Compagnie Francaise Thomson-Houston
1892 General Electric Co (USA) was created by the merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric.
The company set up a French subsidiary: Thomson-Houston International
1893 Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston was set up as a partner to General Electric Co[1].
Specialised in electrical distribution and traction motors
1920s the Thomson Group began to expand its consumer electronics and domestic appliance activities.
1928 Part of Compagnie Francaise Thomson-Houston was combined with locomotive builder SACM of Alsace to form Alsthom; the name was derived from ALSacienne-THOMson
1930s the company was a pioneer in civil and military radio communications and transmissions, leading it to develop a broad range of electronics activities.
1966 became Compagnie Francaise Thomson-Houston-Hotchkiss-Brandt or Thomson Brandt
1968 Merger of the electronics arm of Thomson Brandt with Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie Sans Fil (CSF) to create Thomson-CSF.
1983 Became Thomson SA in 1983.
1982 Thomson Brandt was nationalised by the French Government
1983 changed its name to Thomson SA.
Focused its activities on its core businesses and divested loss-making businesses, restructuring its industrial sites, and improving cash management, whilst continuing research and development and capital investment.
Before the First World War there were four factories in Paris and one in Lesquin, near Lille.
Lesquin produced steam turbines, dynamos, cables, telephones, electric motors, batteries and light bulbs. During the First World War, the 1913 main metal-framed factory building at Lesquin was seized and dismantled by German troops and transported to Speyer in Germany. There it served the Pfalz-Flugzeugwerke, which manufactured 2500 aircraft. After the First World War, until 1930 it was used by the French troops, and from 1937 to 1945 it served the Saarpfalz aircraft factory as a workshop. After the Second World War, the Lille Hall was used again by the French troops. In August 1990, renovation work began by the museum. On April 11, 1991 the building was put into operation as an exhibition hall for the Technik Museum Speyer, where it is known as the Liller Hall, and described as the museum's largest exhibit![2]. See here for more information.[3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- Competition Commission report 1991