195 years
in business
1822
The Bolloré (Cascadec) paper mills
were founded near Quimper, on the banks
of the Odet river in Brittany, France.
To mark the 195th Anniversary
of Bolloré, which was founded on
February 17, 1822, in Odet, Brittany,
we decided to reprint the speech
made by René Bolloré, representing
the family’s fourth generation,
on the day of the centenary, along
with some photos of this event. I also wanted
to include the letter that was sent to all of the
Group’s employees at the time of the millennium,
the contents of which are still applicable today.
This 195th Anniversary is the last celebration
before February 17, 2022, when the seventh
generation of our family will join us all to mark
our 200th Anniversary.
Vincent Bolloré
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
01
SPEECH MADE
BY RENÉ BOLLORÉ
For almost two years, the mill could not
produce a single sheet of paper, that’s how
difficult it was to develop this new manufacturing process: tenacity and perseverance, but also boldness and decisiveness.
TO MARK THE GROUP’S CENTENARY
ON FEBRUARY 17, 1922
My dear friends,
Please do not expect a long and eloquent
speech from me today, because my ignorance when it comes to long-winded
speeches will prevent me from properly
expressing what I am feeling today.
Feelings of gratitude for the past.
Joy for the present.
Confidence in the future.
Do you remember the takeover of the
Cascadec mill in 1894, an enormous amount
of work which was carried out with limited
resources?
It would be impossible to recount all of his
achievements here, as the task that he
accomplished was so gargantuan.
His work was not just material; it was also
emotional – he created a whole family.
First of all, I would like to thank God, who
we are happy to have in our chapel and
who has allowed us to celebrate this centenary; I would also like to thank our relatives,
who worked tirelessly, and who are sadly
no longer with us to be able to share in our
joy today: my great-uncle and my grandparents, whose lives were so eloquently
recounted by father Fouet this morning;
with special thanks to my father, whom you
all knew and loved.
All of you here, former workers and
employees, you can attest to the fact that
we have not changed anything that he did,
the organization he founded… the mill has
continued to grow within the framework he
built; its development is the very embodiment of his excellent organization.
We must not forget that our strength is in this
spirit of conscience and duty which enables
us to do an honest job, the paper as it should
be and, I would say, artistic, and which has
brought us an international reputation.
When I go on happily about memories of my
father, I am not afraid of boring you, because
I know how fond you all were of him.
My dear friends, I will tell you an anecdote
which sums up the affection with which he
was surrounded. It is really very touching.
Here it is:
Our accounting, a masterpiece of clarity, is
still the same, as are the departments.
From a technical point of view, he was the
first, helped by his brothers, particularly
Léon, to begin manufacturing thin paper
and cigarette paper – so many times I heard
my Uncle Léon, who is here today, tell of all
the difficulties they encountered.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
02
1922
Centenary celebration
at the Odet paper mill site.
“When the paper mill was up for sale due to
family asset division some thirty-five years
ago, the workers at the time gathered together all their savings and offered the money
to my father, via old Auffret, and father
Horellou, saying: Mr. René, we love you, we
do not want any boss except you, here, take
our money if you need it to remain owner
of the mill.”
Isn’t that admirable?
It is impossible for me to pay tribute to all of
those workers who are no longer with us.
However, I must mention the name of my
old foreman Jean-Pierre Rolland, an old
friend, and paper-mill veteran.
But our thanks also go to our relatives and
workers who were lost in the war: to my
brothers-in-law Chausse and Thubé, my
nephew Belbeoc’h, to the 17 workers whose
names were read out to you this morning
in church.
“But the emotion
stirred up by
memories of the
past will not
prevent me
from saying how
delighted I am
to be among
you today.”
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
03
1922
Centenary medal with portraits of the founders.
Medal awards ceremony, in the presence of René Bolloré.
To those who made the ultimate sacrifice so
that we could remain French and free and
so that we could mark this occasion today.
But the emotion stirred up by memories of
the past will not prevent me from saying
how delighted I am to be among you
all today… thank you all for taking the time
to be here.
How happy I am to have you near me mother,
thank you for your tenderness… everything
I said about the past, you also experienced
alongside my father.
