Energy
to innovate
For 130 years, Mersen has been bringing progress to life.

Back to the future

A LOOK BACK OVER TECHNICALAND SOCIAL INNOVATIONS THATHAVE MOVED THE WORLD FORWARD
Inside Mersen

A NEW MILESTONE REACHED

In the air

Mersen, a key linkin the semiconductor value chain
2 02 3 # 3

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

Sustainablegrowthdoesn’thappenovernight
LUC THEMELIN, CEO

In
the
air

Back
to
the
futureInsideMersen6 	Semiconductors powering

16 	Mersen in the United States:

24	Mersen exceeded ¤1 billion

societal transformation

8 	SiC semiconductors: Mersen’s
unrivaled technical expertise

12 	Interview Gregg Lowe,
CEO of Wolfspeed

a long history

18	Brushes: Once a leader…
always a leader

20	Innovation: second naturein sales in 2022 and started
building its future30 	Mersen undergoes a digital
revolution with BuzIT

to Mersen

14 	Soitec and Mersen, a winningteam for the electric vehicle
marketENERGY TO INNOVATE IS A MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY MERSEN – Tour Trinity, 1 bis place de La Défense, 92400 Courbevoie – RCS Nanterre B572 060 333 –Tel.: 01 46 91 54 49 – www.mersen.com – Managing Editor: Luc Themelin – Chief Editor: Véronique Boca – Editorial Committee: Thomas Baumgartner,
Laurence Lamy, Luc Themelin – Design and production: Avant d’aller dormir sous les étoiles – 119 rue de la Pompe, 75116 Paris – Writing: Le Prompteur –Graphic designer: Jean-Marie Lagnel – Photos: Florence Brochoire, Patrick Lazic, Soitec, Coll. Mersen, Istock, Unsplash – Publication: may 2023 – OTT Imprimeur,
67310 Wasselonne – France

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Mersen’s sales exceededthe €1 billion mark in 2022
– capping off several strong
years of supporting thedevelopment of
manufacturers worldwide,
despite a turbulent
international environment.
Far from resting on ourlaurels, we are alreadypreparing our next steps.
And our momentum, driven
both by our innovation
prowess and by current
market demand, shows nosign of slowing down.
Sustainable growthmarkets
With the real-life
consequences of global
warming becoming more andmore apparent in our everyday
lives, “sustainable” markets
now play a major role indriving our industrial growth.
This is particularly true ofmarkets easing the energy
transition from fossil fuels toelectricity. Whether in electricvehicles or solar power, ourexpertise and product ranges
are perfectly adapted to thestringent technicalrequirements of these sectors.
Over the coming years, we will
be investing heavily to increase
our production capacity inEurope and the United States,
as we commit to responsible
growth in the short, medium
and long term.

Unwavering confidence
from the industry
Our growth objectives for theyears ahead are not based onassumptions but on hard
evidence. We have signed
major contracts with several
leading manufacturers to help
them accelerate their
expansion and meet the needsof today’s market. Over the
next seven years, for example,
we will be supplying smart
busbars to ACC, the joint
venture between Stellantis,

TotalEnergies/Saft andMercedes-Benz, for the“new-generation” batteries thatwill equip Europe’s electricvehicles tomorrow. We also
have a five-year agreement to
supply Wolfspeed, the world
leader in silicon carbide, withgraphite components andother high-tech materials
needed to manufacture theirsilicon carbide wafers, which
are crucial for thedevelopment of electricvehicle power electronics.
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EDITORIAL

Our technology partnershipwith Soitec, meanwhile, will
harness Mersen-powered
innovation to fuel the riseof the electric vehicle market.
Find out more about thisalliance in our feature article.

