The story
Founded by Maurice Mallet in 1896.1
History
Aeronautic foundations (1896–1933)
The company was founded in 1896 as "Mallet, Mélandri et de Pitray" by Maurice Mallet and his associates. In the beginning, the company produced hydrogen balloons for sport and tourism.
In 1909, the company changed its name to "Zodiac". It then experienced a boom fueled by the construction of airplanes and airships, especially for the Aérostation Maritime (Naval Balloon Command), and through its participation in the war effort. Until the 1930s, it produced 63 airships.
Marine activities (1934–1972)
In 1934, the company created the first prototype inflatable boats, ancestors of the renowned "Zodiac", which would contribute to the development of the civil and military inflatable boat industry.
The company benefited from the boom in leisure activities after World War II, as well as the French interest in recreational boating in the 1960s. Zodiac developed inflatable boats for the civil market and gradually gave up the airship market for the more promising water sports market. Zodiac honored a contract in 1966 with CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales - National Centre for Space Studies) for the production of a meteorological balloon, in the scope of the EOLE project. At the end of the 1960s, Zodiac reorganized and set up its first sales operation for exporting its products overseas more easily. In 1964 it opened its first subsidiary in Spain - "Zodiac Española" - followed by "Zodiac North America" in 1970.
Group internationalization (1973–1989)
At the beginning of the 1970s, Zodiac experienced financial difficulties. Spurred on by its new CEO, Jean-Louis Gerondeau, and with the support of shareholders and the IDI (Institute pour le Development Industrial - French Institute for Industrial Development), the Group recovered by 1977. In 1983, Zodiac was the first company to be listed on the 'Second Market' of the Paris Stock Exchange.
The firm conducted an international development policy and increases its acquisitions, thereby enabling it to position itself in niche markets on a global scale. In 1978, it acquired Aérazur Constructions Aéronautiques and thus re-entered the aerospace market. In 1979, it acquired EFA (Parachutes), which led to the creation of the aerospace segment, and continued its development in marine and aerospace with the acquisitions of Bombard-L'Angevinière (ranked second in inflatable boats), Saylor (leading French producer of light PVC inflatable structures) in 1981 and Superflexit (flexible tanks) in 1983, as well as the takeover of Parachutes de France (sport parachutes). In 1987, Zodiac acquired Air Cruisers (leader in evacuation slides), Metzeler (inflatable boats), B. Kern, and Europol in 1988, it acquired Pioneer, at the time the second American manufacturer of deceleration and engine braking recovery systems through parachutes.
Development of aerospace businesses (1990–2006)
In the 1990s, the Group continued its acquisitions, strengthening its aerospace business. In 1998, Monogram Systems (onboard water and waste management) joined, as did the Inter technique Group in 1999. The latter acquisition significantly increased the aerospace share in the Group's business and later enabled the creation of the Aircraft Systems segment, specializing in on-board systems.
From 2002 to 2006, Zodiac successively acquired ESCO (emergency arresting systems), ICORE (cable protection and interconnect systems), Avox Systems (oxygen systems), C&D Aerospace (cabin interiors), Enertec and In-Snec (telemetry and data recording).
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Split and refocus on aerospace (2007–2018)
In September 2007, the Zodiac Group sold its Marine business to a holding company, 72% owned by the American Group Carlyle with 28% being retained by Zodiac, thus creating Zodiac Marine and Pool.
In November 2007, Olivier Zarrouati succeeded Jean-Louis Gerondeau as Chief Executive Officer.
At the beginning of 2008, the Group was renamed Zodiac Aerospace and adopted a new logo.
At the end of 2008, Zodiac Aerospace strengthened its position in the cabin interiors segment by acquiring the Dutch company Driessen (leading manufacturer of galleys for single-aisle aircraft and trolleys), Adder (cabin separators) and TIA (electrical equipment for galleys, mainly for the business aircraft market). Zodiac Aerospace continued its acquisition strategy in cabin interiors as well as in systems. In 2010, the Canadian company Cantwell Cullen & Co (cabling and interconnect systems) and the German company Sell GmbH (galleys for wide-bodied aircraft) joined the Group.
The year 2010 was marked by a takeover bid for Zodiac Aerospace by the French Group Safran. At the beginning of July 2010, Zodiac Aerospace announced that it had been officially approached by Safran and that, having examined Safran's proposal, its Supervisory Board had unanimously decided not to pursue it. For several months, Zodiac and Safran squared up in the media. In November 2010, the AMF (French Financial Markets Authority) summoned Safran to clarify its position: its CEO, Jean-Paul Herteman announced in November 2010 that he had given up his plan to acquire Zodiac Aerospace.
Since 2011, Zodiac Aerospace has continued its acquisitions:
Heath Tecna (cabin interiors for commercial aircraft);
Contour Aerospace (first class and business class seats);
IMS (IFE - In-Flight Entertainment - systems);
NAT (engineering and certification);
TriaGnoSys (on-board connectivity systems for In-flight entertainment);
PPP (oxygen systems);
Greenpoint Technologies (VIP/VVIP configuration layout design for wide-bodied aircraft);
Enviro Systems (environment control system).
In September 2012, Zodiac Aerospace put in place an organization comprising five segments (Zodiac Aero safety, Zodiac Aircraft Systems, Zodiac Cabin & Structures, Zodiac Galleys & Equipment and Zodiac Seats), complemented by an after-sales service business, Zodiac Aerospace Services.
Explosion
On Tuesday, 14 July 2015, an explosion occurred in a prepreg treater at Zodiac Aerospace's Engineered Materials Plant in Newport, Washington, United States. Five individuals were injured as a result of the blast, and people were asked to remain at least 600 meters from the building.
Acquisition by Safran
On 19 January 2017, Safran announced a deal to buy Zodiac at €29.47 per share in cash, with a deal total of almost €10 billion ($10.5 billion).
In May 2017, Safran reduced the amount offered to take Zodiac by $1 billion after Zodiac posted an unfavorable earnings forecast. On 19 October 2018, Safran and Zodiac Aerospace signed an agreement for the latter to merge into Safran.
Share ownership and stock market information
Zodiac Aerospace's shares are listed on the Euronext Paris market. As at 29 March 2016, Zodiac Aerospace's share capital stood at €4,515 million euros made up of 289,407,962 shares.
From Wikipedia’s article on Zodiac Aerospace, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5