please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . april 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article appears to contain a large number of buzzwords . specific concerns may be found on the talk page . please help improve this article if you can . april 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message prysmian s.p.a. type societ per azioni traded as bit pry industry manufacturing technology predecessors draka holding prysmian founded milan italy february 8 2011 2011 02 08 headquarters milan italy area served worldwide key people valerio battista ceo massimo tononi chairman products telecommunications and power cables revenue 7.273 billion 2013 1 operating income 457 million 2013 1 profit 154 million 2013 1 total assets 5.702 million 2013 1 total equity 1.195 million 2013 1 number of employees 19 000 2013 1 website prysmiangroup.com the prysmian group is an italian multinational corporation headquartered in milan that manufactures electric power transmission and telecommunications cables and systems . it is the largest manufacturer of cables in the world measured by revenues . 2 prysmian group has sales of some 7 billion in 2013 and employs about 19 000 employees across 50 countries 91 production plants and 17 research and development centres . 1 prysmian group is a public company listed on the borsa italiana in the ftse mib index . contents 1 history 1.1 prysmian 1.2 draka 2 balance sheets 3 business 3.1 energy sector 3.2 telecom sector 3.3 research & development 4 capital and shareholders 5 organization 5.1 board of directors 5.2 top management 6 graduate program 7 sustainability 8 references 9 external links history edit prysmian group was created in 2011 through the merger of prysmian and draka both of which were leaders in innovation and technologies in the cable industry . in 2009 italian cable manufacturer prysmian made a takeover offer for draka but doubts began to emerge in august . 3 prysmian called off the takeover talks in early september . 4 in october 2010 french cable maker nexans made a 15 share offer to buy the 43.9 % of the company held by flint beheer an investment fund owned by the wealthy fentener van vlissingen family . 5 nexans indicated that it would sell off draka s telecommunications activities . however draka rejected nexans offer and on 22 november 2010 instead accepted prysmian s new offer of 17.20 share 9.1 x ebitda . prysmian intended to integrate draka s operations into their own rather than breaking it up ; integration costs are estimated at 170 million over three years . 6 the merger of prysmian and draka and the integration of the two market leading companies culminated in the creation of the world s largest cable maker by revenue 2 7 the prysmian group . prysmian edit prysmian srl was created by goldman sachs from the cables and systems division of pirelli & c. s.p.a. . goldman sachs signed an agreement on 1 june 2005 to purchase the two companies who made up the division pirelli cavi e sistemi energia s.p.a. and pirelli cavi e sistemi telecom s.p.a. the transaction was completed on 28 july 2005 after regulatory approval by the relevant antitrust authorities . 8 on 16 january 2007 prysmian srl was transformed into the stock corporation prysmian s.p.a. and quoted in the ftse mib index of the milan stock exchange . on 22 november 2010 prysmian announced its intention of making a public mixed exchange and cash offer for the shares of draka . the offer was launched on 5 january 2011 and concluded successfully on 8 february 2011 . draka edit draka was founded in 1910 by jan teewis duyvis as hollandsche draad & kabel fabriek . in 1970 draka was acquired by philips and became part of the philips wire and cable division . through a buyout financed by parcom and flint beheer draka became independent in 1986 at which point the name draka was born . it formerly had a joint venture with alcatel lucent for manufacturing optical fibre but bought out its partner s 49.9 % stake for 209 million in december 2007 . balance sheets edit analysis of prysmian group s 2013 financial statement 9 2013 sales were 7 273 million organic growth 3 1 % adj. ebitda were 612 million 5 5 % adj. operating income 457 million 5 41 % and adj. net profit 268 million 4 3 % . net financial position 834 million as of 31 december 2013 versus 918 million as of 31 december 2012 . business edit prysmian group is involved in the development design production supply and installation of a wide range of cables for many different applications in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry . prysmian group has its corporate headquarters in milan italy . it operates in 50 countries with 91 plants and employs around 19 000 people as of 31 december 2013 . 10 the group is organised in two operating sectors energy and telecom 11 comprising 17 business units business energy projects and business energy products comprising 14 divisions accessories & services aerospace automotive elevator heavy industry hv & submarine infrastructure military & defense oil & gas power distribution renewable energy specialties & oem trade & installers transportation . telecom sector comprising three divisions fibre multimedia telecom solutions energy sector edit in the energy sector prysmian group is organised in multiple business units and operates in the business of underground and submarine systems special cables for applications in many different industrial sectors and medium and cables for the construction and infrastructure industry . utilities prysmian engineers produces and installs high voltage and extra high voltage cables for underground and submarine power transmission cables transmission directly from power stations or offshore wind farms to the primary distribution grids . the solutions offered include turnkey submarine cable systems for installation at depths of up to 2 000 metres possible thanks to the group s cable laying vessels cable enterprise and giulio verne . 