“With all our indicatorsin the green, we are
now ideally positioned
to secure further
growth.”4

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CSR commitments
taking shape
Today, we are faced with acomplex balancing act as wetry to grow our businesswhile at the same time
reducing its environmental
impact. Our CSR results overthe last few years have been
particularly encouraging inthis respect, with a 38%
reduction in our greenhousegas emissions intensity in
2022 compared to 2018.
As we take the next steps
in our development, we will
have to be especially diligent
to maintain this trajectory.
Reducing our environmental
footprint while planning tomassively increase our
production capacity throughseveral site expansions may
seem like a challenge.
But we will benefit from theinvaluable experience wehave gained in controllingand mitigating the impactof our operations in recent
years. Armed with thisexpertise, we will intensify
our efforts to limit our waste,increase our recycling rates
and reduce our water andenergy consumption.
But the health and safety of
our employees will remain,
as ever, our top priority.

The first of many
milestones
With all our indicators in thegreen, we are now ideally
positioned to secure further
growth and reach our targetof €1.7 billion in sales by2027. We are confident in ourstrengths and in our ability tocontinue supporting the
profound transformation
underway in our industries.
And our upcoming
investments will ensure that
we are able to supply ourcustomers with the quantities
they need for their growth– while living up to our
decades-long reputation for
quality.
Against this backdrop, wewere delighted to be includedin the SBF 120 index at the
beginning of the year, and it
makes us optimistic for the
future. Being named oneof Euronext Paris’ top
120 stocks is undeniableconfirmation of our soundfinancial health and strength
as a business. While we plan
to change dimension over the
coming years, we will remaintrue to the business modelthat has brought us so muchsuccess, as we continue along
our path of carefully managed
growth.

In
theair
PROGRESS AND THE MERSEN SPIRIT GO TOGETHER WELL.
SINCE ITS ORIGINS IN FRANCE IN 1889, THE GROUP HAS
FACILITATED CHANGE IN SOCIETY. WHAT’S NEW TODAYAND FOR TOMORROW CLOSE-UP ON SEMICONDUCTORS,AND PARTICULARLY SIC SEMICONDUCTORS.

Semiconductors powering societal transformation p.6
SiC semiconductors: Mersen’s unrivaled technical expertise p.8
Interview Gregg Lowe, CEO of Wolfspeed p.12
Soitec and Mersen, a winning team for the electric vehicle market p.14
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In
the
air SEMICONDUCTORS, A RAPIDLY EXPANDING MARKET

Semiconductors
powering societal
transformation
From LEDs and photovoltaic cells
to electric vehicles, computers andsmartphones, semiconductors are all
around us. For several decades now,
they have been central to someof the most cutting-edge innovation– and there’s much more to come.

Now such a crucial industrial
component that they havesparked tensions between
the United States, China andEurope, semiconductors havelong underpinned growth inmany markets that our society
has come to rely on. “Thesematerials – whose electricalconductivity is somewhere
between metals and insulators– were first discovered in the
19th century,” says Philippe
Meunier, Senior Manager,
Strategic Marketing, at
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Mersen. “People quickly
realized that they could control
their conductivity by doping
them and then use them tomake new electronic devices.”
By forming junctions between
semiconductors and achieving
greater control over the
direction and intensity ofthe electrical current overtime, it has become possible
to adapt power as required,increase the performance ofcomponents, and integratethem into increasingly
complex processes. It is largely
thanks to semiconductors thatthe consumer electronics andcomputer markets emerged
and rose to prominence at theend of the 20th century.
A future shaped bysilicon carbide (SiC)
A quarter of a century later,
semiconductors play a central
role in a large number ofbuoyant markets, including
renewable energies andelectric vehicles. And there isno end in sight for this deepseated trend.
“The challenge today goes far
beyond simply controlling andincreasing production capacity,”says Meunier.
“It’s also a question of
improving products andoptimizing the performanceand energy efficiency ofcomponents so that they can
support the shift to a greener
society.”“With higher
performance and lower
power consumption,
SiC is becoming
the standard for
power semiconductor
manufacturing.”

Against this backdrop, silicon– currently the dominantmaterial in the manufactureof semiconductors –is increasingly being replacedby SiC for power applications.
While SiC offers a numberof advantages – including
higher performance, lower
energy consumption and lesspower loss – it also requires ahigh level of process expertise.
Other semiconductors madeof gallium nitride (GaN),
gallium arsenide (GaAs)

and aluminum nitride (AlN)
are also emerging for certain
applications such as facialrecognition in smartphones
and autonomous vehicles.
“There’s a whole universeof innovation out there on
semiconductor development,”
says Meunier. “Now, we’regoing to see players like Mersen
mobilizing all of their resources
to make the promise of thesetechnologies a reality.”

