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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Chemicals |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Defunct | 2008 |
| Fate | Acquired by AkzoNobel |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people | Alfred Mond (first CEO) Sir Paul Chambers Sir John Harvey-Jones Dr John McAdam CBE (last CEO) |
| Products | General chemicals, plastics, paints, pharmaceuticals & speciality chemicals |
| Revenue | £4.85 billion (2006) |
| £502 million (2006) | |
| £295 million (2006) | |
Number of employees | 29,130 (2006) |
| Parent | AkzoNobel  |
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain.[1] 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; 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 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 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 a demerger.[2]
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, 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;[3] shortly thereafter, portions of ICI were sold off to Henkel while its remaining operations were integrated within AkzoNodel's existing organisation.[4]
- ^ Smith, David; O'Connell, Dominic; Dey, Iain; Ashton, James; Goodman, Matthew; Lyons, Teena; Kay, William (6 July 2008). "Falling into the abyss". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
harvardwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Akzo Nobel ICI merger completed". BBC News. 2 January 2008. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Akzo Nobel to Focus on Fast and Effective Integration in 2008" (Press release). Akzo Nobel U.K. 7 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2008.