VWR International is an American company involved in the distribution of research

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physic ...

products, with over 1,200,000 items to more than 250,000 customers in North America and Europe. The U.S. division is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania. VWR ranked #91 in 2006, and #77 in 2005, in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' list of largest American private companies. Suppliers include Applied Scientific, 3B Scientific Duracell, Kimberly-Clark, Bel-Art Products, and

Welch Allyn Welch Allyn, Inc. is an American manufacturer of medical devices and patient monitoring systems. Headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, New York, it was family-owned until it was acquired in 2015 by Hillrom. Hillrom was purchased by Baxter Interna ...

. VWR primarily serves the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

life science Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy t ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

and

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

sectors. In 2010, the company maintained operations in 25 countries and processed approximately 50,000 order lines daily from a logistical network, which includes 25 strategically located distribution centers.

History

VWR was founded by John Taylor as the John Taylor Company in 1852, selling mining and laboratory products. Since then, the company evolved to focus on the laboratory market. It also has a presence in the cleanroom, safety, and clinical markets. In 1902, it was purchased by F.W. Braun, and merged into his company the F.W. Braun Corporation. In 1908, Braun left the F.W. Braun Corporation, and formed Braun-Knecht-Heimann with Gustav Knecht and Richard Heimann. In 1950, George Van Waters and Nat Rogers purchased Braun-Knecht-Heimann, and in 1953 they purchased the F.W. Braun Corporation, merging with their chemical distribution company Van Waters and Rogers, which they had founded in 1924. In 1974, the VWR United Corporation became Univar Corporation, and in 1986, split into Univar and VWR Corporation. VWR owns a group of companies under the unofficial umbrella "VWR Education." These companies include Science Kit and Boreal Laboratories and

Edmund Scientific Corporation Edmund Scientific Corporation, based in Barrington, New Jersey, was founded in 1942 as a retailer of surplus optical parts like lenses. It later branched out into complete systems like telescopes and microscopes, and in the 1960s, a wide variety ...

. In August 1989, VWR purchased Wards's Science and Sargent-Welch Scientific Company. In September, 1995, VWR completed their purchase of Baxter's Industrial division, creating a much larger company. The capital was primarily obtained from

Merck KGaA The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and present in 66 countries. The group includes around 250 companies; the ma ...

, a German chemical manufacturer (known as EMD Chemicals in the U.S. and Canada) who later purchased VWR and merged them with Merck Eurolab, creating a global laboratory distributor. In 2004, VWR became a limited partnership controlled by investment firm

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, repre ...

. In 2007, CD&R sold VWR to another private equity company,

Madison Dearborn Partners Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts of privately held or publicly traded companies, or divisions of larger companies; recapitalizations of family-owned or closely held companies; ba ...

. In 2010, VWR moved its world headquarters to Radnor, Pennsylvania. On June 1, 2011, VWR International acquired BioExpress Corp (formerly ISC BioExpress), raising concerns of monopolization of the laboratory supplies sector along with

Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Thermo Fisher was formed through the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Sc ...

. Controversy has arisen about a 2010 decision by VWR to close its unionized Brisbane, CA distribution center, moving operations to a non-unionized Visalia, CA facility. This facility has now voted in the union for equal pay for equal work. They pay the Material Handlers $10 an hour when the other distribution centers start at a much higher rate. VWR will not allow this facility to be unionized and will not work out a contract. On October 2, 2014, VWR's

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

raised $536 million, valuing the value of the company at close to $5 billion. In January 2016, VWR acquired Therapak Corporation, an assembler and distributor of medical convenience kits with locations in

Claremont, CA Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a po ...

Buford, GA Buford is a city in Gwinnett and Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,144. Most of the city is in Gwinnett County, which is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan ...

, Hayes, UK and Skalice, CZ. In April 2017, VWR acquired MESM Ltd., a provider of laboratory and medical equipment and supplies for use in clinical trials worldwide. VWR acquired two other companies earlier in the year, EPL Archives and Seastar Chemicals On May 5, 2017, it was announced that Avantor, a Center Valley, Pennsylvania-based supplier of ultra-high-purity materials to the life sciences and advanced technology industries, would acquire VWR for $33.25 in cash per share of VWR common stock, reflecting an enterprise value of approximately $6.4 billion. On November 21, 2017, Avantor completed its acquisition of VWR. As of June 2020, Avantor was included in the Fortune500 list, ranking 484 on the list of the largest U.S companies by revenue.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vwr International Companies based in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Radnor Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania 2014 initial public offerings 2017 mergers and acquisitions Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq American companies established in 1852 1852 establishments in Pennsylvania Distribution companies of the United States