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In
the
air SEMICONDUCTORS, A RAPIDLY EXPANDING MARKET“The main challenge for
manufacturers today is how
to best harness and control SiC
semiconductor properties.
That’s where Mersen comes in.”
Charger

Process stability
Mersen has longstanding
expertise in graphite andprovides key temperature
control components for the
furnaces used to manufacture
SiC substrates. Its graphite andother very high-performance
thermal insulating felts ensurethat a stable temperature of
2,400 °C is maintained
throughout the process – withcustomized grades of graphitethat can be replicated with agreat degree of precision andno loss of quality.

Electric vehicle

SiC* semiconductors:
Mersen’s unrivaled technicalexpertise
SiC has become hot property as it emerges
as a key enabler for several markets. The new
semiconductor is now used in all direct current(DC)/alternating current (AC) conversion
devices found in electric vehicles as well as
in energy storage, wind and solar systems.

Guaranteed
production volumes
In a threefold promise to
semiconductor suppliers andmanufacturers – whose
production capacity hinges on
the reliability of their upstream
partners – Mersen commits
to deliverable volumes,
component quality and leadtimes. Mersen has planned
new investments in Europe
and North America to support
market growth by greatly
increasing its production
capacity.
A local presence
across the globe
Mersen has a strong presence
all around the world –particularly in America
and Europe, where SiC
semiconductors are enjoying
huge success. Leveraging its
fully local teams, the Grouprounds out its unique
technical expertise with aseamless understanding ofeach region’s legislative,administrative and cultural
specificities and challenges.

Wind

Solar

Mersen and thesemiconductor market

Energy storage¤110 million in sales
for the semiconductor
market in 2022,
including ¤50 million
for SiC solutions.

* SiC: Silicon Carbide.

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In
the
air SEMICONDUCTORS, A RAPIDLY EXPANDING MARKET
A manufacturing process requiring
exceptional prowess

1

SIC BOULE
MANUFACTURING

It takes leading-edge expertise to supply the components
needed to manufacture power semiconductors.
The Group’s isostatic graphite and insulators ensure complete
control of the reaction at 2,400 °C, which is key to producing
very high quality silicon carbide.

The raw material, silicon carbide(or SiC), is processed in a furnace
at 2400 °C to form a SiC bouleby sublimation.

2

3

SIC BOULEEPITAXY ON WAFER

SiC boule is sliced
into wafers.

Wafers are polished and placedon a graphite carrier to makea perfect crystalline structure
at the surface.

THESE STEPS MAY BE REPEATED UP TO 150 TIMES.

5

7

The complex pattern of theintegrated circuit is printed on
the resist through a reticulated
mask or with an electron beam.

The ion implantation phase
modifies locally the compositionand physical properties of thewafer through ion bombardment
in the silicon carbide.

ION IMPLANTATIONPHOTOLITHOGRAPHY

Several masks are usedsuccessively to reproduce
the architecture of the circuit.

4

DEPOSITIONETCHING

The successive deposition phases A photoresist layeron the wafer (CVD, MOCVD, MBE, is deposited by spin-coating
PVD, ALD) will create the future at the surface of the wafer.
component active layers.

8

ANNEALING

Multiple wafers are thenannealed in a furnace toactivate doping elements.

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6

Wafer is exposed to a plasma
or a liquid etchant to remove
the excess material aroundthe electronic circuit.

9

WAFER DICING& PACKAGING

POWER SEMICONDUCTOR

Each wafer is diced into
individual chips thatare encapsulated in resin
packages to which
terminals are attached.

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In
the
air SEMICONDUCTORS, A RAPIDLY EXPANDING MARKET

Wolfspeed has decided to significantly increase
its production capacity by 2030. What is driving
your growth?
The world’s relationship with energy production andconsumption is being seriously challenged today. Everyone
agrees that we need to move toward more sustainable
electrification and a more energy-efficient future. That means
more affordable electric vehicles, widespread use of renewableenergies and, more broadly speaking, the transformation ofindustrial systems. For all of these needs, Wolfspeed has
developed particularly powerful solutions, including our siliconcarbide wafers and transistors, which increase energy efficiency
by 5 – 15%. We need to be ready to support the global transition
already underway and to respond to the increase in demand on
the horizon.