Thank you also, father Havret, for being
good enough to come, on behalf of my
former teachers who played a key role in
my upbringing.
Thank you to my uncles Charles and Léon,
who were kind enough to come to Odet to
pay tribute to the work of your relatives who
were so good and so devoted, to my Uncle
Léon, who, with Charles Chancerelle, gave
me such sound advice during my youth.
Thanks to you, my dear father Thubé, who,
during the war, despite the worry you must
have felt for your sons who were fighting
at the front, was good enough to look after
my interests with extraordinary devotion
and assimilation for almost three years.
When, at the start of the war, the Germans,
our main customers back then, took
our money, kept the paper and set fire
to our warehouses in Leipzig, you were
more than a rock to us, I can joyfully thank
you for all that and you can be certain
that Pouffick will know what you have
done, I know how much that thought
means to you.
Thank you dear Gaston, for your enlightened and shrewd legal advice.
Thank you Mr. Georgel for the fantastic
work you have done at Cascadec, currently
France’s most modern mill.
Thank you to all my employees, to Rannou,
my foreman with forty-one years of service,
Le Gall, Provost, Quintin, Éouzan, Miss de
Lilliac, Mrs. Coutance and many more. I
would also like to thank Mr. Mallo for all his
hard work in organizing this event, but special thanks finally to my right-hand man
Louis Garin; everybody here, my dear Louis,
is aware of your relentless and intelligent
work over the last twenty years and especially over the last ten years – a special
thanks to you.
I do not want to forget the architect, who is
trying to hide behind his neighbor, this
organizer of the stones of Odet, this artist
we have to thank for Odet church (built by
Mr. Thomas), the great businessman of
Cascadec, and who, as you know, won first
place in the architectural competition:
for the erection of the war memorial in
Sainte-Anne-d’Auray.
Now let us turn to our allies, our American
and English friends. Let us pay tribute to Mr.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
04
1922
Continued centenary
celebrations.
Faurant, representative of the Reynolds
family, owner of the “Camel” brand; he is an
old friend, we have talked so many times
about this centenary, at which my dear and
greatly missed friend Mr. Walter Reynolds
should have been present. Poor Walter, you
will all remember his last visit to Odet and
the words he had for the workers of Odet
gathered near my office… that his brothers
should be reassured, that we remained
affectionately devoted to them, and it is a
real shame that Mr. Williams or his associates
were not able to be here today… You will tell
them, won’t you, Mr. Faurant?
And you, my dear friend Mr. Wischaw,
director of British American Tabacco (BAT),
the world’s largest cigarette company, and
you, Newton & Groves, friends from way
back “I am very glad to see you, and to
drink to good health of BAT and for your
wishes,” thank you for coming in this
demonstration of your friendship, I am very
proud of it, please tell Sir Hugo CunliffeOwen how sorry I am that he has been
unable to attend today.
I am also happy to have Mr. Mahfoud from
Abdel Kader ben Turqui, my oldest Algerian
client and also a friend of twelve years, and
you, my dear colleague Mr. Harris, thank you
for coming…
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
05
The joy that I feel today at seeing you all
together is enhanced by my confidence in the
future. You can count on my wife, Mrs. Bolloré,
my devoted companion, and I, we both think
that my son René, the second to carry this
name, whom we affectionately call “Pouffick”,
will continue the family’s traditions.
The ship that was launched on February 17,
1822 has now been afloat for one hundred
years. It has seen strong storms, and made a
long voyage, but we must have faith in it
because it has resisted. We must use the
past to build the future.
Cigarette packet stamped with “Centenaire des
Papeteries d’Odet” (Odet Papermill Centenary)
handed out to all the guests.
HEURET MAD DEOC’H TOUT
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
06
company’s bicentenary and, God willing,
I will be 70 years old. Twenty-two years is
both a very long and a very short time!
I hope first of all that our Group does not lose
its roots: it was created 178 years ago in
Ergué-Gabéric; its head office has remained
there. Our operations in Brittany have always
been at the cutting edge of technical and
social progress, and their results enabled us
to expand elsewhere. The more the Group
expands internationally, the more it needs
strong roots.
