Pierre Fabre Laboratories celebrated the 20th anniversary of its employee shareholding plan

With these words, broadcast on the company radio in 2005, Mr. Pierre Fabre announced the creation of an employee shareholding plan. The plan was simply named Ruscus, the Latin name for butcher’s broom, a plant native to the Tarn region that was used in the first drug marketed by Pierre Fabre Laboratories in 1962.

In his speech, Pierre Fabre announced his ambition for employees to eventually own 10% of the company's shares. This goal was achieved twenty years later, with employees now holding 9.9% of the capital. This can be compared to an average of 4% for CAC 40 companies (Source: FAS, Fédération des Actionnaires Salariés).

In 2005, only a handful of unlisted companies were involved in employee share ownership. However, the Ruscus plan was a great success from its very first year: 93% of employees based in France subscribed to it, investing all or part of their incentives and profit-sharing, with an additional matching contribution from the company. From 2007, the plan was extended to 14 countries, including the main European countries, Mexico and Brazil. Today, 80% of employees eligible for the Ruscus plan have chosen to become shareholders, with participation rates reaching 83% in France, 87% in Mexico and up to 93% in Belgium. The next country to join Ruscus will be the United Kingdom in 2026.

Thanks to the Ruscus plan, employees are collectively the company's 2nd shareholder alongside the Pierre Fabre Foundation, which is a government-recognized public-interest foundation, and which Pierre Fabre, who passed away in 2013, made his sole legatee. Pierre Fabre Laboratories thus constitutes a unique example in the French industrial landscape, because profits not reinvested in the company are donated, on the one hand, to this humanitarian foundation, and, on the other hand, to the employees whose efforts and commitment make these profits possible.

Pierre Fabre Laboratories wished to look back on 20 years of experience in order to draw useful lessons for the future of employee share ownership in France. To this end, they organized two round tables at an event attended by around one hundred participants on September 17 at the Pierre Fabre Foundation headquarters in Lavaur (Tarn): 

• The first round table, on "employee share ownership: a lever for employee commitment and loyalty", was attended by Olivier Paon, Chairman of the Fédération de l'actionnariat salarié, Nicolas Villet, Managing Director of BNP Paribas Epargne & Retraite Entreprises, Sami Toutounji, a partner with expertise in employee share ownership at Gide, and Maud Vimeux, Chief Human Resources Officer at Pierre Fabre Laboratories.

• The second round table featured Patrick Martin, Chairman of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF), Jean-Claude Mailly, former General Secretary of the Force Ouvrière trade union, and Eric Ducournau, Chief Executive Officer of Pierre Fabre Laboratories, discussing "the role of employee share ownership in the creation and sharing of value".

The debates concluded with a very personal address by Pierre-Yves Revol, Chairman of the Pierre Fabre Foundation, who spoke of the deep-rooted motivations behind Mr. Pierre Fabre's creation of the Ruscus plan.  

The event also provided an opportunity to screen a short film, "20 years of sharing and commitment", dedicated to the Ruscus plan’s past and present.  

Key figures for the Ruscus plan

-  Start date: June 2005  
-  Employee shareholding in Pierre Fabre S.A.: 9.9%
-  Number of countries participating in the Ruscus plan: 14 countries 
-  Number of employee shareholders: 6,625 (i.e. 80% of all staff in the countries concerned) 
-  Ruscus representatives: 150 volunteer employees responsible for explaining and promoting the plan to their colleagues
-  Subscription rate reached in 2025: 67% 
-  Amount invested by employees in 2025: €22.4 million (an average of €3,991 per employee) 
-  Company contribution in 2025: €4.6 million (i.e. an average of €738 per employee)