Laporte plc was a leading

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

s business that operated from 1888 to 2000. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

and was a constituent of the

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History

The Company was founded by Bernard Laporte, a

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, in 1888 as a supplier of

peroxide In chemistry, peroxides are a group of compounds with the structure , where R = any element. The group in a peroxide is called the peroxide group or peroxo group. The nomenclature is somewhat variable. The most common peroxide is hydrogen p ...

to bleach

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

ing hats.Degussa-Huels buys Laporte outright
The Scotsman, 16 December 2000 It subsequently diversified into other aspects of bleaching and commercial laundry chemicals. In the 1980s it disposed of its manufacturing operations. In 1993 it acquired ''Evode Group plc'', suppliers of

adhesive Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

s and specialties. It went on to buy ''Aztec Peroxides Inc.'', a US

peroxides In chemistry, peroxides are a group of compounds with the structure , where R = any element. The group in a peroxide is called the peroxide group or peroxo group. The nomenclature is somewhat variable. The most common peroxide is hydrogen p ...

business, in 1994 and ''Inspec Group plc'', suppliers of

specialty chemicals Speciality chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products which provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, agr ...

, in 1998. It sold its major divisions, some 55% of the business by revenue, to

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

in 2000. These divisions (''Pigments and Additives'', ''Formulated Products & Compounds'' and ''Computers & Electronics'') subsequently became known as ''Rockwood Holdings Inc.'' In December 2000 ''Degussa SKW'', a joint venture between

Degussa AG Evonik Industries AG is a stock-listed German specialty chemicals company headquartered in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the second largest chemicals company in Germany, and one of the largest specialty chemicals companies in the ...

and SKW Trostberg, acquired the remainder of the business. The performance chemicals business was subsequently sold on by Degussa to Cognis.

Operations

The Company had the following divisions:Laporte PLC Sells AlphaGary, Southern Clay
Plastics Technology, 1 November 2000 *Pigments & Additives - iron oxide pigments for plastics (based in

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

) and clay based additives for plastics (''Southern Clay Inc.'') *Formulated Products & Compounds - PVC and

TPE TPE may refer to: Places * Taipei (ISO 3166 code: TW-TPE), the capital of Taiwan * " Chinese Taipei" (IOC and FIFA code: TPE), the name used in some international organizations and competitions for Taiwan Science and Technology * TPE (cable system ...

materials for data transmission cables, electrical insulation and closure seals for beverages (''Alpha Gary Inc.'') *Computers & Electronics *Specialty Chemicals -

Peroxide In chemistry, peroxides are a group of compounds with the structure , where R = any element. The group in a peroxide is called the peroxide group or peroxo group. The nomenclature is somewhat variable. The most common peroxide is hydrogen p ...

s (''Aztec Peroxides Inc.'') *Rockwood Additives is based in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, UK. Here the 2 products Fulacolor and Laponite are produced. *Rockwood Additives no longer exists in

, UK. Altana AG acquired the Additives business in October 2013. It is currently operated under the sub division BYK Additives and Instruments.

References

{{Authority control Chemical companies established in 1888 Chemical companies of the United Kingdom Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies based in Luton Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2000 2000 mergers and acquisitions 1888 establishments in England