Soprema is an independent, family-controlled French group specialising in waterproofing membranes, insulation, vegetated (green) roofing and soundproofing. The company traces its origins to 1908 and to founder Charles Geisen, who chose the name as an acronym of the French phrase Societe de Produits et Revetements d'Etancheite Mammouth. The mammoth remains the group's emblem. The present company structure dates from 1979.
Scale
According to figures reported for 2023, Soprema had revenue of about EUR 4.8 billion, around 11,000 employees (roughly half of them in France), 128 production sites and about 120 subsidiaries, with a presence in some 90 countries. Its plants include dozens of waterproofing and insulation factories as well as sites producing smoke-ventilation equipment, adhesives and recycled materials. The group is chaired by Pierre-Etienne Bindschedler.
Products
Soprema's core business is waterproofing for roofs, building envelopes and civil engineering works, alongside thermal insulation, vegetated roof systems and soundproofing. Its factories also produce geotextiles, mastics and adhesives, and smoke-ventilation equipment, and it runs recycling plants. In 2016 it acquired Pavatex, a maker of wood-fibre insulation based in the Vosges.
International presence
Soprema operates national subsidiaries across Europe and in other regions, including North America, and supports its network with 23 research and development centres and 48 training centres in 16 countries.
Bituminous waterproofing
Modified-bitumen membranes combine bitumen with polymers and a reinforcing carrier, and are installed by torching, hot-air welding, cold adhesives or self-adhesion, often in two layers on flat roofs. Its mascot, the mammoth, also features in a mammoth skeleton displayed at its headquarters.