12 the group also offers services for the construction of submarine power lines particularly serving offshore wind farms and supplies wind turbine inter array and export cables . in the field of power distribution the group produces medium voltage cables and systems to connect industrial and residential buildings to primary distribution grids and low voltage cables and systems for power distribution and the wiring of buildings . industrial within the industrial business unit prysmian group offers integrated cabling solutions for a wide variety of industrial sectors . renewable active in the wind and solar energy markets prysmian group produces connections for offshore wind farms with the technology to supply both wind turbine and inter array cables . oil & gas and surf prysmian group offers the petrochemicals market solutions for offshore and onshore exploration and production activities and for hydrocarbon refining . the product range includes low and medium voltage cables power cables and instrumentation control cables ; special dht downhole technology cables which include cables to control downhole instrumentation power cables and hydraulic fluid cables ; multipurpose umbilical cables to transport energy telecommunications fluids and chemicals which together with flexible pipes and ducts for offshore oil drilling allow the group to offer the industry a comprehensive range of surf subsea umbilical riser and flowline products and services . automotive the group produces standard and specialist cables for the automotive and transport industry . elevator prysmian group s elevator business produces a wide range of products for the elevator market such as flexible connectorised cables and hoistway cables in response to global demand for high performance durable and safe cables and parts . specialties and oem cable systems for various specific industrial applications such as trains aircraft ships port systems cranes mining nuclear industry defense and the electromedical sector . telecom sector edit in the telecom sector the group makes cable systems and connectivity products used in telecommunication networks . the product portfolio includes optical fibre optical cables connectivity components and accessories opgw optical ground wire and copper cables . in the telecom sector the prysmian group is organized in three business units . optical fibre prysmian group manufactures single mode multimode and specialty optical fibres with centres of excellence in battipaglia italy eindhoven netherlands and douvrin france and 4 other production sites around the world . telecom solutions prysmian group supplies passive connectivity solutions . clarification needed the group s approach in the telecom solutions business unit is based on combining existing technologies with innovative new solutions allowing fibres to be deployed in high rise buildings and multi dwelling units . many of the cables used in fttx systems feature prysmian s bend insensitive bendbrightxs optical fibre which has been specially developed for this application . within the telecom solutions business unit prysmian group also produces copper cables for underground and overhead cabling solutions and for both residential and commercial buildings . the product portfolio comprises cables of different capacity including broadband xdsl cables and those designed for high transmission low interference and electromagnetic compatibility . multimedia solutions the group s multimedia solutions business unit produces cable solutions serving communication needs in infrastructure industry and transport for a variety of applications cables for television and film studios cables for rail networks such as underground cables for long distance telecommunications light signalling cables and cables for track switching devices . research & development edit prysmian group has 17 research & development centres with over 500 skilled citation needed professionals . spending on r & d in 2013 amounted to approximately 68 million . as of 31 december 2013 the prysmian group had 5 731 patents and patent applications throughout the world covering 905 inventions . during 2013 37 new patent applications were filed of which 23 in the telecom business and 14 in the energy sector . 209 patents were granted after examination of which 37 by the european patent office epo and 59 in the united states . 13 capital and shareholders edit at 31 december 2013 the share capital of prysmian s.p.a amounted to euro 21 459 171 .00 comprising 214 591 710 ordinary shares with a nominal value of euro 0.1 each . the ownership structure at this date was as follows . 14 clubtre srl 6.2 % norges bank 2.2 % jp morgan chase & co. corporation 2.2 % state street global advisors ireland 2.1 % t. rowe price associates inc. 2.0 % organization edit board of directors edit chairman massimo tononi chief executive officer and general manager valerio battista director massimo battaini independent director maria elena cappello independent director cesare d amico independent director claudio de conto independent director giulio del ninno director and chief financial officer pier francesco facchini independent director friedrich w. frohlich director fabio romeo independent director giovanni tamburi top management edit 20 december 2013 prysmian group announced a new organisational structure and management appointments . made effective on 1 january 2014 prysmian group s top management consists of the following members 15 chief executive officer valerio battista chief strategy officer fabio romeo chief financial officer pier francesco facchini chief operating officer andrea pirondini senior vice president energy projects massimo battaini senior vice president energy products hans nieman senior vice president telecom business philippe vanhille graduate program edit build the future launched in 2012 is prysmian group s international graduate program . it is an international three year development program for graduates with a bachelor s degree in engineering or business administration or graduates who are currently working towards one . the graduate program includes a one year local job rotation 6 months in product technology 3 months in operations and 3 months in customer relations followed by a two