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44-668: The company was incorporated in August 1867 by Julius Bandmann of San Francisco for the express purpose of manufacturing Nobel's newly-patented explosive in the United States. Bandmann immediately began construction of his factory in what was then the remote southern part of San Francisco, now Glen Canyon Park in the Glen Park neighborhood of the city. The facility was ready by early 1868, with production commencing in March. The location of this factory

88-491: A demerger . Considerable changes at ICI came about during the 1990s, particularly in the aftermath of an unsuccessful acquisition attempt in 1991 by Hanson of the firm in what would have been the biggest takeover in British history. That same year, ICI sold its agricultural and merchandising operations of BritAg and Scottish Agricultural Industries to Norsk Hydro ; it sold its nylon business to DuPont one year later. In 1993,

132-444: A herbicide ), the insecticides pirimiphos-methyl in 1967 and pirimicarb in 1970, brodifacoum (a rodenticide ) was developed in 1974; in the late 1970s, ICI was involved in the early development of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides such as lambda-cyhalothrin . Peter Allen was appointed chairman between 1968 and 1971. He presided over the purchase of Viyella . Profits shrank under his tenure. During his tenure, ICI created

176-419: A 2.8 per cent stake in the company as part of its hostile takeover attempt, which ICI's management team chose to oppose. The envisioned acquisition became hotly contested and controversial, partially as it would have been the biggest takeover in British history at that point. In October 1991, Hanson opted to not proceed with the deal. In 1992, the company sold its nylon business to DuPont . During 1993,

220-479: A 54 per cent market share in the paint market. The initial bid was rejected by the ICI board and the majority of shareholders. However, a subsequent bid for £8 billion (€11.82 billion) was accepted by ICI in August 2007, pending approval by regulators . On 2 January 2008, completion of the takeover of ICI plc by AkzoNobel was announced. Shareholders of ICI received either £6.70 in cash or AkzoNobel loan notes to

264-515: A failed takeover bid for Courtaulds in 1961–1962. On 1 August 1962, ICI's operations in Burma were nationalised following a military coup in the country . In 1964, ICI acquired British Nylon Spinners (BNS), the company it had jointly set up in 1940 with Courtaulds. ICI surrendered its 37.5 per cent holding in Courtaulds and paid Courtaulds £2 million a year for five years, "to take account of

308-476: A few incidents. Giant produced a wide variety of explosives for commercial and military uses until 1960. The area where explosives were manufactured was named "Nitro" while the nearby company town was called "Giant". The area is still shown on maps as "Giant", and a principal thoroughfare through the area is called "Giant Highway". The site of the Giant Powder Company at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline

352-424: A high performance thermoplastic ). ICI formed ICI Pharmaceuticals in 1957. During the 1950s, ICI developed a material as Crimplene , a thick polyester yarn that was used to make a fabric of the same name. The resulting cloth is heavy and wrinkle-resistant, and retains its shape well. The California-based fashion designer Edith Flagg was the first to import this fabric from Britain to the United States. During

396-658: A joint venture with Courtaulds . ICI also owned the Sunbeam motorcycle business, which had come with Nobel Industries, and continued to build motorcycles until 1937. During the Second World War , ICI was a major participant in Britain's war economy; its subsidiary ICI Nobel was involved in the production of munitions. The company was involved with the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons programme codenamed Tube Alloys . In

440-472: A potential deal was ICI's British pension fund , which had a deficit of almost £700 million and future liabilities of more than £9 billion at the time. Regulatory issues in the UK and other markets where Dulux and Crown Paints brands each have significant market share were also a cause for concern for the boards of ICI and AkzoNobel. In the UK, any combined operation without divestments would have seen AkzoNobel have

484-592: A rift with partner Judson who then left the company and formed his own in 1890, the Judson Explosives and Powder Company. He constructed his own facility nearby, on the northwest side of the Cerrito de San Antonio. On July 9, 1892, an explosion occurred on the Giant property which killed nine workers and caused damage to the nearby Judson site. The blast was widely felt, shattering windows for miles around, including those on

