Alstef
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| Formerly | Alstef Automation (1961–2018) |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Industrial automation Robotics |
| Founded | 1961 in Boigny-sur-Bionne, France |
| Founders | Pierre Marol Jean-Luc Thomé |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Pierre Marol (President) Nicolas Breton (CEO) |
| Products | Baggage handling systems Automated guided vehicles Conveyor systems Cross-belt sorters |
| Owner | Ardian (majority) |
| Website | alstefgroup |
Alstef is a French industrial automation and robotics company headquartered in Boigny-sur-Bionne, near Orléans, in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France.[1][2]
History
[edit]Alstef Automation was established in 1961 in Boigny-sur-Bionne, near Orléans, producing automated handling and storage systems.[3][4] In 1965, it built the first automated stacker crane storage system in France, and in 1998 it delivered hold baggage screening system at Orly Airport. Alstef Automation was a subsidiary of the engineering group Alstom until 2000, when it was sold to a British investment fund; in 2006, Pierre Marol and the management team and employees acquired the company.[5][6]
In March 2018, Alstef Automation and BA Robotic Systems Group, a French manufacturer of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) founded in 1975 as Bretagne Automatisme, merged to form a holding company called B2A Technology.[7][8] The combined entity was supported by Future French Champions, a joint venture between CDC International Capital, Bpifrance and the Qatar Investment Authority, which took a 32% stake in the holding.[9]
In November 2019, B2A Technology acquired Auckland-based airport baggage and parcel handling specialist Glidepath, which had been founded in 1972 by Ken Stevens.[10][11][12] In September 2020, B2A Technology was renamed Alstef Group, and combined Alstef, BA Systèmes, BA Healthcare and Glidepath under a single name.[13][14] In 2021, Alstef divested its medical robotics subsidiary BA Healthcare.
In April 2023, Alstef Group acquired Solution Net Systems (SNS), a Quakertown, Pennsylvania-based supplier of automated parcel handling systems, from the private equity firm Architect Equity.[15] SNS, founded in 1971 as Accu-Sort Systems, had been carved out from Italian group Datalogic by Architect Equity in 2020.[16] In June 2023, BA Systèmes was renamed as Alstef Mobile Robotics.[17][18]
In June 2024, the French private investment firm Ardian entered negotiations to acquire a majority stake in Alstef Group through its Ardian Expansion V fund, alongside the management team and employee shareholders, with the founders Pierre Marol and Jean-Luc Thomé and Future French Champions reinvesting in the company.[19][20][21] In September 2024, Alstef Group launched XSORT, a cross-belt sorter purpose-built for baggage handling.[22]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Alstef Group déploie ses chariots autonomes dans les aéroports". 3 May 2024.
- ↑ "CENTRE. Alstef investitLa société va investir 1 million d'eu". La Tribune. 17 March 2010.
- ↑ "Alstef Automation SA". Bloomberg.
- ↑ "Alstef Group SAS - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.
- ↑ "Industry Leaders – Interview with Pierre Marol". 29 March 2022.
- ↑ "Alstom automation devient alstef automation".
- ↑ "BA Robotic Systems et Alstef créent B2A Technology". 6 March 2018.
- ↑ "B2A Technology devient Alstef Group". L'Usine nouvelle.
- ↑ "Future French Champions finance le rapprochement entre Alstef et BA Robotics". 2 March 2018.
- ↑ "Logistique aéroportuaire: B2A Technology rachète le néo-zélandais Glidepath". 9 December 2019.
- ↑ Bradley, Grant (November 12, 2019). "Glidepath sold to French robotics firm B2A Technology". The New Zealand Herald.
- ↑ "Alstef Mobile Robotics prêt à changer de cadence sur la fabrication de chariots de transport logistique intelligents". le Journal des Entreprises. 5 July 2024.
- ↑ "B2A Technology becomes Alstef Group". September 24, 2020.
- ↑ "Alstef Mobile Robotics fête ses 50 ans".
- ↑ "Alstef s'étend aux US avec Solution Net Systems". 7 April 2023.
- ↑ "Architect Equity Announces Sale of Solution Net Systems to Alstef Group". April 3, 2023.
- ↑ "BA Systèmes becomes Alstef Mobile Robotics". 7 June 2023.
- ↑ "Alstef Mobile Robotics va regrouper ses sites bretilliens pour répondre à sa croissance". 9 September 2025.
- ↑ "Compania de investiții Ardian France preia Alstef Group, firma care se ocupă de modernizarea sistemului de bagaje de la aerportul Henri Coandă. Consiliul Concurenței a autorizat tranzacția". 5 July 2024.
- ↑ "Ardian bids for majority stake in Alstef".
- ↑ Joseph, Irien (June 13, 2024). "Ardian in talks to buy majority stake in Alstef Group".
- ↑ "Alstef Group launches XSORT cross-belt sorter for baggage handling". 13 September 2024.