LETTER FROM
VINCENT BOLLORÉ
TO ALL THE EMPLOYEES AT THE START
OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM
This New Year, I would like to personally
express my joy at celebrating the year 2000
with you, as well as my thankfulness for the
past, pride in the present and confidence
for the future.
As well as being symbolic, the year 2000 will
mark thirty years of work for me (I started on
February 1, 1970), and the start of my twentieth year at the helm of the Bolloré Group.
I have seen many things over this time:
I have seen groups form, others disappear,
people go their separate ways, others come
together. I do not speak of the personal
dramas that many have had to face. I do not
want to play the philosopher here and talk
to you about the precarious existence of
people, companies and countries. Instead,
I would like to talk to you about our Group,
which has successfully navigated many difficulties since its foundation in 1822: three
wars, technical transformations, financial
and managerial changes. I would like to set
2022 as a milestone, because it will be the
I also want our Group to retain and develop
its diverse nature. The diversity of our business sectors gives us security and balance:
each division knows that it can count on the
Group, i.e. on the support of the other divisions to deal with its problems or growth
needs. This inter-group solidarity must not
lead to laziness or selfishness – “why should
we work for others?” – on the contrary, it
should engender a feeling of pride in the
knowledge that we are contributing to a larger company in which others can develop
their talents. Sooner or later, we all face problems and, when that time comes, perhaps it
is good to belong to such a Group.
I also want the Bolloré Group to remain
an independent family-owned company.
This obviously entails a serious limitation:
our capital will remain limited to our equity
and borrowing capability to avoid dilution
of capital.
It would be easy for us to raise billions of
francs on the stock market. It is often suggested to us. However, these new shareholders would not be interested in our
operations, but in short-term returns, which
would lead us to implement a very different
policy from the one we have in place today.
Would shareholders have let us move into the
production of packaging film and thin papers
and a patient wait of seven years before we
got our first results? And Africa, so high-risk,
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
07
Bernard Poignant, witness to the Group’s history
and longstanding friend of Vincent Bolloré
“I do not want our
Group to lose its roots
– it was founded
178 years ago in
Ergué-Gabéric – and
I want our operations
to always be at the
forefront of technical
and social progress.”
would we still be there? And oil distribution,
where we are creating value, especially for
the future? I am not talking about plantations
where it takes five years for a tree to bear
fruit, or about our maritime division which
would have been shut down long ago, or
about IER which, without the perseverance
of Édouard de Ribes and his teams, would
doubtless never have existed!
That does not mean the present is not important, otherwise we would have quickly
disappeared. It means that we need a longterm outlook, and to be able to spend in
order to generate future revenues. I refer to
independence both in terms of our capital
and vis-à-vis the government. Depending on
government orders means depending on the
government. That is why we do not become
involved in that type of business. Therefore,
we will continue to do what we want, and we
will say what we are doing, even at the risk of
causing irritation.
– to have the courage to grasp them;
– the practical sense to realize them at low
cost and within reasonable timescales;
– perseverance to stop us from flagging,
sometimes when the goal is within reach;
– respect for others, because success is about
teamwork; everybody must feel involved and
respected to be motivated in their work.
We must also be able to share and support
others when they are in difficulty. A Group
such as ours, currently enjoying a period of
success, must use part of its profits to help
others – a small part of course – but a part all
the same. We must not be contemptuous or
arrogant. We must be strong and generous.
Finally, I want the Bolloré Group to retain its
human and moral qualities:
– to be able to imagine opportunities;
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
08
Vincent Bolloré
Our businesses
past
and present
From a long paper-making tradition, the Bolloré
Group has evolved over the last two centuries,
through wars and technological transformations.
It is one of the largest 500 companies in the world.