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528-597: Is listed as California Historical Landmark number 1002. On November 26, 1869, an explosion destroyed the Giant dynamite factory, killing two and injuring nine people. A new facility was subsequently built at another site located in the western part of San Francisco, among the sand dunes and scrub that later became part of the Sunset District (in the vicinity of today's Kirkham, Ortega, 20th, and 32nd Avenues), but another accident destroyed that plant as well. The public outcry that ensued from these two accidents prompted

572-471: Is a California Historical Landmark , number 1002-1, marked with a monument and plaque. On May 31, 1961, shortly after the Atlas Powder Company closed its Giant facility, it changed its name to Atlas Chemical Industries, Inc. as it started to move away from producing explosives. On July 21, 1971, Atlas was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries Limited (UK) and became its American affiliate under

616-644: Is one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh with a multinational heritage operating across the country. The company operates through three reporting divisions: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Brands and Agribusiness. ICI maintained offices in Colombo importing and supplying chemicals for manufacturers in Ceylon. In 1964, following import restrictions that allowed only locally owned subsidiaries of multinational companies to gain import licenses, Chemical Industries (Colombo) Limited

660-501: The campus of the University of California . The facility was entirely destroyed. Judson sued Giant for its damages and won. In 1892, the Giant Powder Company moved once again, this time to Sobrante near Point Pinole , northwest of San Pablo (Sobrante should not be confused with nearby El Sobrante, California ). The company town of Giant, Richmond, California was established by 1895. In 1904, two men were killed in an explosion at

704-410: The pharmaceutic sector; cumulating in the formation of a dedicated subsidiary, ICI Pharmaceuticals , in 1957. During 1960, ICI's first outsider to serve as chairman, Paul Chambers , was appointed. Chambers reorganised the company, but fell out of favour following an unsuccessful takeover bid of rival firm Courtaulds . Between 1968 and 1971, Peter Allen was chairman of ICI, during which time Viyella

748-412: The speciality chemicals businesses of Unilever in exchange for $ 8 billion. This step was part of a strategy to move away from cyclical bulk chemicals and to progress up the value chain to become a higher growth, higher margin business. Later that same year, it went on to buy Rutz & Huber , a Swiss paints business. Having taken on some £4 billion of debt to finance these acquisitions,

792-402: The 1940s and 1950s, the company established its pharmaceutical business and developed a number of key products, including Paludrine (1940s, an anti- malarial drug), halothane (1951, an inhalational anaesthetic agent), propofol (1977, an intravenous anaesthetic agent), Inderal (1965, a beta-blocker ), tamoxifen (1978, a frequently used drug for breast cancer), and PEEK (1979,

836-616: The Beatrice Chemical Division; during the following year, it also bought Glidden Coatings & Resins, a leading paints business. By the early 1990s, plans were carried out to demerge the company, as a result of increasing competition and internal complexity that caused heavy retrenchment and slowing innovation. In 1991, ICI sold the agricultural and merchandising operations of BritAg and Scottish Agricultural Industries to Norsk Hydro . It also divested its soda ash products arm to Brunner Mond , ending an association with

880-520: The Giant Powder Company to move across the bay to a more remote site that today straddles the city limits of Berkeley and Albany , between Fleming Point and Cerrito de San Antonio (later re-named "Albany Hill"). The railroad station for the facility was named "Nobel". The Judson Manufacturing Co., whose founder and CEO Egbert Judson had acquired an interest in Giant when it was still located in San Francisco, established its chemical works adjacent to

924-428: The Giant plant to supply it with the acids for manufacturing dynamite. On April 15, 1880, another accidental explosion occurred killing many workers and several visitors. The company then instituted more stringent safety measures, including the planting of eucalyptus trees atop the adjacent hill to act as a buffer for surrounding communities. During the 1880s, Giant decided to start manufacturing its own acids, creating

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968-417: The company de-merged its pharmaceutical bio-science businesses: pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals , specialities, seeds and biological products were all transferred into a new and independent company called Zeneca . Zeneca subsequently merged with Astra AB to form AstraZeneca . In 1994, Charles Miller Smith was appointed CEO of ICI, one of the few times that an external figure had been appointed to lead

