Hoechst AG

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This article is about the corporation. For the town in Frankfurt am Main, see Höchst (Frankfurt am Main). For other uses, see Hoechst.
Hoechst AG
Company typePublic
IndustryChemical, pharmaceutical
Founded1863; 161 years ago (1863)
SuccessorSanofi
HeadquartersHöchst, Frankfurt, Germany
Number of employees
96,967 (31 December 1998)
The former Hoechst AG and today's Industriepark Höchst

Hoechst AG (German pronunciation:

Sanofi-Synthélabo, it became a subsidiary of the resulting Sanofi-Aventis
pharmaceuticals group.

History

Building and operating licence for the chemical plant Meister, Lucius & Co. by the administration of the Duchy of Nassau in 1862
Share of the Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, issued 10. November 1922

The company was founded in 1863 as "Teerfarbenfabrik Meister, Lucius & Co." in Höchst, near Frankfurt and changed its name some years later to "Teerfarbenfabrik Meister Lucius & Brüning". In 1880, it became a stock company "Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning AG". For the international market the name was simplified to "Farbwerke Hoechst AG". Until 1925, the Hoechst AG was independent. In 1916, the Hoechst AG was one of the co-founders of IG Farben, an advocacy group of Germany's chemicals industry to gain industrial power during and after World War I. In 1925, IG Farben turned from an advocacy group into the well-known conglomerate.

World War II

Various Hoechst facilities were bombed during the

concentration camp prisoners.[1]

Postwar timeline

1951 — Hoechst AG was re-founded on December 7 in Frankfurt when IG Farben was split into its founder companies. The original capitalization of the company was 100,000

Deutsche Mark. By 1953, Hoechst had acquired parts of Knapsack-Griesheim, Kalle AG, Behring Werke, Wacker Chemie and Ruhr Chemie, among others.[2]

1957 — Signed a technical cooperation contract with Handok Pharmaceuticals In South Korea

1964 — Handok Pharmaceuticals Joint Venture Partner In South Korea

1969 — Hoechst acquired

Cassella.[2]

1970 — Hoechst AG took over Berger, Jenson and Nicholson Ltd.[3]

1987 — Hoechst acquired the American chemical company Celanese and formed a new Hoechst subsidiary in the US, Hoechst Celanese.

1988 — Hoechst AG sold Berger, Jenson and Nicholson Ltd to Williams Holdings.[3]

1995 — Hoechst merges with

Kansas City
, Missouri forming U.S. subsidiary Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR).

1997 — Hoechst underwent a realignment wherein its various businesses were transferred to independent companies, including Nutrinova and Clariant.[4]

1999 (December 7) — Hoechst and Rhône-Poulenc settle Federal Trade Commission charges that merger would violate U.S. antitrust laws;

1999 — Aventis was formed when Hoechst AG merged with

Ticona
).

2005 — The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis (now called Sanofi).

Key figures

Wilhelm Meister (1827–1895) founded the chemical company Teerfarbenfabrik Meister, Lucius & Co. which eventually became Hoechst AG. He was the great-grandfather of

America Online
. Pascal Soriot (the now-chief executive of AstraZeneca) held positions with the organisation from 1989 up until 2006, through Aventis.

References

  1. ^ Stephan H. Lindner. Inside IG Farben: Hoechst During the Third Reich. New York. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8122-8207-8
    .
  3. ^ a b "BERGER, JENSON AND NICHOLSON, PAINT MAKERS RECORDS".
  4. ISBN 978-3-593-39374-2
    .
Notes

Stephan H. Lindner. Inside IG Farben: Hoechst During the Third Reich. New York: Cambridge University Press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hoechst AG.
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