W. R. Grace and Company
Parent Standard Industries | | |
Website | www | |
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Footnotes / references [1] |
W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in
For much of its early history, Grace's main business was in South America, in
In the 1950s, Grace began to diversify and grew into a
After emerging from a prolonged bankruptcy period of 12 years in 2014, the company spun off its other major operating divisions. In 2015, Grace separated into two independent public companies. Its Catalysts and Material Technologies business segments remained in Grace, and what would later become
In September 2021, Standard Industries acquired Grace (the Catalysts and Material Technologies business segments).[3]
History
The company was founded in 1854 in Peru by William Russell Grace at the age of 22.[1][4][5][6] Grace left Ireland during the Great Famine[7] and traveled to South America with his family. He went first to Peru to work as a ship chandler for the firm of Bryce and Company, to the merchantmen harvesting guano, used as a fertilizer and gunpowder ingredient due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen.
His brother,
In 1904, Michael P. Grace became president after the death of William Grace.
The company expanded, creating business divisions including Grace Shipping, Grace Cruise Lines, Grace Petroleum, Grace Drilling, and Grace Healthcare. Grace acquired and combined other companies to create and expand businesses such as
In 1914, it created Grace National Bank.[4]
In 1945, the founder's grandson,
In 1953, the company became a public company via an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1954, the company acquired Davison Chemical Company and Dewey & Almy Chemical Company, entering the specialty chemicals and specialty materials industries and establishing the basis for the current product lines.[4][1]
In 1987, Grace built a can sealant plant in Minhing, China, near
In February 2016, Grace completed the
In July 2016, the company acquired a catalysts business from BASF.[9]
In June 2021, the company acquired a unit from Albemarle Corporation.[10]
In September 2021, Standard Industries acquired the company.[11][12][13]
Incorporation
There are two accounts of the incorporation date of W. R. Grace & Co. According to
According to its website, W. R. Grace & Co. was incorporated in Connecticut in 1899. The listed capital of $6 million did not include Grace Brothers & Co. Limited in London or its branches in San Francisco, Lima, and Callao, Peru, nor Valparaiso, Santiago, and Concepción, Chile.[4]
J. Louis Schaefer, who joined the company as a boy, played a key role in not only W. R. Grace & Company, in which he became a vice president, but also as president of
Shipping
For most of its history, Grace's main business was cargo shipping, operating the Grace Line. To move cargo from Peru to North America and Europe, including guano and sugar, and noticing the need for other goods to be traded, William Grace founded a shipping division. Grace Line began service in 1882,[16] with ports of call between Peru and New York. Regular steamship service was established in 1893, with a subsidiary called the New York & Pacific Steamship Co., that operated under the British flag. Ships built outside the United States before 1905 were banned from the US registry. US-flag service began in 1912 with the Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company. The activities of both companies and the parent firm were consolidated into the Grace Steamship Company beginning in 1916. The firm originally specialized in traffic to the west coast of South America then later expanded into the Caribbean.
In 1916, Grace acquired a controlling interest in the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. In 1921, Pacific received five 535 ft. President class ships from the United States Shipping Board for transpacific operation. In 1923, the US Shipping board decided to place the five ships up for bid and Dollar Shipping Company won the bid. With no large ships for the transpacific operations, Grace sold the Pacific Mail, its registered name, and goodwill to Dollar. Now without a transpacific service, Grace did not need the six intercoastal freighters and sold them to the American Hawaiian Line. At this time, Grace formed the Panama Mail Steamship Company, to operate the smaller ships that were formerly owned and used by the Pacific Mail in the Central American trade. These ships were not involved in the sale to Dollar.[17]
On the death of William R. Grace in 1904, he was succeeded by William L. Sauders as company president followed by
J. Peter Grace took over management of the company after his father suffered a stroke in 1945. After the war, the Grace line operated 23 ships totaling 188,000 gross tons, and 14 more on bareboat charters. In 1954 the company bought Davison Chemical Company (founded by William T. Davison as Davison, Kettlewell & Company in 1832), and the Dewey & Almy Chemical Company (founded in 1919 by Bradley Dewey and Charles Almy).
