6 - Vicat

INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY5.2. INVESTMENTS55.1.7. History• 1817 : Invention of artificial cement by Louis Vicat.• 1853 : Foundation of the Company and constructionof the first cement factory (Genevrey-de-Vif byJoseph Vicat, son of Louis Vicat) ; implementationin this factory of the “double firing” manufacturingmethod, allowing the manufacture of veryhomogeneous and very consistent cement.• 1875 : Construction of the Perelle factory in France,manufacturing quick-setting cement.• 1922-1929 : Construction of the French cementfactories at Montalieu and La Grave-de-Peilleby Joseph Merceron-Vicat, grandson of JosephVicat.• 1950 : André Merceron-Vicat embarks on a programto modernize and increase production capacity atVicat’s factories.• 1960-1972 : Consolidation of the French cementindustry. Construction of the Créchy factory andacquisition of other factories in France (Saint-Égrève, Chambéry, Voreppe, Bouvesse, Pont-à-Vendin).• 1974 : First investment by the Group abroad, withthe acquisition of the Ragland cement factory inAlabama (United States).• 1984 : Jacques Merceron-Vicat is appointed asPresident and Chief Executive Officer of the Group.The Group commits from this date to verticalintegration of its business in France by acquisition ofnumerous Ready-mixed Concrete and Aggregatescompanies, thus gradually building up a networkin the Île-de-France, Centre, Rhône-Alpes andProvence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) regions, andby the acquisition of SATM (transport) and VPI(bringing together two companies specializing inrenders, mortars, adhesives and mastics).• 1987 : The Group continues its development in theUnited States with the acquisition of the Lebeccement factory in California.• 1991-1994 : Jacques Merceron-Vicat continues thedevelopment of the Group internationally with theacquisition of Konya Cimento and Bastas Baskent,in Turkey.• 1999 : Acquisition of Sococim Industries in Senegaland United Ready Mix in California.• 2001 : Acquisition of the Vigier group in Switzerland,which produces cement, concrete, aggregates andprefabricated products.• 2003-2006 : Acquisition of Cementi Centro Sud, onthe west coast of Sardinia and take over of controlof the Sinai Cement Company in Egypt through thesuccessive acquisitions of blocks of shares (withthe Company holding 48.25 % of the capital of theSinai Cement Company at the end of 2006).• 2007 : Sale by HeidelbergCement of its 35 %shareholding in the Group. Launch of the“Performance 2010” plan intended to increasecement production capacities by 50 % and toreduce costs by 2010 by, in particular, increasingsignificantly the Group’s use of substitute fuels.Acquisition of 60 % of the capital in Anys Invest LLPin Kazakhstan allowing the Group to be involved inthe construction of a cement plant in Mynaral witha production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes, whichis expected to be completed in 2010.• 2008 : Guy Sidos is appointed as Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Group on March 7, 2008, replacingJacques Merceron-Vicat, who remains President ofthe Board of directors. Acquisition of the Walkergroup in the United States, a specialist in readymixedconcrete. Creation in India of a joint venturecompany, Vicat Sagar Cement, 51 % owned by theGroup ; this company intends to build a cementfactory with a 5.5 million tonnes capacity in theState of Karnataka in two phases ; the first firing lineis expected to be finished in 2012. In Mauritania,acquisition of 65 % of the capital of BSA CimentSA, a company that exploits a cement grindingcentre. In addition to the “Performance 2010” plan,launch of the “Performance +” plan to optimize coststructure in response to the downturn in the currentmacro-economic environment.• 2009 : The Group completed the Performance2010 plan by increasing the capacity of the kilnat Reuchenette (Switzerland) in the first halfof the year, and by opening the new kiln line atSococim (Senegal) in October. In addition, the“Performance +" plan, initiated as a complementarymeasure to the “Performance 2010” plan, generatedsavings of 61 million euros. The greenfield projectsin Kazakhstan and India are progressing onschedule.5.2. INVESTMENTSThe cement-manufacturing industry is a highlycapital-intensive industry, requiring significant investments.The construction of a cement factorygenerally requires capital expenditure of more than100 million euros. The Group has always taken careto maintain its industrial production facilities at ahigh level of performance and reliability. Accordingly,it invests continuously in new equipment, which enablesit to benefit from the latest tested and recognizedtechnologies.The Group embarked in 2006 on an industrial investmentplan extending over several years and designedto increase cement production capacity by approxi-2009 registration document - VICAT 23