Pedro de Esteban, Chairman of APPLUS+ In 1923, Albert Einstein visited the facilities of the Laboratory of Testing and Research (LGAI), a company promoted by the County and the City of Barcelona. The author of the theory of relativity got 3.500 pesetas for a conference conducted during his stay in Barcelona. In its one hundred years of life, LGAI acted as technological support of the Catalan industry through testing, certification and research. The company provides services to sectors such as agribusiness, construction, retailing and distribution, automotive, aeronautics, defence and telecommunications. LGAI belongs to APPLUS+ GROUP, which was completely acquired by U.S. venture capital fund Carlyle, Caixa Catalunya and GTD group, for a total value of 1.480 M€. Despite the crisis in 2008, Applus+ increased its turnover by 24% to 837 M€, while the gross operating profit grew 23% to 127 M€. Strategic Plan 2007-2011 seeks to become one of the top three companies in the sector, leading each of the divisions in which it operates. Without the acquisitions undertaken (JanX American Integrity Group and the British MB Inspection), growth was 15%. Applus + provides a similar double-digit rise in sales in 2009. APPLUS+ now expects to close two or three purchases during 2009 in the U.S. and Asia, two areas where the bulk will come from future growth. Applus+ has just got the exclusive control for the vehicle certification in Illinois (USA), which provides for revenues of 90 million, and manages to Connectitut, Georgia and Washington. Besides the U.S. and Ireland, operates in Andorra, Argentina, Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Spain and Finland. All this track record makes APPLUS+ the second operator worldwide level.