In 1960, the Grace Line, inspired by the pioneering efforts of
In 1970, Grace Line was sold to
Property nationalized
In 1974, the
Airline
In 1928, Grace and Pan American Airways jointly formed Pan American-Grace Airways known as Panagra, establishing the first air link between North and South America, which began operation in 1929.[26] In 1967, Panagra merged with Braniff International Airways.[27]
Retail
Prior to 1985, W. R. Grace operated a retail division. Among its brands were Orchard Supply Hardware and Home Centers West (sold to Wickes Companies in 1986),[28] Handy City home improvement stores, Home Quarters Warehouse, J. B. Robinson Jewelers, Sheplers Western Wear, and Herman's World of Sporting Goods which it had acquired in 1970. These were sold to various buyers in 1985.[29]
Food and Beverage Industry
Food
In the 1980s, W. R. Grace had owned the following restaurants:
American Cafe, Del Taco,[30] Coco's Bakery,[31] El Torito, Hungry Tiger and various restaurants it had purchased from General Mills.[32]
Beverage
In 1966, the company bought a 53% controlling stake in
Headquarters
The company has its headquarters in Columbia, MD, an unincorporated census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland.[36][37] Although W. R. Grace commissioned the W. R. Grace Building in New York City, built in 1971, the company no longer has any offices at that location.
Previously, the company had its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida.[38][39] Prior to its closing, the Boca Raton headquarters had about 130 employees. On January 27, 1999, it announced it was moving its administrative staff to the Columbia office and closing the Boca Raton headquarters.[40] About 40 of the employees went to Columbia, and some employees went to Cambridge, Massachusetts.[38] In 2014, the company emerged from a 13-year bankruptcy case stemming from asbestos claims and immediately built a new 90,000 sq ft headquarters building on its 160-acre Columbia campus.[41]
Contamination incidents
The company has been involved in several controversial incidents of proven and alleged corporate crimes, including exposing workers and residents of an entire town to asbestos contamination in Libby[42] and Troy, Montana, water contamination (the basis of the book and film A Civil Action) in Woburn, Massachusetts, and an Acton, Massachusetts, Superfund site.
Asbestos
While Grace no longer makes asbestos or related products, at the time of its bankruptcy in 2001 it faced over 65,000 asbestos-related personal injury lawsuits involving over 129,000 claims.[43]
On April 2, 2001, Grace and its subsidiaries in the United States filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy reorganization in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.[44] The company was trying to find a resolution through federal court-supervised reorganization in response to the quickly growing number of asbestos-related bodily injury claims.[45]
On September 19, 2008, Grace filed a revised plan of reorganization to the same court, jointly with the asbestos injury claimants.[46] In January 2011, the court issued an order in favor of the new plan[47] and in January 2012, the court denied all appeals and affirmed the plan.[48] After a motion for reconsideration, the plan was reaffirmed on June 11, 2012.[49][50]
On February 3, 2014, Grace emerged from the asbestos-related Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which took more than 12 years.[51][52] Under the plan of reorganization approved by the court, all parties filings the asbestos-related claims were to direct their inquiry to either an asbestos personal injury trust or a separate asbestos property damage trust.[53]
In popular culture
- The movie A Civil Action, starring John Travolta, was based on the Grace groundwater contamination lawsuits in Woburn, Massachusetts.[54]
- The P.O.V., which highlights independent films, in August 2007 premiered the movie Libby, Montana which documents the thousands of people in Libby, Montana, that have been exposed to and are suffering the effects of asbestos exposure. The show also discusses the criminal indictments of many Grace executives for covering up asbestos related illnesses and deaths.
- PBS also aired Dust to Dust, a documentary produced by Michael Brown Productions, Inc. in 2002. "Dust to Dust" reports on the more than 200 people who have died from asbestos exposure in Libby, Montana. The film focuses on the plights of several of these individuals and the damage done over almost 30 years while the mine was operated by W. R. Grace.[55]
- NPR aired a piece on All Things Considered discussing the criminal charges against W. R. Grace. A U.S. attorney general alleges that the company and managers of the mine in Libby, Montana, knew about the dangers of the asbestos they were dumping into the air for over 20 years.[56]
- On February 19, 2008, the NPR-produced radio show Here and Now broadcast a story about the film Libby, Montana, which details the asbestos contamination in the town of that name.
- On April 22, 2009, the television and radio program Democracy Now! broadcast two segments on the trial of W. R. Grace and some of its employees related to the asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana.[57][58] Democracy Now! also broadcast a follow-up interview on May 12, 2009.[59] This interview focused on reactions to the not-guilty verdict in the federal trial, where W. R. Grace and three former executives were acquitted on charges of knowingly exposing workers and townspeople to asbestos, and subsequently participating in a cover-up.
Neem patent
In 1995, the
See also
- Anderson v. Cryovac
- Beatrice Foods
- Grace Institute
References
- ^ a b c d "W. R. Grace and Co. 2020 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ "Grace Showcases its Latest Eco-Friendly and High-Performance Solutions at CHINACOAT 2020". Coatings World. August 12, 2020.
- ^ "Our History". grace.com. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ a b c d e f "Our History". Grace.
- ^ Hagerty, James R. (February 11, 2015). "W.R. Grace: The End of an Empire". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ McNamara, Pat (December 19, 2018). "Who's Buried in Catholic Cemeteries: Mayor William R. Grace". Patheos.