INTERVIEW
Mersen has
committed tosupplying nearly
USD 400 million
worth of graphite
and other materials
over the next five
years to Wolfspeed,
the global leader insilicon carbide (SiC)
technology.
Gregg Lowe, CEO of
Wolfspeed, discusses
the challenges
addressed by thiscontract.

“We need specialists
like Mersen to support
our development”

In particular, you have partnered with Mersen
on a long-term contract. Why did you makethis choice?
We need to increase our production capacity while maintaining
our level of quality. That means strengthening our supply chain
and therefore using specialists who know our processes and havefully mastered the specific characteristics of silicon carbide.
Mersen is one such expert – perhaps even the best – and above all
we have total confidence in its teams. We have been collaborating
and manufacturing SiC semiconductor substrates together foralmost 20 years.

Key points of the Wolfspeed
contract for Mersen• A five-year agreement to supply
graphite and other high-tech materials
for SiC semiconductors.
• Sales of approximately USD 400 million
over five years.
• An investment of USD 120 million
from 2023 to 2025 to increase
production capacity.
• Creation of 200 new jobs, mainlyin the United States.

How will this partnership work?
We will continue with our joint R&D efforts and contribute to
Mersen’s investments by way of advance payments to increase its
production capacity. Mersen’s presence in both Europe and theUnited States is a plus for us. We recently opened the world’s
largest 200mm SiC wafer fab in Mohawk Valley, and we plan tobuild new production facilities in the United States andGermany. Being able to rely on a partner on both sides of theAtlantic is a great asset.

Gregg Lowe, CEO“Mersen is one such
expert – perhaps
even the best –and above all wehave total confidence
in its teams.”
GREGG LOWE, CEO12

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In
the
air SEMICONDUCTORS, A RAPIDLY EXPANDING MARKET

A winning team forthe electric vehicle market
Mersen is currently developing a new familyof polycrystalline silicon carbide (p-SiC®) substrates
with very low electrical resistivity for Soitec.
A key challenge facing theelectric vehicle market in the
coming years is how toincrease battery life without
loss of power. To solve thisparticularly complex technicalproblem, the world’s leading
producer of semiconductormaterials, Soitec, joined forces
with Mersen to develop amarket first: a specificlow-resistivity substrate that
improves the conversion of
direct current into alternating
current for electric vehicle
batteries.
From experimentation
to mass production“Our first contact dates back to
2019,” says Alexandre Potier,Vice President, Research& Development, in Mersen’s
Advanced Materials segment.
“For years, Soitec had specialized
in a process called Smart Cut™,
which involves transferring
layers onto a silicon substrate,
and wanted to apply thistechnology to SiC.” Comparedwith conventional silicon
semiconductors, SiC models
have lower power loss and heatdissipation and are lighter and14

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doping the material withnitrogen,” says Potier. “Withthe first prototypes we presented,
we earned Soitec’s trust and got
their green light to move fromthe experimental phase to theindustrial phase.”
After spending 2022
developing a stable process,this unprecedented technicalpartnership will take shapein 2023 with the productionof the first machines tomanufacture substrates
specifically for Soitec’s“SmartSiCTM” components.
On a European scale, thealliance is reflected in the closeworking relationship between
Mersen’s teams in
Gennevilliers and Soitec’s
teams in Bernin and
Grenoble.
less bulky, resulting in
improved vehicle range. But a
special SiC doped to have alower resistivity is needed toreach the required level of
performance. Such a material
previously did not exist.
“We experimented with different
processes for a year, trying tolower the substrate’s resistivity by

Back
to
the
futureMERSEN’S HISTORY IS DOTTED
WITH INNOVATIONS AND PRODUCTS
THAT HAVE ALLOWED COUNTLESS
INDUSTRIES TO GROW AND
REVOLUTIONIZE THEIR TIMES.
KEYS TO THIS SUCCESS ARE A
VISION AND A DETERMINATIONTO SERVE PROGRESS.

