Pennwalt Corporation

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Pennwalt Corporation
legal form Corporation
founding 1850
resolution 1990
Reason for dissolution takeover
Seat Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ,United StatesUnited States
management Edwin T. Tuttle (last)
Number of employees 9,901
sales 1.108 billion US dollars
Branch chemistry
Status: 1985

The Pennwalt Corporation was an American chemical company from Philadelphia .

history

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company stock from 1905

Pennwalt was founded in 1850 as the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company . However, the first successful product was caustic soda . From 1865, Pennsylvania Salt exclusively marketed Greenlandic cryolite in the USA, which was then used as a brightener for glass and ceramics. The company diversified under the leadership of Leonard T. Beale (1928–1949). Since the company had lost touch with the big chemical companies, it concentrated under William P. Drake (1955–1978) on limited markets. In 1955 the production of mercaptans was started , in 1956 that of CFCs (brand name Forane ) and in 1958 that of ammonium perchlorate for solid fuel rockets . In 1960, Química Pennwalt founded a chlor-alkali electrolysis plant in Mexico. In 1961 the company brought the piezo plastic polyvinylidene fluoride (Kynar) onto the market. The last board member Edwin Tuttle (1978-1990) tried to gain a foothold in the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s. In 1988, however, this was sold to Fisons .

In 1990, Elf acquired Aquitaine Pennwalt when the company was threatened with a hostile takeover. After the merger of Elf and Total in 1999, the chemical activities were outsourced as Atofina and spun off as Arkema in 2004 .

Subsidiary (selection)

  • Sharples (bought in 1962 and sold to Alfa Laval in 1989 , centrifuges)
  • Ozark-Mahoning Company (bought 1974, fluorspar )
  • Wyandotte Southern Railroad

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Company history at Reference for Business
  2. ↑ Arkema Inc. history (1950–1960)
  3. ^ AP: Pennwalt Plans to Sell Unit to Fisons . In: The New York Times . August 19, 1988 ( nytimes.com ).
  4. ^ Robert J. Cole: Elf Aquitaine To Acquire Pennwalt . In: The New York Times . March 21, 1989 ( nytimes.com ).
  5. ↑ Jeff McGaw: Merger Makes Area A World Leader In Separator Technology. In: philly.com. September 24, 1989. Retrieved March 10, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Arkema Inc. history (1970–1980)