Plastic Omnium - 2020 Universal Registration Document

PRESENTATION OF PLASTIC OMNIUM AND ITS BUSINESSES History and development of the Group www.plasticomnium.com PLASTIC OMNIUM UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2020 50 #$ ") & ! $ $ " %! 1.2 Compagnie Plastic Omnium SE’s origins stretch back to 1946, when Plastic Omnium, created on April 15, set up business at the rue du Louvre in Paris. The Company then had three employees and Pierre Burelle was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Its first products were pipe fittings, dehydrator spark plugs and other plastic automotive parts (Jaeger). During this time, injection molding machines were characterized by the weight of the part produced. In 1949, the Company had five molds, with the largest able to produce a 250-gram part. 1952 The Company moved to rue du Parc in Levallois-Perret, (in the Hauts-de-Seine department). 1954 The Company borrowed to buy a mold capable of making 1,200-gram parts, a serious challenge for a company of this size. 1963 New premises in Langres (Haute-Marne) were built to keep pace with the significant growth in business. 1965 Plastic Omnium took control of UMDP (Union Mutuelle Des Propriétaires Lyonnais), a company listed on the Lyon stock exchange. The two companies merged and Pierre Burelle became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the new entity. Plastic Omnium’s stock market listing dates back to this merger. UMDP was a septic tank cleaning and sanitation company. Pierre-Émile Burelle, a civil engineer and graduate of the École des Mines in Paris, took over its management in 1877 at the age of 29. This company, under the aegis of Pierre-Émile Burelle, installed a vast network of pipes from the La Mouche plant in Lyon. This network distributed extraction materials to agricultural and market gardening areas. This 55 km network led to the creation of spread cropping. After 1914, with the development of sewer systems, Pierre-Émile Burelle refocused the business on waste bucket rentals. He died in 1926. Two of his sons were involved in the management of UMDP: Jean Burelle, who died in the war in 1915, and Charles, who headed the Company until 1965. In that year, Pierre Burelle, the son of Jean Burelle and the grandson of Pierre-Émile Burelle, acquired a majority stake in UMDP on the Lyon stock exchange. UMDP’s waste bucket business was the starting point for the development of a range of products and services by Pierre Burelle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Plastic Omnium, including waste container rental, maintenance and cleaning. This business became the backbone of the Environment Division. 1966 Creation of the current logo by Raymond Loewy, with a new graphic design; Plastic Omnium has since been written as two words. 1968 The Group acquired Gachot’s Fluorinated Resin Division and set up a plant in Langres dedicated to these products, which became the 3P Division. The 1970s The 1970s saw the start of the Company’s international expansion with the creation of one subsidiary a year, including Spain in 1970, Germany in 1972, the United Kingdom in 1973 and the United States in 1977. 1974 The parent company, Compagnie Plastic Omnium, was set up. In 1974, the Group acquired a 2,500-metric ton injection molding machine, followed in 1982 by a 10,000-metric ton machine, both records in terms of power for the time. 1980 Beginning of the Bumper business for Renault. 1986 Plastic Omnium took a controlling interest in the Landry Group and Techniplaste Industrie, which resulted in the Fuel Systems business and diversified the Group’s client portfolio with Peugeot and Citroën. 1987 Jean Burelle became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Compagnie Plastic Omnium. Pierre Burelle became Honorary Chairman and remained a director. In the 1990s, the Group continued to extend its geographic reach internationally with the creation of new subsidiaries and with acquisitions: Zarn, in the United States, which operated four container plants, was ● acquired in 1991 and then sold in 2001; Vasam, a fuel tank manufacturer based in Madrid and Vigo, was ● acquired in 1994; Reydel, a dashboard and door panel specialist with operations in ● France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, was acquired in 1996 and formed the basis of the Plastic Omnium Auto Interior Division that was sold on to Visteon in 1999. In the 2000s, the Company continued to grow with a targeted acquisition and partnership strategy, and established a presence in Asia. It also stepped up its spending on R&D. 2000 Inergy Automotive Systems, the world leader in fuel systems, was created as a 50/50 joint venture with Solvay. 2001 Laurent Burelle became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Compagnie Plastic Omnium.