1995 was the year
Geodis
group was created.
In 1995, it was decided to group together all of the SCETA subsidiaries involved
in non-rail general merchandise transportation.
Accordingly, on 20 December 1995,
Bourgey Montreuil, SCETA Transport
and SCETA International were merged and absorbed by Compagnie Générale
Calberson.
The assets and liabilities of the former companies were immediately reallocated
to the subsidiaries of Compagnie Générale Calberson.
At the same time, Compagnie Générale Calberson adopted the new
corporate name of Geodis.
In
1996, the Geodis group was
privatised. Subsequent to the Geodis privatisation decree signed on 20 August
1996, CTT SCETA proposed to its stockholders that it buy back its own shares,
in return for a payment largely made up of Geodis shares held in the CTT SCETA
portfolio.
SCETA Group’s equity stake in Geodis thus fell below 50%.
At the end of the privatisation process, the Geodis group was restructured into
four operational divisions: Logistics, Overseas, Groupage and
Full Truck Loads.
1997
The absorption of
Tailleur Industrie reflected and underlined
the Geodis group’s strategic orientation towards Logistics.
1998
The Group undertook its fi rst common stock increase during 1998 with a view
to allowing the Group to grow and to increase the proportion of the fl oat rate,
which rose from 13.1% to 21%. Furthermore, several asset disposals allowed the
Group to focus on its core businesses.
2000
In 2000, Geodis pursued its strategic areas of development and modified its
Group structure. In May, Geodis sold all its shares in its fully owned express
delivery subsidiary Extand to the UK Post Offi ce. In November, Geodis strengthened
its position of leadership in Southern Europe by acquiring a controlling interest
in excess of 99% in the General Cargo operations of the Italian group
Züst
Ambrosetti, with effect from 1 January 2001.
2001
At the beginning of January 2001, the Board of Directors of Geodis appointed
Pierre Blayau to the position of CEO and Chairman, replacing
Alain Poinssot.
At the beginning of February,
François Branche was appointed
to the position of CEO of Geodis group. A new Geodis group organisation, replacing
the previous business division structure, was adopted in April 2001 and implemented
over the following months.
2002
Geodis pursued its reorganisation. In January, its UK subsidiary United Carriers
was shut down. In March, Geodis strengthened the cohesion of its international
freight-forwarding network with the conclusion of a partnership with the German
Rohde and Liesenfeld group. In April, Geodis acquired an ownership
interest in
Elix and became its agent for France.
At the beginning of November, the Company regrouped all of its management teams
at its new head offi ce in Clichy (92 – France), and transferred its registered
office there.
At the end of November, an increase in common stock enabled Geodis to strengthen
its stockholders’ equity and thus improve its debt/equity ratio while
maintaining its customers’ trust.
2003
In January 2003, Geodis strengthened its partnership with Elix: Zust Ambrosetti
became the exclusive representative of the Elix network between Germany and
Italy.
Geodis also reinforced its Asian network after setting up operations in
Indonesia
and Korea.
In March 2003, Geodis confi rmed its return to profi tability when it published
its 2002 results.
In May 2003, following the resignation of the Directors representing Salvepar,
the Board of Directors was reorganised and 3 new independent Directors were
appointed.
In June 2003, François Branche was appointed Director and Deputy CEO
of the company.
Additionally, the year 2003 was marked by the signing of signifi cant contracts,
both in international logistics and transport segments.
2004
In January 2004, senior management was reinforced by the appointment of
Jean
Depraeter as Deputy CEO for French Operations and
Patrick Mathieu
as Deputy CEO for International Operations.
In March 2004 with the release of the 2003 results, the Group reported a further
increase in operating profi tability and net income.
Geodis
Calberson celebrated its 100th birthday.
In December 2004, Geodis sold to the City of Paris,
the Batignolles
site, which had housed the Paris branch of Calberson since 1927.
2005
In January, the Group announced the reorganisation of its operations in Italy
and Spain. This reorganisation included the change in corporate name of the
subsidiaries concerned that now use a single commercial trade mark in each country:
Geodis Zust Ambrosetti
in Italy and
Geodis Iberia
in Spain.
In February, the Geodis stock was admitted to compartment B (mediumsized market
capitalisation) of Euronext Paris’ Eurolist.