Sika AG is a Swiss multinational

specialty chemical 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 ...

company that supplies to the building sector and motor vehicle industry, headquartered in Baar, Switzerland. The company develops and produces systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting. Currently, it has over 27,000 employees, subsidiaries in more than 100 countries, and an annual sales turnover of CHF 9.3 billion. Sika was founded in 1910 when Kaspar Winkler laid the cornerstone for the firm. Winkler worked himself up from poverty to become a successful entrepreneur, and by the 1920s he was already engaged in founding subsidiaries abroad. Besides the brand Sika, more than 900 product

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

are in use including Sikaflex, SikaTack, Sika ViscoCrete, SikaBond, Sikafloor, Sika CarboDur Sikagard, Sika MaxTack, Sikaplan, Sikament, Sikadur, SikaLastic, SikaRoof MTC, Sika Unitherm and Sika Sarnafil. In 2019, Sika acquired PAREX Group, a global company headquartered in France with more than 4,500 employees and 1,034 million € on revenues. Sika AG is the legal entity for the holding company, which includes the Sika organizations worldwide, Sika Technology AG (Research and Development) and Sika Services AG (Corporate functions supporting all organizations worldwide).

History

1910 - 1950

* 1910: Kaspar Winkler founded Sika: Winkler's first inventions were agents to protect and clean

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

(Conservado, Purigo) and a waterproofing agent for mortars. This waterproofing agent named Sika-1 is still sold today. *1912: Subsidiary founded: In Southern Germany, a subsidiary with its own, small-scale manufacturing facility was founded. Leadership capacity and connections were insufficient for determining expansion. By hiring a Director for Foreign Operations who cared about the Sika operations, more subsidiaries were founded in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. *1918: The Swiss Federal Railways ran successful trials: The Swiss Federal Railways ran successful trials using Sika to waterproof the

tunnels A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A Pipeline transport, pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used ...

of the Gotthard section. This became necessary so that electric trains could be used as well. The Swiss National Railways waterproofed 67 tunnels with Sika during the following years, which was Sika's breakthrough, as it represented Sika's first big reference project, a true landmark. *1935: Worldwide Presence: Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Fritz Schenker, Winkler's son-in-law pushed the expansion in Europe, North- and South America, and in Asia.

1950 - 2000

*1971: Second generation change: Romuald Burkard took over the leadership of the group of companies which by 1968 had become a single integral corporate structure with Sika Finanz AG. Subsequently, Sika was listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange. *1990: Weak Profitability: 1990s were not an easy decade for Sika AG. The solution to survive the difficult times was achieved by withdrawing from less lucrative, non-core businesses, such as the building of robots used to restore sewer lines. Sika also abandoned the manufacture of road building products. Sika came close to selling its sealing membranes business to Sarnafil. *2000: Core competencies: Sika summarizes its core competencies as follows: sealing, bonding,

damping Damping is an influence within or upon an oscillatory system that has the effect of reducing or preventing its oscillation. In physical systems, damping is produced by processes that dissipate the energy stored in the oscillation. Examples in ...

reinforcing In behavioral psychology, reinforcement is a consequence applied that will strengthen an organism's future behavior whenever that behavior is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus. This strengthening effect may be measured as a higher freq ...

and protecting.

2000 - present

*2009:

Dubai Metro The Dubai Metro is a rapid transit rail network in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is currently operated by the French company Keolis. The Red Line and Green Line are operational, with a major 15 km (9.3 mi) extension to the Red L ...

’s first line: The Dubai Metro's first line was inaugurated. The second line is scheduled to begin by operating in 2011. There are 58.7 km of overground track in tunnels clad with 53000 prefabricated tubbing elements. *2010: 100-year anniversary: Worldwide celebrations at the different subsidiaries with the attendance of the owner family, active and retired Senior Managers, and others. On the threshold of its 100-year anniversary, Sika starts running the platform Sika Experiences which promotes internships and enables students and young professionals insights into this industry. *2012: A new president for the Board of Directors and a new CEO: Paul Hälg, CEO of the Dätwyler Gruppe, is elected as president of the Board of Directors of Sika AG. Jan Jenisch takes over the CEO position from Ernst Bärtschi upon his retirement on January 1, 2012. *2013: Target Markets & Regions: Sika defines its target markets as

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

waterproofing Waterproofing is the process of making an object or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environme ...

, roofing,

flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface ...

, sealing and bonding,

refurbishment Refurbishment may refer to: *Refurbishment (electronics) *Antiques restoration *Automotive restoration See also *Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property *Reconstruction (architecture) * Remanufacturing *Renovation Ren ...

and industry. The geographical regions are reduced from six to four:

EMEA EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...

(

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

), North America,

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and Asia/Pacific. The former regions Europe South and Europe North are incorporated in the new region

. The region IMEA is dissolved and India is included in the region Asia/Pacific. The regional distinction is based on unified economic areas and supply chain structures. * June 2013: Acquisition of Everbuild: Sika acquired Everbuild, the UK leading manufacturer of

sealants Sealant is a substance used to block the passage of fluids through openings in materials, a type of mechanical seal. In building construction ''sealant'' is sometimes synonymous with ''caulking'' and also serve the purposes of blocking dust, sou ...

and

Adhesives 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 ...

. * July 2013: Acquisition of membrane manufacturers: Sika acquired JMTexsa, S.A. de C.V. of Mexico and Texsa India Ltd. They are leading manufacturers of waterproofing membranes and will complement Sika's roofing product range. *2014: Further global growth: Six new subsidiaries opened in Sri Lanka, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria, and eight new factories opened worldwide. Sustainability Reporting: Sika becomes one of the first companies in Switzerland to introduce

Global Reporting Initiative The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human righ ...

G4 Standard Collaboration: Sika establishes a research group on Management in Emerging Markets with the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) *2015: Continuation of growth strategy: Acquisitions of Mozambique-based Douro-Moza, BMI Products of Northern California Inc., Axson technologies, Construction Technologies Australia Pty Ltd (CTA) and Addiment Italia. Establishment of national subsidiaries in Ethiopia and Tanzania. The mortar business - a core component of Sika's Strategy 2018- exhibited an above average performance, with sales growth of 12.9% *2017: Acquisition of Butterfield Color: Sika acquired Butterfield Color, a US-based market leader of decorative concrete floor products and systems. *2018: Continuation of growth strategy: Sika acquired Arcon Membrane Srl, Romania; Concrete Fibers Business of Propex Holding, LLC, USA; Polypag AG, Switzerland and Index Construction Systems and Products, Italy. *2019: Acquisition of Parex: In May 2019, Sika acquired Parex, a global construction chemical company, which provides specialty solutions to the building and construction industry. Headquartered in France, Parex more than 4,500 employees and 1,034 million € on revenues.

References

External links

Sika Worldwide Website

Sika UK Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sika Group Chemical companies of Switzerland Chemical companies established in 1910 Paint manufacturers Swiss brands Swiss companies established in 1910 Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange Specialty chemical companies Multinational companies headquartered in Switzerland