Invensys

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Invensys Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryIndustrial Automation, Transportation, Controls
Founded1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Defunct2014
FateMerged to Schneider Electric
HeadquartersLondon, England
Key people
Jean-Pascal Tricoire (Chairman and CEO)
ProductsAutomation software
computer-based automation hardware systems
temperature controllers
control systems
Revenue£1,792 million (2013)[1]
£43 million (2013)[1]
£128 million (2013)[1]
Number of employees
16,500 (2011)[2]
ParentSchneider Electric

Invensys Limited was a multinational engineering and information technology company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. At its height, the company had offices in more than 50 countries and its products were sold in around 180 countries.[3]

Invensys was formed in 1999 through the merger of BTR plc and Siebe plc.[4] It was originally founded on 1 April 1920 as Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd and continued through various name changes registered at Companies House from that date. Invensys lines of business were grouped into four segments: Software, Industrial Automation, Energy Controls and Appliance. Its brands included Avantis, Eurotherm, Foxboro, IMServ, InFusion, Triconex, SimSci, Skelta, Wonderware, Drayton, Eberle, Eliwell.

Less than three years after its establishment, Invensys was in financial hardship, in part due to having overpaid for acquisitions such as the Baan Corporation at the height of the dotcom bubble and having accumulated a heavy debt burden. Through several divestments and a major restructuring, the company's fiscal situation had improved by 2005, allowing the pace of acquisitions to pick up. Considerable business was being obtained by its various products in the railway sector, which it opted to align under the Invensys Rail brand. Invensys Rail was ultimately sold to the German engineering conglomerate Siemens in exchange for £1.7 billion in May 2013.

Between 2011 and early 2012, the company's share price fell by nearly 50%, which was attributed to a £40 million expense from the delayed production of control and safety systems for eight Chinese nuclear reactors. In response, Invensys began openingly seeking to be acquired by a larger company, approaching the American industrial automation company Emerson Electric without any bid being made. During January 2014, Invensys was taken over by the French multinational Schneider Electric for a total consideration of $5.5 billion. Schneider opted to fully integrate the company and phased out the "Invensys" brand in favour of its own.

History[edit]

Invensys was formed through the merger of BTR plc and Siebe plc in 1999.[4][5] Between 1999 and 2004, it underwent a major restructuring programme involving thousands of redundancies to cut its costs amid falling sales and a sizeable debt burden that allegedly posed the possibility of the company going bankrupt.[6][7] A major disposal programme combined with a £2.7bn debt restructuring during 2004 saved Invensys from collapse.[8][9] It was under this strategy that The Baan Corporation, which it purchased in 2000 amid the dotcom bubble for €762 million,[10] was sold three years later for only US$135 million.[11][12] Several other elements, such as Fasco motors and Eurotherm Drives, were also divested to refinance the company.[13][14]

During May 2005, following the completion of the refinancing effort, Rick Haythornthwaite resigned his position as Invensys' chief executive, his position was filled by Ulf Henriksson.[15] In May 2006, the French multinational Schneider Electric announced that it would acquire Invensys Building Systems (IBS) operations in both North America and Asia in exchange for $296 million.[16] During December 2007, Invensys arranged to sell its Firex Safety Division to United Technologies.[17] That year, the company opted to expand its presence in Indonesia.[18]

In late 2009, as part of an effort to align its various brands and names in the railway sector together, Westinghouse Rail Systems was renamed Invensys Rail.[19] At the time, Invensys Rail was one of a handful of companies that produced equipment compatible with the new European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).[20] During 2011 alone, deals cumulatively valued at £700 million were secured by Invensys Rail from numerous organisations such as Network Rail and Obrascón Huarte Lain for its signalling products.[21][22][23]

In March 2011, Wayne Edmunds, who had been Invensys' chief financial officer since 2009, was appointed Chief Executive, replacing Ulf Henriksson.[24][25] According to The Financial Times, Henriksson, who had been Invensys's Chief Executive since 2005, had had differences with chairman Nigel Rudd over the company's management, in spite of the return to financial health under Henriksson.[25]

