(AOF) – Groupe Gorgé has announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with the shareholders of the company iXblue with a view to carrying out the acquisition of 100% of its capital on the basis of an enterprise value of 410 million euros. This operation will bring together iXblue and ECA Group, a subsidiary of Groupe Gorgé specializing in autonomous robotics. A press release specifying the characteristics of the operation will be published Monday morning before the opening of the stock market.
Trading in Groupe Gorgé shares on Euronext Paris has been suspended since this morning at the request of Groupe Gorgé pending a press release on the progress of the acquisition process of iXblue. The resumption of the quotation will take place Monday morning at the opening of the stock market.
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Automotive / Equipment manufacturers: A slow recovery
After a bad year 2020, some actors
expect a very gradual return to the level of activity prior to the crisis: not before 2024-2025.
The global pandemic weighed heavily on the accounts of Valeo, Faurecia and Plastic Omnium.
2020, a bad year for French equipment manufacturers.
All three ended 2020 posting losses, despite recovering in the second half. Faurecia recorded 379 million euros in losses last year. Its sales tumbled 35.4% in the first half, following the shutdown of automobile production in China, then in Europe and the United States. Its turnover fell by nearly 20%, to 14.6 billion euros, over the year as a whole and its operating margin rate fell from 7.2% to 2.8% .
Its competitor, Plastic Omnium, posted a decline in turnover of 16.7% in 2020, to 7.7 billion euros. Staff costs and general expenses were reduced by 240 million euros and investments by 27%. Including 250 million in asset impairments, its net loss reached 251 million in 2020.
Valeo suffered a drop in its turnover of 16%, to 16.4 billion euros, and a net loss slightly greater than one billion euros.
Hydrogen, a new El Dorado for equipment manufacturers
The production of green hydrogen is an alternative to electric batteries. Bosch, one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, will invest by 2024 one billion euros in fuel cells, which transform hydrogen into electricity. The German group predicts that the green hydrogen market in Europe will represent nearly 40 billion euros by 2030, with annual growth rates of 65%. He estimates that the market for mobile fuel cell components, intended for vehicles, will represent around 18 billion euros by the end of the decade.
French automotive suppliers are also seeking to capture part of this market. Michelin and Faurecia rely on their subsidiary Symbio, which produces fuel cells. Plastic Omnium aims to become a world leader in hydrogen by 2030 and achieve 3 billion euros in sales by that date.
Professional electronics: market under pressure
According to the WSTS (World Semiconductor Trade Statistics), the global semiconductor market is even expected to grow by 8.4% in 2021 for a market under extreme tension.
Excellent prospects
While demand is growing faster than global growth, supply is very limited. Three players dominate the sector (the Taiwanese TSMC, the American Intel and the Korean Samsung) whereas there were more than twenty in 2002. Analysts predict that they will be down to two from 2023. The United States represent only 12% of world production according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. As for Europe, it weighs only 7%. It aims to produce 20% of semiconductors in the world by 2030. Sixteen countries, including France and Germany, will unite to develop production capacities.
TSMC (the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is very well positioned to take advantage of the arrival of 5G and connected objects. “Founder”, it does not sell any chip under its brand, but produces the components on behalf of other players.