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ALLEVARD RESSORTS Automobile group’s origins date back
to the 19th-century when RESSORTS du NORD and SOCIETE GENERALE DE
RESSORTS were founded. In 1978, these two companies merged to become
RESSORTS INDUSTRIE.
RESSORTS INDUSTRIE and ACIERS D’ALLEVARD were both subsidiaries
of ALLEVARD INDUSTRIES and belonged to the COMPAGNIE GENERALE D’INDUSTRIE
ET DE PARTICIPATION (CGIP). ACIERS D’ALLEVARD was founded in
1842 and specialized in the manufacture of spring steel having grown
out of the SOCIÉTÉ DES HAUTS FOURNEAUX ET FORGES D’ALLEVARD.
After the acquisition by VALEO, the CGIP decided to disengage from
a number of its industrial activities. ALLEVARD INDUSTRIES therefore
underwent an LMBO in 1987, immediately followed by a merger-absorption
of its two subsidiaries, RESSORTS INDUSTRIE and ACIERS D’ALLEVARD.
In 1988, it was listed on the OTC market.
In 1989, ALLEVARD INDUSTRIES embarked on a new stage in its development
by merging with ASCOMETAL (USINOR group), a move which allowed it
to undertake a successful strategy of growth in Europe, followed
by Asia and North America.
From 1990 to 1996, ALLEVARD INDUSTRIES, which changed its name to
ALLEVARD in 1993, acquired in turn:
100% of the spring manufacturer AMSTRONG,
which changed its name to SPRINGS INDUSTRIES and then to ALLEVARD
SPRINGS LTD
100% of the German spring manufacturer SAAR
FEDERN, which changed its name to ALLEVARD FEDERN GmbH
100% of the Torsion Bar business previously operated on the Custines
and Revigny Sur Ornain sites by ASCOMETAL and SMR respectively
50% of the Spanish companies ISSA and EGUZKIA in partnership
with the Japanese spring manufacturer NHK
Having extended into Europe, ALLEVARD decided
to pursue a policy of internationalization, with the objective of
improving its service to its customer PSA-Citroën in China
by joining forces with a local partner to set up a Joint Venture
known as SHANGHAI ALLEVARD SPRINGS.
In a parallel development, and in its determination to offer its
customers the largest possible range of products, ALLEVARD seized
the opportunity in June 1996 to set up a company known as ALLEVARD
RESSORTS COMPOSITES. This was a 50-50 partnership with INOPLAST
to develop, manufacture and market composite springs.
At the end of 1996, ALLEVARD was subject to a merger-absorption
by its parent company ASCOMETAL which, as part of its strategy to
develop its downstream activities, hived off the automobile business
to the newly-created subsidiary ALLEVARD RESSORTS Automobile in
June 1997.
The automobile business then pursued its growth in the following
areas:
In South
America, by setting up a Brazilian subsidiary, ALLEVARD MOLAS
DO BRASIL, in 1997 and by taking a majority stake in 1998 in the
share capital of the Argentinean spring manufacturer LIGGETT ARGENTINA.
In India, by joining forces with a minority partner to set up
a Joint Venture known as JAMNA-NHK-ALLEVARD.
In 1999, ALLEVARD RESSORTS Automobile, in partnership
with RENAULT, completed its industrial arsenal by setting up a cold
coil spring plant in Lieusant (Seine et Marne).
At the end of 1999, USINOR sold 100% of the ALLEVARD RESSORTS Automobile
group to AMSU (Italian SOGEFI group).
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