Wendel (group)
Encyclopedia
Wendel is a French investment company. The company is managed by Ernest-Antoine Seillière
, Chairman of the Supervisory board and Frédéric Lemoine
, Chairman of the Executive board.
In July 2011, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s revised from « stable » to « positive » Wendel’s « BB- » credit rating after the company improved its financial profile, including its « loan to value » ratio.
In June 2011, Wendel became reference shareholder of the Swiss technology company Exceet Group AG, via the investment structure Helikos.
In May 2011, Wendel and Saint-Gobain established the principles and objectives of their long-term cooperation.
In March 2011, Wendel bought the car rental specialist Parcours for €107m.
Shareholder of Stallergenes
since 1993, Wendel sold its shares (46%) of the world leader in immunotherapy treatment for allergic respiratory diseases, to Ares Life Sciences in November 2010.
In May 2010, Wendel became the founding sponsor of the Centre Pompidou-Metz.
In June 2008, Sophie Boegner, Ernest-Antoine Seillière
's cousin, denounced the conditions through which 15 Wendel managers invested in 4.7% of the company's stock in May 2007. In August 2011, the public prosecutor dismissed the case. In a sequence of dismissal, Judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke pronounced which if a leaders of Wendel completed “significant gains” in reorder of a collateral Wendel, “this actuality alone can not concede a characterization of injustice of association assets”. The public prosecutor had previously closed the "misappropriation of funds and concealment" case, deeming that no penal qualification resulted from the case, given the contradictory elements transmitted by the Autorité des marchés financiers and given the results of an internal investigation.
In May 2008, Wendel sold Editis to the Spanish group Planeta.
In October 2007, the Initial Public Offering of Bureau Veritas
brought 1.2 billion euros. Wendel has stayed the majority shareholder with 63%.
In September 2007, Wendel sold the totality of its 2.4% shares in Neuf Cegetel for €148M.
Wendel also became during the Autumn 2007 the first shareholder of Saint-Gobain
, a leader in construction materials, by exceeding 15%.
Ernest-Antoine Seillière
Ernest-Antoine Seillière de Laborde, born 20 December 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Seine is an entrepreneur and the heir to the Wendel empire ....
, Chairman of the Supervisory board and Frédéric Lemoine
Frédéric Lemoine
Frédéric Lemoine is a French businessman, Chairman of Wendel’s Executive Board since April 2009, after being Member of the Supervisory Board of Wendel from June 2008 to April 2009...
, Chairman of the Executive board.
Shareholders
Its main shareholders are:- Wendel Participations: 34.70%, family holding company gathering over a thousand members.
- Individual shareholders: 26.50%
- Institutional investors, outside France: 21.50%
- Institutional investors, France: 9.50%
Subsidiaries and participations
In 2011, Wendel is the reference shareholder of the following main companies:-
- Bureau VeritasBureau VeritasBureau Veritas S.A. is a multinational company providing conformity assessment, certification and consulting services to industry, government and individuals. Originally formed in Antwerp in 1828 as Bureau de Renseignements pour les Assurances Maritimes , the Bureau Veritas name was adopted in 1829...
, with 51.1% of the stock. - LegrandLegrand (company)Legrand is a French industrial group historically based in Limoges in the Limousin region and a world leader in products and systems for electrical installations and information networks....
: 11.1% - Saint-GobainSaint-GobainSaint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of construction and high-performance materials.The company has its head...
: 17.1% - Deutsch: 89%
- Materis: 76%
- Stahl: 92%
- Parcours: 95%
- Exceet: 28.4%
- Mecatherm: 98%
- Bureau Veritas
Supervisory board
As of 19 May 2011:- Ernest-Antoine SeillièreErnest-Antoine SeillièreErnest-Antoine Seillière de Laborde, born 20 December 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Seine is an entrepreneur and the heir to the Wendel empire ....
- Gérard Buffière
- Nicolas Celier
- Didier Cherpitel
- Dominique Hériard DubreuilDominique Hériard DubreuilDominique Hériard Dubreuil is a French business woman. She has been CEO of Remy Cointreau since 2001 and Chairman of the Board since 2004.According to Fortune 2008, she is the 42nd most influential business woman in the world....
- Jean-Marc Janodet
- Edouard de l'Espée
- François de Mitry
- Guylaine Saucier
- Humbert de Wendel
- François de Wendel
News
In July 2011, Wendel announced the acquisition of Mecatherm, the world leader in industrial bakery equipment.In July 2011, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s revised from « stable » to « positive » Wendel’s « BB- » credit rating after the company improved its financial profile, including its « loan to value » ratio.
In June 2011, Wendel became reference shareholder of the Swiss technology company Exceet Group AG, via the investment structure Helikos.
In May 2011, Wendel and Saint-Gobain established the principles and objectives of their long-term cooperation.
In March 2011, Wendel bought the car rental specialist Parcours for €107m.
Shareholder of Stallergenes
Stallergenes
Stallergenes is a European biopharmaceutical company specialized in the manufacture of immunotherapy medicines for the prevention and treatment of allergic respiratory diseases such as rhinoconjunctivitis and allergic asthma. It is Europe’s second largest maker of allergy medicines, conducts 85% of...
since 1993, Wendel sold its shares (46%) of the world leader in immunotherapy treatment for allergic respiratory diseases, to Ares Life Sciences in November 2010.
In May 2010, Wendel became the founding sponsor of the Centre Pompidou-Metz.
In June 2008, Sophie Boegner, Ernest-Antoine Seillière
Ernest-Antoine Seillière
Ernest-Antoine Seillière de Laborde, born 20 December 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Seine is an entrepreneur and the heir to the Wendel empire ....
's cousin, denounced the conditions through which 15 Wendel managers invested in 4.7% of the company's stock in May 2007. In August 2011, the public prosecutor dismissed the case. In a sequence of dismissal, Judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke pronounced which if a leaders of Wendel completed “significant gains” in reorder of a collateral Wendel, “this actuality alone can not concede a characterization of injustice of association assets”. The public prosecutor had previously closed the "misappropriation of funds and concealment" case, deeming that no penal qualification resulted from the case, given the contradictory elements transmitted by the Autorité des marchés financiers and given the results of an internal investigation.
In May 2008, Wendel sold Editis to the Spanish group Planeta.
In October 2007, the Initial Public Offering of Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas S.A. is a multinational company providing conformity assessment, certification and consulting services to industry, government and individuals. Originally formed in Antwerp in 1828 as Bureau de Renseignements pour les Assurances Maritimes , the Bureau Veritas name was adopted in 1829...
brought 1.2 billion euros. Wendel has stayed the majority shareholder with 63%.
In September 2007, Wendel sold the totality of its 2.4% shares in Neuf Cegetel for €148M.
Wendel also became during the Autumn 2007 the first shareholder of Saint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of construction and high-performance materials.The company has its head...
, a leader in construction materials, by exceeding 15%.