Europe rallies for the semiconductor
market through Transform
Launched in 2021, the European Transformconsortium aims to develop a European SiC
semiconductor manufacturing industry to serve
the electric vehicle market. Mersen is contributing
its expertise in the “materials and substrates”
segment headed up by Soitec.

Mersen in the United States: a long history p.16
Brushes: Once a leader… always a leader p.18
Innovation: second nature to Mersen p.20
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Back
to
the
future(RE)BORN
IN THE USA

Boonton, NJ

1st US
sales agency
opened by
Eugène Gindre

1907

Acquisition of
Stackpole Carbon(graphite)

1936

1991

Establishment of
Le Carbone Co
1st US company

St Marys, PA

Acquisition of Graphite
Engineering & Sales(graphite)

1999

2006

Acquisition of
Gould Shawmut(fuses)Acquisition of
Columbia(graphite)

2011

16

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2019Acquisition of
Eldre(busbars)
Bay City, MI

Mersenin the UnitedStates:a long history

Greenville, MI

Columbia, TN

Newburyport, MA

Mersen established itself in
the United States in the early
20th century, setting up a local
sales agency in 1907.
The Group quickly adapted
to American culture,
supporting the developmentof industrial pioneers.
Momentum accelerated
in the late 1980s with theacquisition in Bay City
(Michigan) of Ultra Carbon,
a company specializing ingraphite and silicon carbide
coatings for thesemiconductor industry,
and then of Stackpole
Carbon’s high-temperatureand electrical applications
business. From that moment
on, Mersen became oneof the world’s leading
manufacturers of graphiteand saw its sales skyrocket.
From 10% in 1985, theUnited States’ contribution
to Group sales rose to 20%
in the early 1990s, reaching
26% in 1994. Presently,
Mersen is supporting thedrive to reindustrialize theUnited States through its ten
local plants. Its latest
addition, a Columbia-based
center of excellence forgraphite specialties acquiredin 2019, addresses demandof high-growth markets
such as solar power andelectronics.

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Back
to
the
futureBrushes: Oncea leader…

… always
a leaderWhile the humble brushhas undergone few obvious
changes over the years,
its performance has evolved
continuously to meet newneeds. A key component
in electric motors, it is usedin many industries forapplications including railway
traction (locomotives,
subways, trams, etc.)
and lifting (forklifts, cranes,
elevators, etc.), as well as
conveyors, reels, fansand pumps.
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Charles Street, an engineer at
Le Carbone, first discovered
the carbon graphitization
process to make synthetic
graphite in 1893.
The company, which would
go on to become Mersen,then revolutionized carbon
brush manufacturing. Later,
as demand for industrial
motors grew and theautomotive sector expanded,
the Group’s know-how andsuccessive innovations founda wider market.

Today, brushes are still
essential to many industrial
sectors where Mersenholds leadership positions,in particular wind
generators. Mersen
continues to improve its
products, adapting theshapes, components andsizes to new applications,while always ensuring highquality manufacturing.

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Back
to
the
futureInnovation: second nature
to Mersen
CIPEL: STRENGTHIN NUMBERS
In 1948, at the end of theSecond World War, Mersen(then still called Le Carbone
Lorraine) joined forces
with Compagnie Française
Thomson-Houston (CFTH)
to create Compagnie
Industrielle des Piles
Électriques (CIPEL).
Setting out to tackle theshortage of French-madebatteries and stave off risingcompetition from major
American manufacturers,
the two specialists pooled
their expertise to develop
industrial batteries and pocket
batteries under the Mazda
brand.

20

M E R S E N L’ É N E R G I E D ’ I N N O V E R – N ° 3

SERAP: UNLEASHING
R&D POTENTIAL
Mersen strongly believes that
innovation and productquality improvements makethe difference. That is why
the Group has always placed
R&D at the center of its
strategy and why, in 1948,
it founded Société d’Études,
de Recherche etd’Applications (SERAP). This
autonomous research business

was designed to allow
researchers to forget theconstraints of manufacturing
and be guided by theirintuition. Over the years, thelaboratory’s innovations have
served not only Mersen’s
growth, but also that of othermarkets, as discoveries weresold to other manufacturers
for their own use.