1012-419: The company was incorporated on 24 January 1973 as ICI Bangladesh Manufacturers Limited and also as Public Limited Company. The company divested its investment in Bangladesh and was renamed as Advanced Chemical Industries Limited (ACI Limited) on 5 May 1992. The company sold its insect control, air care and toilet care brands to SC Johnson & Son in 2015. Currently Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited

1056-624: The company was soon compelled to sell off its commodity chemicals businesses: Having sold much of its historically profitable commodities businesses, and many of the new speciality businesses which it had failed to integrate, the company consisted mainly of the Dulux paints business, which quickly found itself the subject of a takeover by AkzoNobel. In June 2007, the Dutch firm AkzoNobel (owner of Crown Berger paints) bid £7.2 billion (€10.66 billion or $ 14.5 billion) for ICI. An area of concern about

1100-506: The firefighting efforts. Six firefighters retired for medical reasons as a result of the fire. This incident was a major event in the history of the New Zealand Fire Service and subject to a formal investigation, led by future Chief Justice Sian Elias . The fire was a trigger for major reforms of the service; direct consequences included improved protective clothing for firefighters, a standard safety protocol for major incidents,

1144-464: The firm also de-merged its pharmaceutical bio-science businesses as Zeneca . During 1997, ICI's Australian subsidiary, ICI Australia , was sold in exchange for £1 billion. During 2008, ICI was acquired by AkzoNobel for £8 billion; shortly thereafter, portions of ICI were sold off to Henkel while its remaining operations were integrated within AkzoNodel's existing organisation. The company

1188-451: The firm soon become involved in plastics and a variety of speciality products, including food ingredients, polymers , electronic materials, fragrances and flavourings. During the Second World War , ICI's subsidiary ICI Nobel produced munitions for Britain's war effort; the wider company was also involved with Britain's nuclear weapons programme codenamed Tube Alloys . Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, ICI greatly expanded its activities in

1232-502: The firm, Miller-Smith having previously been a director at Unilever . Shortly afterwards, the company acquired a number of former Unilever businesses in an attempt to move away from its historical reliance on commodity chemicals. During 1995, ICI acquired the American paint companies Devoe Paints , Fuller-O'Brien Paints and Grow Group . In 1997, ICI acquired National Starch & Chemical, Quest International , Unichema, and Crosfield,

1276-422: The firm. Amid Callard's tenure, company profits almost doubled between 1972 and 1974 while ICI became Britain's largest exporter. In 1971, the company acquired Atlas Chemical Industries Inc., a major American competitor. In 1977, Imperial Metal Industries was divested as an independent quoted company. Between 1982 and 1987, the company was headed by the charismatic John Harvey-Jones . In 1985, ICI acquired

1320-400: The first two years, ICI gave Flagg a large advertising budget to popularise the fabric across America. During 1960, Paul Chambers became the first chairman appointed from outside the company. Chambers employed the consultancy firm McKinsey to help with reorganising the company. Export sales doubled during his eight-year tenure export, however, Chambers' reputation was severely damaged by

1364-716: The future development expenditure of Courtaulds in the nylon field." In return, Courtaulds transferred to ICI their 50 per cent holding in BNS. BNS was absorbed into ICI's existing polyester operation, ICI Fibres. The acquisition included BNS production plants in Pontypool , Gloucester and Doncaster , together with research and development in Pontypool. Early pesticide development under ICI Plant Protection Division, with its plant at Yalding , Kent, research station at Jealott's Hill and HQ at Fernhurst Research Station included paraquat (1962,

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1408-498: The name ICI Americas Inc. Glen Canyon Park Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 379219749 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:45:16 GMT Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries ( ICI )

1452-724: The plant. In 1907, two men were killed and many injured in an explosion at the plant. In 1915, the Giant Powder Company was acquired by the Atlas Powder Company . Atlas, as well as the Hercules Powder Company , had been formed in 1912 as part of the settlement of the court-ordered breakup of the DuPont Corporation's explosives monopoly. The new management implemented more rigorous safety measures. Giant's production facility remained at Point Pinole for decades without any further serious accidents, although there were

1496-402: The trade that had existed since the company's inception, one that had been inherited from the original Brunner, Mond & Co. Ltd. During mid 1991, ICI was subject to an attempted acquisition Hanson ; by this point, ICI was commonly being viewed by investors as having been in decline and thus its valuation was depressed, making it more vulnerable to such takeover attempt. Hanson had acquired

