Keramag
| Keramag Keramische Werke GmbH
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | March 19, 1917 |
| resolution | April 1, 2019 |
| Reason for dissolution | Acquisition |
| Seat | Ratingen , Germany |
| Website | www.geberit.de |
The Keramag Keramische Werke GmbH based in Ratingen in Dusseldorf , as well as plants in Wesel and Haldensleben are a German brand manufacturer for sanitary ware . They have been part of the Finnish Sanitec Group since 1991 , which was taken over by Geberit in 2015 . The Keramag brand has ceased to exist since April 1, 2019.
history
The Keramag GmbH goes back to the fire clay factories founded in 1903 by the English entrepreneurs Thomas W. Twyford and Alfred Johnson in Ratingen and Wesel as well as the "Diamant" Steingutwerke GmbH in Flörsheim am Main . As a result of the general sanitary progress that began in England at the end of the 19th century (including the invention of the Water Closet , WC ), there was a great need for sanitary ware. In order to be able to supply the German market without having to pay high import duties, the fire clay factories were built at the Ratingen (Twyford) and Wesel (Johnson) locations.
In 1910 the two factories together employed over 1,000 people. In 1917, due to the increasingly critical economic situation caused by the war, they had to file for bankruptcy and were merged on March 9, 1917 with the “Diamant” Steingutwerke GmbH in Flörsheim to form the Keramische Werke GmbH based in Ratingen. On June 19, 1918 the previously common abbreviation Keramag was integrated into the company name, the company was now called Keramag Keramische Werke GmbH . From then on it produced sanitary earthenware , fire clay and other ceramic products. In 1926, the British entrepreneurial family Walker (they had sold their shares in the John Walker & Sons distillery the year before ) took over the majority of the shares in the company.
After the Second World War , Keramag grew rapidly as a result of the prospering construction industry and became the market leader for sanitary ceramics in Germany. In the 1960s there was a Europe-wide expansion. In 1968 the company was taken over by the French Allia SA , which held the majority of the shares until it was converted into a GmbH and whose subsidiary Allia Holding ultimately owned 100% of the shares.
In 1982 the plant in Flörsheim was closed. Nonetheless, the housing estate, which has been built in front of the factory gates since 1912 and has grown into a district, keeps the memory of the ceramic factory alive through its name Keramag / Falkenberg . 1990 Keramag took over from the Treuhandanstalt , the ceramic works Haldensleben in Haldensleben near Magdeburg. In 1991 the Sanitec Corporation acquired the previous majority shareholder of Keramag, Allia SA, and integrated the company into its own group of companies, which is the European market leader for ceramic sanitary ware. In 1998, the Spectra Vertriebsgesellschaft (with Varicor SAS , manufacturer of the polymer-bound mineral material Varicor ) was taken over 100%.
Keramag operated the plants in Wesel and Haldensleben, Varicor SAS was sold in 2004. At an extraordinary general meeting on November 4, 2005, a control and profit transfer agreement was concluded with Allia Holding GmbH , which became effective on December 23, 2005.
In 2013, Keramag was converted from a stock corporation into a GmbH. In March 2015, Keramag was taken over by the Geberit Group, a global company for sanitary products. In April 2019, sales of the products under the Keramag brand were discontinued.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ keramag.de: Imprint
- ↑ a b c d Geberit simplifies the brand portfolio. Accessed April 11, 2019 (German).