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Back
to
the
futureInsideMersen2022 WAS A STELLAR YEAR FOR MERSEN, ONE
IN WHICH THE GROUP EXCEED ¤1 BILLION IN SALESAND SAW ITS STRATEGIC VISION AND YEARSOF OPERATING EFFORTS CROWNED WITH SUCCESS.

OPEN EXPERTS: A NETWORK
LEVERAGING TALENT
Chosen for their experienceand strategic technicalknow-how as well as theirability to share theirknowledge with others,
the Open Experts embody
Mersen’s new approach
to innovation, working
toward an organization withgreater efficiency and,above all, more Group-wide
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collaboration. Since 2018,
this network of experts has
been working in three areas(“Apply”, “Do” and “Sell”),
helping teams around theworld to develop their skills
on a daily basis.
Open Experts meeting
in Italy.

Mersen exceeded ¤1 billion in sales in 2022
and started building its future p.24
Mersen undergoes a digital revolution with BuzIT p.30
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23

InsideMersen52 sitesworldwide
7,300

MORE THAN ¤1 BILLIONIN SALES IN 2022

employees

THANK YO U!
Mersen began building strong and sustainable
momentum in 2022, exceeding its targets,
confirming its expansion in buoyant markets– from semiconductors and solar power
to electric vehicles – and, above all else,
combining growth and CSR. None ofthis would have been possible without
the dedication of all its employees andthe trust of its clients.

24

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18 R&D
centers
34

countries

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InsideMersenGilles Boisseau, Group Vice President,
Electrical Power

A player in aworldchanging“We do not hesitate to invest if it allows
us to support our clients’ projects”“Mersen’s growthis being driven bybuoyant markets
such as electricvehicles, wind
power and solar
power, but equally
by major
manufacturers’
trust in our ability
to support them– and invest
accordingly ifnecessary.
The contract werecently signedwith ACC(Automotive Cells

Mersen reached a highly symbolic
milestone in 2022. But the Groupalready has its sights set on thenext stages of its development,
which will see it supporting
the markets and manufacturersthat will shape tomorrow’s world.

Company), a joint
venture between
Stellantis,
TotalEnergies/Saftand MercedesBenz, is an
excellent
illustration of this.
We plan to invest
between¤15 million and¤20 million tobuild special new
automated lines
at the Saint
Bonnet-de-Muresite. Thesefacilities will be

dedicated to the
manufacture ofsmart laminatedbus bars for a newgeneration of
longer-lasting
batteries forelectric vehicles.
We are targetinga specific segmentof the market, andwe are giving
ourselves themeans necessary
to respond to
manufacturers’
needs.”

Thomas Farkas, Group Vice President,
Strategy and M&A“We are pursuinga strategy of bolt-on
acquisitions”“Mersen’s history
is lined withacquisitions thathave strengthened
our expertise andincreased our
production
capacities. Eachtime, we seek out
companies thatshare our values
and approach tobusiness, andwhose expertisecomplements ourown. We plan toinvest around¤100 million insmall companies,
primarily in North
America, where
we have large
contracts to fulfill.

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You could call it
a common-sense
approach toexternal growth.
Our goal is not to
expandunreasonably, butrather tostrengthen our
local industrial
network so that
we can better
serve our clients.”

Estelle Legrand, Group Vice President,
Human Resources

Éric Guajioty, Group Vice President, Advanced Materials“Mersen is set to address the phenomenal
demand for SiC semiconductors
on the horizon”“Widespread
adoption of electricvehicles in the years
to come is a crucial
goal formanufacturers, butalso for society as
we rise to thechallenge of
decarbonization. To
succeed, the SiC
semiconductor

industry will have tocontend with asurge in demand,
while also improving
the performance ofits components. As
Mersen’s solutions
have a key role toplay in ramping up
the technology
behind thesecomponents, we will

invest US$120 million
over the next few
years to increase our
production capacity
and serve theindustry leader,Wolfspeed. This is
obviously a major
challenge, but it isnon-negotiable if wewant to keep up withthe leaders.”