During the late 2000s and early 2010s, Invensys became increasingly involved in the Chinese market across various sectors, including the rail and power generation sectors.[26][27] Between 2011 and early 2012, the company's share price dropped by almost 50%, the devaluation being largely attributed to a £40 million expense associated with delays in the production of control and safety systems for eight Chinese nuclear reactors.[28][29] On 2 May 2013, Invensys sold off its Wiltshire-based rail division to the German engineering conglomerate Siemens in exchange for £1.7 billion, the majority of which being used to address a deficit in its company pension scheme.[30][31]

In 2012, Invensys held discussions with the American industrial automation company Emerson Electric on a prospective takeover, although Emerson never issued any firm approach.[32][33] That same year, the company's management team was compelled to issue a denial of a comment made by Henriksson that he expected China Southern Rail to make a substantial offer to obtain a stake in Invensys.[34] The two companies had previously signed licensing agreements that led to Invensys Rail Group's signalling products being locally produced in China as well as to jointly sell those products to China's expansive mass transit market.[35][36]

During July 2013, it was announced that Invensys was set to be taken over by Schneider Electric, one of the firm's long term competitors, for a total consideration of £3.4 billion.[37][38] The deal was noted to likely involve job losses as Schneider revealed plans to make cost savings of around €140m (£122m) per year.[30] Reports claimed that the American engineering conglomerate General Electric was planning to issue its own £3.5 billion ($5.3 billion) counterbid for control of Invensys.[39][40] The takeover was completed on 17 January 2014 and Invensys was declared to have been fully integrated by Schneider seven months later.[41]

Operations[edit]

Invensys was organised into four main segments: Software, Industrial Automation, Energy Controls and Appliance.

Avantis[edit]

Avantis Enterprise Asset Management provides maintenance repair and operations including maintenance management, spares and inventory management, condition monitoring and procurement.[42]

Eurotherm[edit]

Main article: Eurotherm

Eurotherm is a supplier of control measurement and data recording to industrial and process consumers.[43]

Foxboro[edit]

Foxboro Company provides control systems addressing distributed and plant operations[44] as well as measurement and instrument systems.[45] Instruments include Pressure Transmitters,[46] Coriolis Flow Meters,[47] Valve Positioners,[48] Buoyancy Level Transmitters[49] and Temperature Transmitters.[50]

IMServ Europe[edit]

IMServ Europe is a provider of energy management and data monitoring services.[51] IMServ was previously part of Invensys Controls.

SimSci[edit]

SimSci provides applications that help improve asset performance and utilisation with integrated simulation, optimisation, training, and process control software and services.[52]

Skelta BPM [edit]

Skelta BPM is a product for business process management.[53]

Triconex[edit]

Main article: Triconex

Triconex provides safety and critical control systems used in applications including emergency shutdown, burner management, fire and gas and turbomachinery control and protection.[54]

Wonderware[edit]

