General Cable is an American multinational cable manufacturing company based in Highland Heights,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, with sales offices and manufacturing facilities in several countries. General Cable manufactures and distributes

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

, and optical fiber cables. In December 2017, Italian group

Prysmian Prysmian S.p.A. is a multinational company with headquarters in Milan, Italy, specialising in the production of electrical cable for use in the energy and telecom sectors and for optical fibres. Prysmian is present in Europe with 48 plants, 23 ...

acquired General Cable for a $3 billion deal finalized on June 6, 2018.

History

General Cable was founded in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in 1927, merging several older companies founded in the 19th century, including Phillips Wire and Safety Cable Company, Rome Wire Company, and Standard Underground Cable. General Cable was owned by

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

from 1981 to 1992.

Products

General Cable manufactures

and

aluminum wire Aluminum building wiring is a type of electrical wiring for residential construction or houses that uses Aluminum conductor, aluminum electrical conductors. Aluminum provides a better conductivity-to-weight ratio than copper, and therefore is al ...

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

, and electrical cable products. Low-voltage, medium-voltage, and high-voltage power distribution and power transmission devices are among the company's power cables. Several brands are used by General Cable to market its products.

Corporate information

Logo

When General Cable officially formed in 1927, the company introduced its first

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

. Since the original 1927 version, the company's

has been modified five times. Today, the trademarked logo consists of the "General Cable" stylized black text with a green "

Reuleaux triangle A Reuleaux triangle is a circular triangle, curved triangle with curve of constant width, constant width, the simplest and best known curve of constant width other than the circle. It is formed from the intersection of three circle, circular dis ...

" on the left, which is a modernized version of the 1927

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

Locations

General Cable's global headquarters is located in Highland Heights,

. This facility, which also serves as the North American

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

and employs approximately 400 associates, has been operating since 1992. General Cable operates internationally, with regional business operations in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The company has a network of manufacturing facilities in core markets, with sales representation and distribution worldwide.

Employees

In 2016, General Cable employed 11,000 associates working in

manufacturing plants A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

distribution centers A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to co ...

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

centers, sales offices, and

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corporate headqu ...

for the

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

, and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

of its products. In June 2013, General Cable placed 17th among the 40 top midsized (150 to 499 employees) companies in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region.

Foreign bribery

In 2016, the company was ordered to pay over $75 million to resolve both SEC and

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

investigations into violations of the

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from Bribery, bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applic ...

(FCPA) for making illicit payments to government officials in Africa and Asia.

References

{{Reflist Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Campbell County, Kentucky Manufacturing companies based in Kentucky Electronics companies established in 1927 Wire and cable manufacturers 1927 establishments in New Jersey 2018 mergers and acquisitions American subsidiaries of foreign companies