Safran

Name

The name Safran was chosen from 4,250 suggestions. As a holding company for many subsidiaries the name was deemed suitable for the suggestion of direction, movement, and strategy. Safran translates as rudder blade and as saffron, which the company highlights as one of the catalysts for early international trade.

Origins

In 1905 Louis Seguin created the company Gnome. Production of the first rotary engine for airplanes, the Gnome Omega, started in 1909. This company merged with the Le Rhône, a company created in 1912 by Louis Verdet, to form the Gnome et Rhône engine company. Gnome & Rhône was nationalized in 1945, creating Snecma. In 2000, this company gave its name to the “Snecma Group”, and carried out a number of acquisitions to form a larger group with an array of complementary businesses.

Sagem (Société d’Applications Générales de l’Electricité et de la Mécanique) was created in 1924 by Marcel Môme. In 1939, Sagem entered the telephone and transmissions market by taking control of Société anonyme des télécommunications (SAT). It acquired Société de Fabrication d’Instruments de Mesure (Sfim), a measurement instrument specialist, in 1999. However, by 2008 Sagem Mobile and Sagem Communications had been sold. Sagem Mobile became Sagem Wireless in January 2009.

Safran Group

The Safran Group was created on May 11, 2005, with the merger of Snecma and Sagem SA.

In June 2014, Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel announced that European efforts to remain competitive in response to SpaceX's recent success have begun in earnest. This included the creation of a new joint venture company from Arianespace's two largest shareholders: the launch-vehicle producer Airbus Group and engine-producer Safran.

By May 2015, Safran had created a launcher division as well called Airbus Safran Launchers. This entity is currently developing the Ariane 6 launch vehicle for initial flights in the 2020s.

In January 2017, Safran took over the aircraft interior supplier Zodiac Aerospace to create the third largest aerospace supplier with $22.5 Billion revenue, behind United Technologies with $28.2 Billion and GE Aviation with $24.7 Billion; the new group is 92,000-employee strong, with 48% of its business in aircraft systems and equipment, from landing gears to seats, 46% in propulsion and 6% in defense.

Group organization

The Safran group is divided into three main branches:

Aerospace propulsion

The aerospace propulsion branch groups all operations concerning the propulsion of aeroplanes, helicopters, missiles, and launchers, for the civil aviation, military aviation, and space markets: design, production, marketing, testing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).

Other subsidiaries

Aircraft equipment

The aircraft equipment branch groups all design, production, sales, and support operations for systems and equipment used by civil and military airplanes and helicopters.

Defense and security

The defense security branch operates in the civil, military, and space markets, and covers the following areas: inertial guidance and navigation equipment (SIGMA INS based on ring laser gyro sensors), optronics systems and equipment, avionics systems, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) systems, air-land systems and equipment, biometric identification systems, secure transaction terminals, and smart cards. On July 1, 2009, the European Union approved Safran's acquisition of 81 percent of the GE Security division which produces airport security systems and biometric identification systems.

Safran's biometrics products and technologies make up the "biometric data acquisition terminals, enrollment services, and processing software" used in Aadhaar, India's national identification number system and the largest biometric database in the world.

Shareholder profile

The biggest change in Safran's shareholder profile is the increase in publicly held shares (from 36.9% in 2008 to 54.1% in 2012).