2007 reference document - Legrand

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NOTE
References to the “Group” and “Legrand” are to the Company,
its consolidated subsidiaries and its minority shareholdings.
References to “Legrand France” are to Legrand France, the
Company’s subsidiary, previously named Legrand SA, and which
company name was changed by the Shareholders’ Meeting on
February 14, 2006, and not to its subsidiaries. References to
“Legrand SAS” are to Legrand SAS, dissolved without liquidation
by a decision of the Board of Directors of the Company dated
February 8, 2006, and previously an indirect subsidiary of the
Company.
In this document, references to “KKR” are to Financière Light Sàrl,
Financière Light II Sàrl, Financière Light III Sàrl and Financière
Light IV Sàrl, each of which is a company under Luxembourg law,
owned and controlled by one or more investment funds advised
by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P.
In this document, references to “Wendel” are, unless otherwise
specifi ed, to Wendel and/or one or more of its subsidiaries.
The Company’s consolidated financial statements presented
in this document for the years ended December 31, 2007, 2006
and 2005 have been prepared in accordance with International
Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as endorsed by the
European Union. Since the Group has not adopted the carveout
arrangements of IAS 39 proposed by the European Union,
these consolidated fi nancial statements were also prepared in
accordance with IFRS principles as articulated by the International
Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”). Therefore the use of the
term “IFRS” within this document refers both to the international
accounting standards as adopted in the European Union and
as articulated by IASB. In the past, the Company presented
its fi nancial statements in accordance with French generally
accepted accounting principles (“French GAAP”) and United
States generally accepted accounting principles (“US GAAP”).
The Company has decided to present its consolidated fi nancial
statements in accordance with IFRS as required by French law
and will be reporting its results and preparing its consolidated
fi nancial statements in the future in accordance with IFRS. IFRS
may differ in certain signifi cant respects from French GAAP.
This document contains information about Legrand’s markets and
its competitive position therein, including market size and market
share. Legrand is not aware of any authoritative industry or
market reports that cover or address the market for products and
systems for low-voltage electrical installations and information
networks in buildings, and thus assembles information on its
markets through its subsidiaries, which compile information on
their local markets annually. They derive that information from
formal and informal contacts with industry professionals (such
as professional associations), trade data from distributors of
electrical products, building statistics and macroeconomic data
(such as gross domestic product or consumption of electricity).
Legrand estimates its position in its markets based on market
REFERENCE DOCUMENT 2007 - legrand
< Contents >
data referred to above and on its actual sales in the relevant
market for the same period.
Legrand believes that the market share information contained in
this reference document provides fair and adequate estimates of
the size of its markets and fairly refl ects its competitive position
within these markets. However, internal surveys, estimates,
market research and publicly available information, while believed
by Legrand to be reliable, have not been independently verifi ed
and Legrand cannot guarantee that a third party using different
methods to assemble, analyze or compute market data would
obtain or generate the same results. In addition, its competitors
may defi ne the Company’s markets differently from Legrand.
Because statements relating to market shares and market sizes
are Company estimates, they are not data extracted from the
consolidated fi nancial statements, and Legrand cautions readers
not to place undue reliance on such statements.
This document contains forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements include all matters that are not
historical facts. They are mentioned in various sections of this
document and contain data relating to the Group’s intentions,
estimates and targets, concerning in particular its market,
strategy, growth, results, fi nancial position and cash position.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forwardlooking
statements are not guarantees of the Group’s future
performance. The Company’s actual fi nancial condition, actual
results and cash fl ows, and the development of the industry in
which it operates, may differ materially from those made in or
suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this
document. In addition, even if the Group’s fi nancial condition,
results of operations and cash fl ows, and the development of
the industry in which Legrand operates, are consistent with the
forward-looking statements contained in this document, those
results or developments may not be indicative of results or
developments in subsequent periods. Factors that could cause
those differences include, among other things, the risk factors
described in chapter 3 of this reference document. Accordingly,
all forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the
understanding of their inherent uncertainty.
The forward-looking statements provided in this document are
only made as of the date of this document. Legrand operates in
a competitive environment subject to rapid change. It therefore
is not able to anticipate all risks, uncertainties or other factors
that may affect its activities, their potential impact on its activities
or the extent to which the occurrence of a risk or combination
of risks could have signifi cantly different results from those set
out in any forward-looking statements, it being noted that such
forward-looking statements do not constitute a projection or
guarantee of actual results.
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