Main article: Wonderware

Wonderware provides software products to address production operations, production performance, manufacturing intelligence, business process management and collaboration.[55]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Preliminary Results 2013" (PDF). Invensys plc. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  2. ^ "About us". Invensys. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  3. ^ "Annual Report and Accounts 2010" (PDF). Invensys plc. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  4. ^ a b Harrison, Michael (24 November 1998). "Siebe and BTR unveil plans for pounds 9.4bn merger". The Independent. London.
  5. ^ "Invensys Preliminary Results for the 12 Months Ended 31 March". bloomberg.com. 31 March 2000.
  6. ^ "Invensys PLC Ratings Lowered to 'BBB-' and Removed from CreditWatch; Outlook Stable". disclosure.spglobal.com. 13 December 2002.
  7. ^ Keers, Helena (15 November 2002). "Invensys plunges after disappointing losses and warning". The Telegraph.
  8. ^ Mathiason, Nick (18 April 2004). "Good signals at Invensys". The Guardian. London.
  9. ^ "Invensys sells CompAir for £1". drivesncontrols.com. 1 June 2002.
  10. ^ Wootliff, Benjamin (19 July 2000). "ING paving the way for Invensys to buy Baan". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  11. ^ "Was ABN the worst takeover deal ever?". The Independent. 20 January 2009.
  12. ^ "Invensys sells Baan for US$135 million". Business Wire. 2003.
  13. ^ "Fasco motors business changes hands again for $220m". drivesncontrols.com. 3 July 2007.
  14. ^ "Parker Hannifin acquires SSD Drives". controleng.com. 25 August 2005.
  15. ^ Guha, Malini (19 May 2005). "Invensys losses widen as chief executive departs". Financial Times.
  16. ^ "Schneider Electric acquires Invensys Building Systems for $296 million". automation.com. 25 May 2006.
  17. ^ Goldstein, Steve (21 December 2007). "Invensys to sell fire safety unit to United Technologies".
  18. ^ "Invensys expands operations in Indonesia". pacetoday.com.au. 26 November 2007.
  19. ^ "Westinghouse Rail Systems becomes Invensys Rail". Railway Gazette International. 2 September 2009.
  20. ^ "Safely connecting Europe's railways". globalrailwayreview.com. 30 July 2007.
  21. ^ "Invensys wins Great Northern Great Eastern signalling contract". Railway Gazette International. 24 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Invensys Rail lands €700 million rail signalling contracts". globalrailwayreview.com. 3 November 2011.
  23. ^ "Invensys Rail Dimetronic will implement the first ERTMS Level 2 system in Turkey". globalrailwayreview.com. 26 January 2011.
  24. ^ "Appointment of Chief Executive". Press release. Invensys. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  25. ^ a b Marsh, Peter; Kavanagh, Michael (24 March 2011). "Invensys replaces chief executive". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  26. ^ Moore, Malcolm (13 November 2010). "Invensys rails against poor China relations". The Telegraph.
  27. ^ "Invensys to supply digital automation in China coal plants". power-eng.com. 5 April 2006.
  28. ^ "Invensys hit by costs racking up in China". Evening Standard. 17 May 2012.
  29. ^ "Invensys shares tumble on profits warning". Daily Telegraph. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  30. ^ a b "Invensys agrees takeover by France's Schneider". The Guardian. 31 July 2013.
  31. ^ "Siemens completes Invensys Rail acquisition". Railway Gazette International. 2 May 2013.
  32. ^ Kirchfeld, Aaron; Campbell, Matthew; McCracken, Jeffrey (21 June 2012). "Invensys Said to Weigh Options After Emerson Interest". Bloomberg.
  33. ^ Fletcher, Nick (20 June 2012). "Invensys jumps by a quarter on talk of bid interest from US group Emerson". The Guardian.
  34. ^ "Invensys board denies chief's claim of China Southern Rail move". Evening Standard. 11 April 2012.
  35. ^ "Invensys rail agreements open way into China market". eandt.theiet.org. 20 September 2010.
  36. ^ Fletcher, Nick (17 September 2010). "Invensys accelerates on China rail deal as FTSE moves above 5600". The Guardian.
  37. ^ "Why the chancellor may weep at Invensys takeover". 31 July 2013 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  38. ^ "Schneider's £3.4bn takeover of Invensys goes ahead". drivesncontrols.com. 31 July 2013.
  39. ^ Dunkley, Jamie (15 July 2013). "General Electric fans flames of Invensys bidding war". The Independent.
  40. ^ "GE prepares to counter Schneider's bid for Invensys". domain-b.com. 15 July 2015.
  41. ^ "Schneider Electric Announced Complete Integration of Invensys". pumpsandsystems.com. 12 July 2014.
  42. ^ "Avantis website". software.schneider-electric.com. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  43. ^ "Eurotherm: Temperature Control, Measurement and Data Recording Solutions". Eurotherm USA. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  44. ^ "Foxboro Distributed Control System". Invensys.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  45. ^ "Measurement and Instrumentation". Invensys.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  46. ^ "Pressure Transmitters". Invensys.com. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  47. ^ "Coriolis Flow Meters". Invensys.com. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  48. ^ "Valve Positioners". Invensys.com. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  49. ^ "Buoyancy Level Transmitters". Invensys.com. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  50. ^ "Temperature Transmitters". Invensys.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  51. ^ "IMServ | The Power Behind Energy Efficiency - UK". IMServ.
  52. ^ "SimSci website". software.schneider-electric.com. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  53. ^ "Invensys Skelta website". Skelta.com. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  54. ^ "Triconex page on the Invensys Operations Management Website". Invensys.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  55. ^ "Wonderware". software.schneider-electric.com. Retrieved 29 March 2011.

External links[edit]

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