Tarkett
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| Société anonyme | |
| Traded as | Euronext: TKTT |
| Industry | Building and surface coverings manufacturing |
| Predecessors |
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| Founded | 3 October 1997 |
| Headquarters | La Défense, France |
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Key people
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| Revenue |
 €2.74 billion (2016) |
|
€334 million (2016) |
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| Profit |
€119 million (2016) |
| Total assets |
€2.03 billion (2016) |
| Total equity |
 €1.22 billion (2016) |
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Number of employees
|
12,500 |
| Parent | Société Investissement Deconinck |
| Website | tarkett.com |
Tarkett S.A., known until 2008 as Sommer-Allibert S.A., is a French multinational corporation specialised in the production of floor and wall coverings. Headquartered in La Défense, near Paris, the present company was formed in October 1997 by the merging of two others: French Sommer-Allibert and German Tarkett AG. These two companies were in turn formed by the combination of various smaller companies in Sweden, Germany and France. The Tarkett name came from a product developed by a Swedish predecessor.
In 1972 in France, Allibert, a company established in 1913 which had developed into plastic products for the automotive and housing industries, and Sommer, a company established in 1880 which specialised in floor and wall coverings, were merged to form Sommer-Allibert. The merging was designed by then-Allibert CEO Bernard Deconinck, which became the leader of Sommer-Allibert. The Nanterre-based company was expanded on the next years, mostly through the acquisition of smaller rivals. The group's automotive business, while a core revenue generator, was mainly centred on France. The floor and wall covering business (especially PVC coverings) expanded through Europe, North America and Asia, including a joint venture with American manufacturer Rubbermaid between 1989 and 1992. In 1989, Deconinck became the chief of a holding (owned by the Deconinck family) with a significant share of Sommer-Allibert and the day-to-day management was transferred to Mark Assa.
In the 1990s, the company tried to strengthen its automotive division, increasing its business volume with manufacturers like Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, Nissan, Peugeot, and Saab. It also expanded its automotive parts manufacturing facilities in Europe and the United States.
In 1885, Anders Martensson opened a woodworking facility for furniture in Malmö, Sweden. In 1886, it became a company known as Malmö Woodworking Factory (AB Malmö Snickerifabrik). In 1889, investor R.F. Berg took control and introduced wood flooring production, especially parquetry, opening a second facility in Limhamn. In 1907, Berg died and was replaced by Ernst Wehtje. After various setbacks, Wehtje sold off most minor operations of the company and, by the 1920s, refocused it almost exclusively on the wood flooring industry, renaming it as Limhamns Snickerifabrik. In 1925, the company was renamed again as Limhamns Golvindustri AB, under the leadership of Hugo Wehtje. Production was moved from Limhamn to Liljeholmen. In 1938, the company introduced the Lindemann board (a ready-to-use parquet board), which was larger and therefore cheaper to install than parquet's previous small boards. During the following years, the company acquired rivals on the Swedish market, entered into the laminated floorboards business and, in 1946, introduced a plastic replacement for wood covering, known as Tarkett, which became a sales success. Under the next leader, Urban Wehtje, the company started to develop an international network and diversified its production of wood and plastic coverings for building interiors. By the 1960s, the Wehtjes sold a significative percentage of the company's stake and, in 1967, it was listed on the Swedish stock exchange as Tarkett.
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