Download the file. - Groupe Seb

STRONG
PERFORMANCE
IN 2011
You carried out a number of acquisitions last year. What
have these contributed towards Groupe SEB?
We acquired the Colombian company Imusa at the beginning of the
year, then we took over Asia Fan in Vietnam in May and Maharaja
Whiteline in India in December. These acquisitions have enabled us
to accelerate our growth or get a foothold in these countries, by
bringing in brands known to local consumers, sales teams and
production sites. When it comes to external growth, we look for
complementary companies, which either give us access to countries
in which we don't yet have a presence or are not very well
established or open up a family of products in which our presence
is still embryonic. We can then immediately take up a position in
tomorrow’s key markets, by integrating in particular the skills of local
teams in developing specific products that are adapted to local
markets - soya milk extractors in China, spice mixers in India etc.
We also increased our holding in our Chinese subsidiary, Supor, last
year, bringing it to 71%. This reinforces our initial long-term
investment made in 2007. The founding family of Supor are still
shareholders in the business and the founder's son, Xianze SU, is
Chairman. Supor is still listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange,
which is a guarantee of good transparency and governance.
Does your international strategy include a corporate
responsibility dimension?
The Group has been involved in the fight against exclusion for
several years now through the Groupe SEB Foundation,
focussing on housing, training and employment, and not only
in France. Our approach is based on numerous campaigns
across all continents. In Brazil, for example, Arno is heavily
involved in the shanty towns, with a practical and educational
approach towards nutrition (making bread, optimum use of
foodstuffs etc.). In China, Supor has been involved in building
schools in very remote areas for several years now. The
numerous initiatives taking place all over the world unite our
employees, including those from newly acquired companies,
affording them a sense of pride and belonging.
How do you deal with current diversity issues within
Groupe SEB?
We have more than 60 subsidiaries worldwide and multiculturality
is an everyday reality for the Group. We try to make the most of it
by encouraging international mobility, helping us to enrich our
teams, which are made up of very diverse nationalities. The Group
has also created organisations for monitoring internal diversity and
has set up, in France for example, associative partnerships with a
view to increasing the number of people we hire from minority
groups (Nos Quartiers ont des Talents, Institut Télémaque, Mozaïk RH).
At the same time, we ensure gender equality in the workplace in
terms of pay, training and career development. This approach, which
is long established within the Group, was formalised in 2011 by an
agreement to promote equality and deter discrimination.
In practice, we focus on a single criterion - competence, regardless
of its type or where it comes from. We also encourage this kind of
initiative in all of our subsidiaries.
02 Business and Sustainable Development Report 2011