Executive committee of Mersen as of March 31, 2023,
from left to right: Thomas Baumgartner, CFO; Gilles Boisseau,
Group Vice President, Electrical Power; Jean-Philippe Fournier,Group Vice President, Operational Excellence; Eric Guajioty, Group Vice
President, Advanced Materials; Thomas Farkas, Group Vice President,
Strategy and M&A; Estelle Legrand, Group Vice President,
Human Resources; Christophe Bommier, CTO; Luc Themelin, CEO.

Two appointments to the Executive
Committee
At the beginning of April 2023, Sylvie Guiganti,Group Chief Information Officer, and Delphine
Jacquemont, Legal Vice President and Secretaryof the Board of Directors, joined the Executive
Committee, which is now composed of
10 members. These appointments reflect theincreasingly important role of Information Systems
and Legal Affairs in Mersen's organization.

“Growing while remaining
faithful to our people-centric
values”“Between now and
2027, the Groupwill change
dimension. Such
growth is anorganizational
challenge, ofcourse, but
especially a humanone. Because it is
not just about
factories andproduction
capacity. Above all
else, it means
bringing on board
hundreds ofpeople with whom
we wish to share
the Mersen culturethat makes us soproud, and helping
our current teams
to train and findtheir place in thisbiggerorganization.
We have always
allowed a great
degree of leeway
at the local level.
We are counting
on this proximity
so that we cancontinue to growwhile maintaining
and evenstrengthening
team cohesion and
the Mersen spirit.”

M E R S E N E N E R Y T O I N N O VAT E – # 3

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InsideMersenNew factory in Cheonan,in South Korea.
GrowthMersen is changing dimension
There is no sign of slowing down
for Mersen. On the back of wins in its
buoyant markets, the Group achieved
most of the targets set in its 2025
roadmap by the end of 2022
and has now set more ambitious
targets for 2027.

23,000

By 2027, the Group is targeting salesof ¤1.7 billion, with almost half of thisamount to be generated in renewableenergy, semiconductor and electricvehicle markets. These objectives will
be supported by an ambitious
investment plan.

International

Investments all around the world

The increasingly rapid adoptionof electric vehicles is one of the main
drivers of this momentum, with
Mersen active both upstream of themarket through the manufactureof silicon carbide semiconductors,
and downstream with battery
connection and protection.

¤1.7

Far from resting on its laurels, Mersen fully
intends to capitalize on its exceptional 2022
results to consolidate the foundationsof its future growth. With its close local ties,
innovation prowess and increasingly ambitious
CSR program, the Group is poised to makesteady progress in the years to come.

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M E R S E N E N E R Y T O I N N O VAT E – # 3

The United States and Europe areback in action on the semiconductor
front, and the photovoltaic industry
shows no sign of cooling in Asia.
Thanks to operations in 34 countries
across all continents, Mersen plans to
put its production capacities to fulluse for the benefit of local
manufacturers, and is strengthening
its network year after year.

b illion: sales target
for 2027

Mersen holds
its course, propelled by tailwinds

squaremetersIn South Korea, the over
23,000-square-meter Cheonan plant,
inaugurated in late 2022, will enable
Mersen to design and manufacture
furnace equipment and complex ion
implantation parts for the productionof silicon-based semiconductors.

In the United States, the Columbia
site, acquired in 2019, is beginning
to ramp up its three product lines– extruded graphite first, followed byinsulating felts and isostatic graphite– to serve fast-growing markets.
Europe is not being left behind, withforthcoming investments to increase
insulating felt production capacities
in Holytown (Scotland) and theconstruction of a new workshop
in Amiens (France). Supported by
French environmental agency ADEME,
this project, called NTT, for New
Thermal Treatment, will replacecurrent equipment with induction
furnaces, which consume less fossil
fuel, and will significantly reduce
direct greenhouse gas emissions aswell as energy and raw material
consumption.

