENDESA Group (Colombia).
Criticism
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Renato Morosoli: Landis & Gyr in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 7 December 2019.
- ^ Renato Morosoli: Heinrich Landis in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 11 November 2008.
- ^ a b "History Siemens Building Technologies". Buildingtechnologies.siemens.com. 1998-10-01. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
- ^ "Public Records Request: Smart meter security audit plans schedules proposals contracts discussion results (Seattle)". 12 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
- ^ "A multinational demands to know who reads MuckRock". 25 May 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-26.