The stability of its shareholder base and a solid
team have enabled it to have a long-term
investment policy and implement a diversification
strategy based on innovation and international
growth. It now occupies a strong position in each
of its business lines: transportation and logistics,
communications, electricity storage and solutions.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
09
From thin paper to plastic
films and electricity storage
Electricity storage and solutions
From its historical business line of thin paper, the Group branched out into
manufacturing ultrafine plastic films for condensers. From these acquired skills, it
developed the lithium metal polymer (LMP®) battery, which is resistant to high
temperatures. To demonstrate the validity and its performance, it created a range
of mobile and stationary applications such as 100% electric vehicles – bus, trams,
car-sharing and Bluezones in Africa.
1950-1960
1917
1918
1917 the Cascadec mill was purchased and a manufacturing facility built. 1918 The OCB (Odet
Cascadec Bolloré) cigarette paper brand was created. 1950-1960 View of the entire Cascadec mill
and the Odet manor.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
10
2016
2017
Launch of the new
Blue SG car-sharing
service in Singapore.
2016
2016 E-Mehari, electric car manufactured in partnership with PSA-Citroën. 2016 Inauguration of the
Bluetram, clean, completely electric public transport.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
11
Electricity storage and solutions
1
2
3
4
1 Pen-Carn packaging films plant. 2 Inauguration of the Blue Solutions plant for production of the LMP®.
3 Lithium Metal Polymer battery (LMP®). 4 Kaloum Bluezone in Guinea-Conakry, electricity storage for
renewable energies.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
12
De Delmas, Saga and Scac
at Bolloré Transport & Logistics
Transportation and logistics
1900
By gaining control of Scac in 1986, then Delmas-Vieljeux and Saga, transportation
and logistics operations became the focus of the Bolloré Group’s operations. In a
few decades, Bolloré Transport & Logistics became one of Europe’s largest logistics
operators, the seventh largest in the world. It created Africa’s leading transportation group,
operating 16 port concessions. It is also present in the railway sector. With Bolloré Energy,
it is also present in oil logistics in France, Switzerland and Germany.
1991
2016
1900
Delmas poster.
Shipping route between
France and Algeria.
2016 Bolloré Ports Abidjan Terminal – Côte d’Ivoire. 1900 Port handling. 1991 The freight transport
business of Delmas-Vieljeux, incorporated into the Group.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
13
Transportation and logistics
1
2
4
3
1 Freight forwarding operations in Europe and Asia. 2 Oil logistics in France and Europe. 3 Sitarail railway
network linking Côte d’Ivoire with Burkina Faso, operated under concession. 4 Logistics: storage
warehouse to centralize freight flows.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
14
from the founder of Havas
to the media
Communications
Eighteen years ago, the Bolloré Group branched out into the communication and
media sector. It started with a stake in SFP, then created the Direct 8 TV channel, then
a free newspaper, Direct Matin, currently the second most widely-read national. It then
became the majority stakeholder of Havas. By becoming the reference shareholder of
Vivendi (Universal, Canal+, Gameloft and Ubisoft, etc.) the Bolloré Group, with Havas,
formed one of Europe’s leading communication and media groups.
1835
2012
2016
1835 Charles-Louis Havas, founder of the first press agency, later Havas. 2016 Latest Evian communication,
Havas Group/BETC. 2012 Havas registered offices at Puteaux.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
15
2011
Communications
2016
2016
2016
2007
2011 Canal+ “L’Ours” advertising campaign Havas Group/BETC. 2016 PContinued investment in Vivendi
with the videogame company Gameloft, Universal Music Group, etc. 2007 Launch of Direct Matin, which is
now the second most widely-read daily in France and its mobile applications.
BOLLORÉ – CELEBRATING 195 YEARS
16
… see you in five years
for the bicentenary.
www.bollore.com
Design and production
. Photo credits: Bolloré, Bolloré Logistics, Bolloré Africa Logistics, Bolloré Energy, Blue Solutions, Bolloré plastic films division, Vivendi photo libraries.
Paul CooperƒVincent Bolloré portrait, Johnny MillarƒHavas registered office; Advertising campaigns: Evian Pool LoungerƒBETC, Canal+ L’OursƒBETC.
TOUR BOLLORÉ
31-32, QUAI DE DION-BOUTON – 92811 PUTEAUX CEDEX – FRANCE
TEL.: + 33 (0)1 46 96 44 33 – FAX: + 33 (0)1 46 96 44 22