RSE

A roadmap to go
the extra mile
Mersen continued to make headway
on its CSR objectives in 2022,
achieving a sharp 38% reduction ingreenhouse gas emissions, further
improving its waste recycling rate to70%, and significantly increasing the
proportion of women engineersamong staff. This performance waspraised by rating agencies including
EcoVadis and MSCI. The Group now
wants to go even further in managing

the social and environmental impact
of its business. To this end, it has set
itself a roadmap through to 2025
based on an ambitious yet practical
approach that takes into account its
current and projected growth.

M E R S E N E N E R Y T O I N N O VAT E – # 3

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InsideMersenMersen kicked off
a program tooverhaul its IT
system in late 2019.
The aim wasto standardizepractices while
adapting to site
specificities andsecuring processes
and tools.
Sylvie Guiganti,
Mersen’s Chief
Information
Officer, tells us
more about
the project.

Mersenundergoesa digital
revolution
with BuzIT30

M E R S E N E N E R Y T O I N N O VAT E – # 3

How did the project to completely overhaul
the IT system come about?
Mersen has been changing for years now, withbusiness transformations, acquisitions, newsites and increasingly complex processes. Someof these changes were to meet regulatory
requirements, but most were to cater to market
demand. They all needed to be supported by aGroup-wide, easily maintained IT system. The
Group has big ambitions and we felt it wasnecessary to build a new IT system that could
keep pace with our strategy over the long term.
What guided your thinking?
We wanted to return to the idea that an IT system should help rather than hinder businessperformance. This meant guaranteeing a highlevel of service by providing our teams with anapplication model that they could easily maketheir own, harmonizing our internal processes
while leaving each site the latitude to tailor it totheir day-to-day. And above all, we wanted asystem that was fully secure and scalable.

“BuzIT is a collaborative
project between IT and thebusinesses to develop a new
IT system that drives teamperformance and Mersen’s
growth.”What solutions did you choose?
We opted for a core model structured aroundan ERP system, then added various robust
reporting applications to facilitate consolidation, purchase-to-pay automation and productlifecycle management. The core model is acommon set of Group processes programmed
into a centralized tool, based on shared management rules, data models and other reference
systems that can be standardized. We needed a
global solution that still offered enough flexibility to interface with local tools and integrate
new functionalities over time – be it in responseto changes in local laws or to specific customer
requests.

That’s why we decided to outsource our infrastructure, with managed service hubs in Europe
and the United States, so that we could focus on
the process aspect.

So BuzIT spans all processes used by theGroup’s various segments?
Absolutely. It covers all areas – from purchasing, finance and accounting to sales, production monitoring and more generally any
interaction with customers and suppliers – andsupports them via the centralized infrastructure. The Manufacturing Execution System(MES), for example, will provide all sites withhighly efficient planning and production management systems. It was a very important job.

How is rollout progressing?
We are aiming to roll the system out at morethan 60 sites, including 40 priority sites by theend of 2025, taking into account each site’s
needs, schedule and specific project management requirements. Our teams spend an average of six months on each site to ensure asmooth transition and, above all, adapt thesystem to the specific local context. Thanks to
BuzIT, the IT systems and teams are once again
driving the Group’s growth.

BuzIT in 3 key words
SECURITY
Mersen opted for a system thatmitigates the risk of cyberattacks,
thanks to robust market solutions
and a high level of processsecurity.

ADAPTABILITY
BuzIT is a system for today
and tomorrow. It will enable
standardized tools to be rolled out
with the flexibility to address newneeds over time and the scalability
to adapt to project and customer
requirements. BuzIT also supports
application interoperability.

LOCATION
Each rollout is an opportunityfor Mersen’s IT teams to review all
local processes and enrich the coremodel based on team needs,
depending on projects
and customers.

M E R S E N E N E R Y T O I N N O VAT E – # 3

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All over the world, Mersen is successfully growing. To get your fill of innovation, technology andpioneering spirit, check out our YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. You’ll be able to learn about
the Group’s history, see presentations of innovative solutions, hear the views of managers and see
what life is like for our teams in the 34 countries where the Group has operations. Immerse yourself in
our processes, read about our news, our commitments, our actions and our job offers.
Stay tuned!

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