1540-471: The value of £6.70 per one nominal ICI share. The adhesives business of ICI was transferred to Henkel as a result of the deal, while AkzoNobel agreed to sell its Crown Paints subsidiary to satisfy the concerns of the European Commissioner for Competition . The areas of concern regarding ICI's British pension scheme were addressed by ICI and AkzoNobel. ICI operated a number of chemical sites around

1584-466: The wholly owned subsidiary Cleveland Potash Ltd , for the construction of Boulby Mine in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire. The first shaft was dug in 1968, with full production from 1976. ICI jointly owned the mine with Anglo American, and then with De Beers, before complete ownership was transferred to Israel Chemicals Ltd in 2002. Between 1971 and 1975, Jack Callard held the position of chairman at

1628-540: The wine industry in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. This operation held 10% world market share for tartaric acid. It was sold in 2008 and currently operates as Derivados Vínicos S.A. (DERVINSA). The subsidiary ICI Australia Ltd established the Dry Creek Saltfields at Dry Creek north of Adelaide , South Australia , in 1940, with an associated soda ash plant at nearby Osborne . In 1989, these operations were sold to Penrice Soda Products . An ICI plant

1672-715: The world. In the UK, the main plants were as follows: An ICI subsidiary called Duperial operated in Argentine from 1928 to 1995, when it was renamed ICI. Established in the city of San Lorenzo, Santa Fe , it operates an integrated production site with commercial offices in Buenos Aires . Since 2009 it has made sulphuric acid with ISO certification under the company name Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals S.A. It also had an operation at Palmira, Mendoza , for its Wine Chemicals Division, that manufactured tartaric acid , wine alcohol and grapeseed oil from natural raw material coming from

1716-626: Was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London . ICI was a constituent of the FT 30 and later the FTSE 100 indices. ICI was formed in 1926 as a result of the merger of four of Britain's leading chemical companies. From the onset, it was involved in the production of various chemicals, explosives, fertilisers , insecticides , dyestuffs , non-ferrous metals, and paints;

1760-637: Was built at Botany Bay in New South Wales in the 1940s and was part of the Orica demerger in 1997. This plant once manufactured paints, plastics and industrial chemicals such as solvents . It had been detirmined to be the source of the Botany Bay Groundwater Plume contamination of a local aquifer . In 1968 a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was established in then- East Pakistan . After Bangladesh gained independence in 1971,

1804-725: Was formed as an ICI subsidiary with 49% ICI ownership and remaining held public. The subsidiary ICI New Zealand provided substantial quantities of chemical products – including swimming pool chemicals, commercial healthcare products, herbicides and pesticides for use within New Zealand and the neighbouring Pacific Islands . A fire at the ICI New Zealand store in Mount Wellington , Auckland , on 21 December 1984, killed an ICI employee and caused major health concerns. Over 200 firefighters were exposed to toxic smoke and effluents during

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1848-594: Was founded in December 1926 from the merger of four companies: Brunner Mond , Nobel Explosives , the United Alkali Company , and British Dyestuffs Corporation . ICI established its head office at Millbank in London in 1928. Competing with DuPont and IG Farben , the new company produced chemicals , explosives, fertilisers , insecticides , dyestuffs , non-ferrous metals, and paints. In its first year, turnover

1892-497: Was purchased, the subsidiary Cleveland Potash Ltd was created, and profits dipped. Major moves in the 1970s included the acquisition of the American competitor Atlas Chemical Industries Inc. and the divestment of Imperial Metal Industries . By the late 1980s, ICI which had continued to acquire entities such as the Beatrice Chemical Division and Glidden Coatings & Resins, increasing competition and rising internal complexity were driving ICI towards major restructuring plans, including

1936-405: Was £27 million. During the 1920s and 1930s, the company played a key role in the development of new chemical products, including the dyestuff phthalocyanine (1929), the acrylic plastic Perspex (1932), Dulux paints (1932, co-developed with DuPont), polyethylene (1937), and polyethylene terephthalate fibre known as Terylene (1941). In 1940, ICI started British Nylon Spinners as

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