financial report and registration document 2011 - Groupe SEB

4 2011
Commentary on the fi nancial year
highlights
number one in Colombia’s small domestic appliances segment. Imusa
also complements and expands its presence in other Latin American
markets (Venezuela, Central America, Ecuador, the Caribbean, etc.) and
features a dedicated, specifi c offering that targets the Hispanic population
in the United States.
The integration process was quickly put into motion, making it possible
to make major strides in product development, production, logistics, IT
systems, fi nancial reporting and human resources in a short timeframe.
Starting in September, a broad range of electrical appliances, developed
in synergy with the Group, was launched under the Imusa brand name.
These products complement the Samurai product offering and positioning.
Initial results are very encouraging.
� On 12 May 2011, the Group acquired a 65% majority stake in
Vietnamese company Asia Fan, a national leader in the fan market. 30%
of the company’s share capital remains in the possession of the founding
family, and 5% belongs to employees. Specialising in the production and
sale of fans – the number one small domestic appliance category in South-
East Asia – Asia Fan markets its products under the AsiaVina label, a
brand well known in Vietnam. The company does business in the booming
Vietnamese small domestic equipment market, a segment that has been
growing at a rate of 15-20% per year. Its core activity complements
the deployment of Supor within Vietnam, with Supor concentrating on
cookware and electrical cooking appliances, and helps to open doors to
other South-East Asian countries. Collaboration between the local teams
and the Group, as with the integration measures, was quick to materialise
and has already yielded encouraging results. It is worth noting that in
2010 the company had already recorded sales in the amount of some
€11 million and had grown at a rate of over 30% over the past two years.
Asia Fan’s operations are supported by two plants and 42 of its own retail
outlets. Its workforce stands at 700 employees.
� On 16 December 2011, Groupe SEB acquired a majority stake in Indian
company Maharaja Whiteline, a leading producer of small domestic
appliances in India. The acquisition gives the Group a 55% stake in the
company, with the remaining shares held by its founder, Harish Kumar
and his family. Harish Kumar will continue as Chairman and CEO of the
company. Created in 1976, Maharaja Whiteline has its roots in Northern
and Western India. It is one of the major players in a still highly fragmented,
yet growing market (annual growth rate of 15%), with a portfolio covering
several families of small domestic equipment. In particular, Maharaja
Whiteline is an established brand name in mixer/grinders, an indispensable
kitchen appliance in India. This acquisition gives Groupe SEB a solid
foothold in a market in which it has done almost no business up to this
point. It will also allow the Group to help speed Maharaja Whiteline’s
development in India by deploying synergies with the company.
Backed by a network of 330 distributors, Maharaja Whiteline is present
in over 26,000 sales outlets. Its turnover for the 2010/2011 fi nancial year
ended 31 March 2011 totalled €21 million, with average annual growth of
25%. The company operates a plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh state,
in North-western India, and employs around 350 people.
� At the same time; on 13 December 2011, Groupe SEB acquired an
additional 20% stake in Supor, from the Su founding family, at a price
of RMB 30 per share. The proposed acquisition had been announced
in February 2011 but had to be reviewed by the Chinese Ministry of
Commerce (MOFCOM) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission
(CSRC). Once approval was obtained, the transaction was fi nalised for a
total amount of €406 million and settled on 13 December 2011. Groupe
SEB increased its stake in order to fortify its 2007 strategic investment
in Supor and to ensure Supor’s medium-to-long-term growth based on a
solid, stable shareholding confi guration.
Creation of the investment company SEB Alliance
In May 2011, with a view to expanding its innovation strategy to new
technologies from outside the Company, the Group created an investment
fund – SEB Alliance – with initial capital of €30 million. This structure
will target innovative companies with a high technology content in areas
such as the ageing of the population, the preservation of health, beauty
Expansion of Supor’s Wuhan site
Begun in May 2010, the expansion of this site specialising in the production
of cookware for the domestic Chinese market served to double the
manufacturing capacity of the plant with ultra-modern processes and
production lines. Once this upgrade is complete, Wuhan will be the largest
and well-being, new energies, “connected products” and robotics, digital
applications, etc. SEB Alliance made its fi rst investment by acquiring a stake
in US-based Key Ingredient, a start-up specialised in the development of
digital cooking solutions.
Asian plant producing kitchen utensils, the goal being to meet rapidly growing
Chinese demand with a customised, modern, effi cient, optimised production
unit. The total investment allocated to this project, since its launch, amounts
to 500 million yuan, i.e. around €53 million. The plant employs 1,700 people.
62 GROUPE SEB Financial Report and Registration Document 2011