soci t anonyme traded as euronext saft industry batteries founded 1918 1918 founder victor h rold headquarters bagnolet france 1 area served worldwide key people ghislain lescuyer chairman and ceo revenue 628.7 million 2011 2 operating income 79.9 million 2011 2 profit 75 million 2011 2 total assets 406.6 million 2011 2 total equity 1.01 billion 2011 2 number of employees 4100 website saftbatteries.com saft is a company involved in the design the development and the manufacturing of batteries used in transport industry and defense . headquartered in france it has an international presence . 1 3 contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings 1.2 global growth 1.3 doughty hanson funds era 1.4 rise and fall of the partnership with johnson controls 1.5 projects and present 2 divisions 2.1 industrial battery group ibg 2.2 specialty battery group sbg 3 references history edit an old saft s er14250 aa lithium thionyl chloride cell with a matchstick for scale . beginnings edit the soci t des accumulateurs fixes et de traction saft was founded in 1918 mainly by victor h rold which since 1913 had been manufacturing batteries for the luggage carts that were used in railway stations and for the lighting of the locomotives from the paris lyon marseille company plm . 4 in 1924 the company was partially listed on the paris bourse . 5 in 1928 the compagnie g n rale electrique alcatel purchased it . in 1949 it introduced a new type of alkaline battery . the company widened its range of activities and markets including power plants telephone systems and industries in general . it introduced a revolutionary manufacturing system for sintered plates which had a great impact in the aeronautic field . in 1953 the us naval air command requested 2000 batteries of 24 v. the contract with the us military was of us 8 844 527 in 2016 dollars . 6 7 in 1980 together with psa saft conducted a study to evaluate the potential of using batteries to power electric cars . during the next years the investment was focused on built a sophisticated robotic assembly line . 8 global growth edit global locations of saft factories in 2012 . in the 1940s saft opened a subsidiary in the united kingdom and in the 70s one in the united states . in the 80s the company settled in singapore and continued its expansion . 5 it became the leading manufacturer of nickel cadmium batteries 9 both in the aviation sector and in the railway sector . 8 in 1995 alcatel delisted the company from the stock market and acquired a 100 percent of its shares . later saft purchased nife and alcad its main rivals as well as the czech company ferak . in 2001 it suffered a setback and sold facilities in korea and mexico . 5 the same year it acquired from invensys plc the american company hawker eternacell a leading provider of lithium batteries to the american and british armed forces . 10 it also took control of the american company asb and sonnenschein lithium . in 2003 it purchased the german company friemann und wolf batterietechnik gmbh friwo and the assets of emisa and centra from exide . 5 doughty hanson funds era edit in 2004 the private equity firm doughty hanson funds purchased from alcatel at a cost of 900 million euros a 100 percent stake in saft 11 and listed it on the euronext in june . 12 in july 2005 saft agreed the purchase of a 51 percent stake in amco power systems ltd with its owner amalgamations private ltd. 5 in january 2006 saft and johnson controls inc announced the launch of a joint venture named johnson controls saft advanced power solutions llc to develop produce and sell advanced technology batteries for hybrid electric and electric vehicles . 13 in february of that year saft purchased from amalgamations private its remaining stake in amco power systems which was renamed amco saft india ltd. 14 in may 2006 eads and saft america through asb formed the new subsidiary advanced thermal batteries inc located in cockeysville maryland with the purpose of supplying the military industry . 15 in april 2007 doughty hanson sold all its stake in saft after an accelerated bookbuilt offering of 6.8 million shares by goldman sachs international at a price of 23.75 euros per share . 12 since then the majority of the shares were kept on free float . 2 rise and fall of the partnership with johnson controls edit in january 2008 johnson controls saft opened the first production facility for lithium ion hybrid vehicle batteries in nersac france . 16 in 2009 johnson controls saft started the construction of a lithium ion production plant in michigan while saft built another for itself in florida . 5 despite some signs of promise johnson controls was increasingly dissatisfied with the restrictions of the agreement and also sought a more important ally . 17 18 in may 2011 the american company request the dissolution of johnson controls saft advanced power solutions llc to the delaware court of chancery . 13 17 18 the two companies agreed the separation and johnson controls paid saft 145 million dollars for its shares in the joint venture as well as for the right to use certain technology developed by it . johnson controls retained the michigan facility built by the partnership . the french joint facility was transferred to saft . 19 20 21 projects and present edit saft wanted accelerate its development through acquisitions in 2012 after cashing in on the end of its joint venture with johnson controls and refinancing debt . 