Industrial reorganisation project

Press Release

Project for the reorganisation of stator manufacturing in France and sale of Spirel

Today Somfy Group announced the project to reorganise their stator manufacturing in France and the sale of their Spirel subsidiary to Chappel Industries France.

The reorganisation that is planned is explained by Spirel’s persistent structural difficulties and by the necessary adaption of technology and the Group’s industrial tool to market stakes (growing momentum of emerging countries, development of products with high added value).

Spirel suffers, through lack of competitiveness, compared to low cost competition. They are thus confronted by a large decrease in their activity and a continuous decline of their profitability although they have made strong efforts to rationalise throughout the past years.

The project includes the progressive stopping of part of the stator manufacturing at the Saint-Rémy-de-Maurienne (Savoie) site, run by Spirel, to be shifted to Somfy’s French motor assembly factories in Cluses (Haute-Savoie) and Gray (Haute-Saône).

Integration of stator manufacturing in the motor assembly sites will allow the French factories in the Group to reinforce their competiveness and reduce manufacturing delays, by improving stock management through optimising cost structures. It will also help accelerate innovation when closer to research and development teams.

The project also plans to sell Spirel to Chappel Industries France, a company which manufactures transformers and electric motors.

Half of Spirel’s manufacturing will remain on the Saint-Rémy-de-Maurienne site where 107 jobs will be maintained. Somfy will commit to setting up a job protection plan for the 115 other Spirel employees, who will be offered a placement, either in Cluses or Gray, or in any other of the Group’s sites.

October 7th, 2009


Reminder
Somfy is structured in two separate branches: Somfy Activities, dedicated to the Group’s core business, the motorisation of openings and closures of homes and buildings; Somfy Participations, dedicated to investments and participations in industrial companies that are not within the Group’s core business.

Contacts
Somfy : Jean-Michel Jaud - Tel : 33 (0)4 50 96 71 01
Shan : François-Xavier Dupont / Arnaud Monnin - Tel : 33 (0)1 44 50 51 80

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