Nalco Water, an Ecolab Company, is an American Naperville, Illinois-based supplier of water, energy and air improvement

solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Soluti ...

s and services for industrial and institutional markets, owned by

Ecolab Ecolab Inc. is an American corporation that is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It develops and offers services, technology and systems that specialize in treatment, purification, cleaning and hygiene of water in a wide variety of applic ...

. The company sells various products and services designed to reduce energy, water and other natural resource consumption, enhance air quality, minimize environmental releases and improve productivity and end products. The company was founded in 1928 as the National Aluminate Corporation, formed from the merger of Chicago Chemical Company and the Aluminum Sales Corporation. By a series of mergers and acquisition, its name was changed to Nalco Chemical Company (1959 - 1999); then Ondeo Nalco Company (1999 - 2004); and in 2004 to Nalco Holding Company. It became a subsidiary of Ecolab Inc. in December 2011 after the completion of the US$5.4 billion acquisition by Ecolab. Nalco Water serves more than 70,000 customers employing over 11,500 employees operating in over 130 countries. Among its products is

Corexit Corexit (often styled COREXIT) is a product line of oil dispersants used during oil spill response operations. It is produced by Nalco Holding Company, an indirect subsidiary of Ecolab. Corexit was originally developed by the Standard Oil Compa ...

- an oil

dispersant A dispersant or a dispersing agent is a substance, typically a surfactant, that is added to a suspension of solid or liquid particles in a liquid (such as a colloid or emulsion) to improve the separation of the particles and to prevent their settl ...

widely used in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

History

The company traces its origins to 1928 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with the establishment of National Aluminate Corporation - formed from the merger of Chicago Chemical Company and the Aluminum Sales Corporation. In 1959 it changed its name to

Nalco Chemical Company Nalco Water, an Ecolab Company, is an American Naperville, Illinois-based supplier of water, energy and air improvement solutions and services for industrial and institutional markets, owned by Ecolab. The company sells various products and servi ...

; and in 1964, it became a publicly traded company listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. It acquired

Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories (IBT Labs) was an American industrial product safety testing laboratory. IBT conducted significant quantities of research for pharmaceutical companies, chemical manufacturers and other industrial clients; at its h ...

in 1966, and the marine business from Bull & Roberts (now Waltron) in 1984. The company was delisted from NYSE and renamed to

Ondeo Nalco Company Nalco Water, an Ecolab Company, is an American Naperville, Illinois-based supplier of water, energy and air improvement solutions and services for industrial and institutional markets, owned by Ecolab. The company sells various products and servi ...

, following its 1999 acquisition by the French company, Suez (presently GDF Suez). On 9 December 2003, the private equity group consisting of the Blackstone Group,

Apollo Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, i ...

LP and

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments globally. The group, which is based in New York City, was founded in 1986. As of 2019, GS Capital Partners had r ...

collaborated to acquire Ondeo Nalco Company from Suez SA for US$4.2 billion. The Company went public again, returning to the New York Stock Exchange in late 2004 under the name Nalco Holding Company. In 2007, Nalco Water achieved sales of more than US$3.9 billion. In July 2011, Nalco Water announced a merger with

, Inc., and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecolab Inc. in December 2011 after the completion of the US$5.4 billion acquisition by Ecolab.

ExxonMobil ties

In 1994, Nalco Water and Exxon Chemical Company announced the formation of the joint venture, Nalco Exxon Energy Chemicals L.P., to provide products and services to all facets of the petroleum and natural gas industries. In 2001, NALCO, which by then named 'Ondeo Nalco', strengthened its position in the petroleum industry when Nalco Exxon Energy Chemicals, L.P. became part of the company through redemption of

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

stock in the joint venture. Daniel S. Sanders, who was previously president of Exxon Mobil Chemical Company, a subsidiary of

Exxon Mobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

; serves on Nalco's (now,

's) board.Daniel S Sanders Bio from Ecolab website
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Lobbying activity and political contributions

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

documents Nalco Company Political Action Committee financial contributions to political candidates, with 2010 contributions to

Judy Biggert Judith Biggert (née Borg; born August 15, 1937) is an American politician and attorney. She is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1999 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party. Biggert was defeated in her 2012 re-electi ...

(R-IL), Charles Boustany (R-LA), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), John Shimkus (R-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL). OpenSecrets also lists Nalco Holding Company's spending on

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

, including $160,000 in 2010 to Ogilvy Government Relations to lobby on their behalf to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency between April 1 and June 30 of 2010, on "issues related to the use of corexit 9500 in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill".

References

External links

Nalco Chemical Official website
{{Authority control Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Chemical companies established in 1928 Chemical companies of the United States Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois Companies based in Naperville, Illinois 1928 establishments in Illinois 2011 mergers and acquisitions Holding companies established in 1928 American companies established in 1928