22 in february 2013 the boeing s difficulties with the 787 dreamliner made airbus to drop the use of lithium ion batteries for its a350 23 which hit saft because it had a supply contract with the aircraft manufacturer though the company publicly denied a major impact . 24 in july 2013 saft has been awarded a 6.5 million contract to supply high power lithium ion battery for the lockheed martin f 35 lightning ii 25 saft also supplies the battery for the exagon furtive egt a four seat electric sports car produced by exagon motors . the battery is capable of withstanding 3 000 charge cycles while conserving 80 % of its capacity . 26 divisions edit a tgv atlantique train on its way to paris . sncf is one of the major clients of saft . industrial battery group ibg edit it produces nickel rechargeable batteries for the industry and the transport . the use of its products include aircraft safety and starting systems . high speed trains . urban transport networks including trams metros and signalling systems . back up power systems . oil and gas plants . industrial facilities power generation and distribution systems . telecommunications networks . emergency lighting . professional electronics . storage for renewable energy systems . 1 3 specialty battery group sbg edit it produces lithium and rechargeable lithium ion energy storage systems for the electronic defence and space industries . they are used in utility meters . electronic toll collection . automated meter readers and road tolling systems . military communication systems . satellites . torpedoes . space launchers . military hybrid vehicles . small submarines . missiles night vision goggles . gps systems . medical equipment . asset tracking . sonobuoys . computer memory back up systems . radios and other portable systems for military use . 1 3 references edit a b c d company description saft groupe . businessweek.com . businessweek . retrieved 14 august 2012 . a b c d e f 2011 annual report pdf . saft . retrieved 14 august 2012 . a b c company profile saft groupe . reuters.com . reuters . retrieved 14 august 2012 . usine saft romainville romainville s saft factory in french . fr.topic topos . retrieved 14 august 2012 . a b c d e f history . saft . retrieved 14 august 2012 . federal reserve bank of minneapolis community development project . consumer price index estimate 1800 . federal reserve bank of minneapolis . retrieved november 10 2015 . here s the long life battery popular mechanics vol . 101 no. 3 p. 252 march 1954 issn 0032 4558 a b inventaire g n ral du patrimoine culturel general inventory of cultural heritage in french . culture.gouv.fr . retrieved 14 august 2012 . iii . national critical technologies report 1995 . diane publishing . 2004 . p. 12 . isbn 0 7881 1978 8 . saft acquires hawker eternacell from invensys plc . prnnews.com . retrieved 14 august 2012 . clark nick 16 may 2005 . doughty hanson plans saft float with goldman . financialnews.com . retrieved 14 august 2012 . a b doughty hanson sells remaining stake in saft . doughtyhanson.com . retrieved 14 august 2012 . a b johnson controls files petition to dissolve li ion battery jv with saft . greencarcongress.com . 18 may 2011 . retrieved 14 august 2012 . new investments . prnnewswire.com . 7 july 2008 . retrieved 14 august 2012 . eads and saft america launch thermal battery company devoted to military market . militaryaerospace.com . 16 may 2006 . retrieved 14 august 2012 . kenney brad 31 january 2008 . johnson controls saft opens production facility for lithium ion hybrid vehicle batteries . industryweek.com . retrieved 14 august 2012 . a b pentland william 19 may 2011 . battery battle brews for johnson controls saft . forbes.com . forbes . retrieved 15 august 2012 . a b fehrenbacher katie 19 may 2011 . report johnson controls divorcing saft over grid battery market . gigaom.com . retrieved 15 august 2012 . king danny 7 september 2011 . johnson controls buys out saft joint venture . autoobserver.com . retrieved 15 august 2012 . warburton simon 5 september 2011 . us johnson controls and saft finish battery joint venture . just auto.com . retrieved 15 august 2012 . barrett rick 2 september 2011 . johnson controls saft agree to end joint venture . jsonline.com . retrieved 15 august 2012 . saft eyes acquisitions after refinancing debt . reuters.com . reuters . 1 march 2012 . retrieved 15 august 2012 . hepher tim 15 february 2013 . airbus drops lithium ion batteries for a350 . reuters.com . reuters . retrieved 17 april 2013 . saft sees little impact from airbus dropping lithium ion battery . reuters.com . reuters . 18 february 2013 . retrieved 17 april 2013 . saft awarded 6.5 million contract to pioneer high power li ion aviation battery capabilities for f 35 . fort mill times . 22 july 2013 . retrieved 22 july 2013 . essai exagon furtive egt . motor legend . 9 september 2013 . retrieved 9 september 2013 . v t e cac mid 60 companies of france june 2012 a roports de paris air france klm alten altran technologies aperam areva atos bic biom rieux bollor bourbon bull cfao ciments fran ais club m diterran e cnp assurances derichebourg dexia eiffage eramet euler hermes eurazeo eurofins scientific faiveley transport faurecia fonciere des regions gecina groupe steria havas icade iliad imerys ingenico ipsen ipsos jcdecaux kl pierre maurel et prom mercialys m tropole tv neopost nexans nexity orpea pagesjaunes plastic omnium r my cointreau rexel rubis seb saft silic soitec technicolor teleperformance tf1 group ubisoft 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