- ^ "J.P. GRACE DIES". The Washington Post. April 21, 1995.
- ^ WELLS, CARRIE (February 1, 2016). "W.R. Grace's stock slides in advance of split this week".
- ^ Wilen, Holden (June 1, 2021). "W.R. Grace closes $570 million acquisition ahead of own takeover". American City Business Journals.
- ^ Wilen, Holden (July 1, 2016). "W.R. Grace completes acquisition of German catalyst business". American City Business Journals.
- ^ DINSMORE, CHRISTOPHER (September 22, 2021). "Standard Industries completes purchase of Columbia-based W.R. Grace & Co". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "Standard Industries Completes Acquisition of Grace" (Press release). Business Wire. September 22, 2021.
- ^ Wilen, Holden (September 22, 2021). "Another one bites the dust: One fewer Baltimore-area public company as $7B W.R. Grace deal closes". American City Business Journals.
- ^ "The Grace firms consolidated" (PDF). The New York Times. January 11, 1895.
- ^ "J.L. SCHAEFER LEFT $2,962,588 ESTATE; Family Receives Fortune of Vice President and Treasurer of W.R. Grace & Co. SECRETARY GETS LEGACIES Judge Robert J. Wilkin Bequeathed $420,261--Widow and Nephew Get Most of It. Judge Wilkin Left $420,261". The New York Times. February 21, 1929.
- ^ "House Flags of U.S. Shipping Companies: G".
- ^ Grace, Michael L. (May 18, 2010). "LOOKING AT THE GRACE LINE".
- ^ Colombian Line merges with Grace Line: The Ship List- Retrieved 2013-11-07
- ^ "Troopships of World War II - US Army Center of Military History" (PDF). United States Army.
- ^ Cudahy, 2006, pp. 70-72, 89-90
- ^ Levinson, 2006, pp. 67, 130
- ^ Cudahy, 2006, p. 90
- ^ "Grace Line Gets New Name and a New President". The New York Times. January 20, 1970.
- ^ Levinson, 2006, p. 226
- ^ "Peru Nationalizes 4 W.R. Grace Subsidiaries". The New York Times. February 16, 1974.
- ^ "Business: Reconciliation". Time. August 12, 1946.
- . Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- Sun-Sentinel.
- ^ "W.R. Grace sells Del Taco to PepisCo's Taco Bell - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ Horovitz, Bruce (1986-02-12). "W. R. Grace Will Sell 124 Units in Restaurant Group". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ "A Deal Between Grandchildren". Time. September 30, 1966. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
- ^ Reckert, Clare M. (June 12, 1969). "Grace Cancels Miller Purchase; Pepsico Was to Sell COMPANIES PLAN MERGER ACTIONS". The New York Times.
- ^ Abele, John J. (June 20, 1969). "W. R. Grace Is Sued by Pepsico; Miller Sale Is at Issue W. R. GRACE SUED FOR MILLER SALE". The New York Times.
- ^ "Grace in Maryland Archived July 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." W.R. Grace and Company. Retrieved on June 29, 2011. "Corporate Headquarters & Grace Davison Headquarters, W.R. Grace & Co. 7500 Grace Drive, Columbia, MD 2104"
- U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 29, 2011.
- ^ a b "Grace Announces Relocation To Columbia, Maryland Archived July 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." W.R. Grace and Company. Retrieved on June 29, 2011. "The restructuring will entail a relocation of approximately 40 people, including senior management, from Grace's Boca Raton, Florida office to its Columbia, Maryland site. A few positions will be relocated to another Grace office in Cambridge, Massachusetts." and "Following the relocation, Grace will close its headquarters office at 1750 Clint Moore Road in Boca Raton, which currently employs approximately 130 people."
- U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on April 3rd, 2013.
- ^ HEROUX POUNDS, MARCIA (January 28, 1999). "W.R. Grace To Leave Boca". Sun Sentinel.
- ^ Lavoie, Luke (October 31, 2014). "W.R. Grace opens new headquarters in Columbia". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "NIOSH Research in Libby, Montana: Job-Related Asbestos Exposures and Health Effects in Mining and Milling of Vermiculite". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. September 21, 2000.
- ^ "In re W.R. Grace & Co". Casetext.
- ^ "W. R. Grace Co, Form 10-K405, Filing Date Apr 16, 2001". secdatabase.com.
- ^ "Form 10-K, W. R. Grace & Co". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. December 2004. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "W. R. Grace Co, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Sep 23, 2008". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ "W. R. Grace Co, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Feb 10, 2011" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "W. R. Grace Co, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Oct 31, 2012". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ "W. R. Grace Co, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Jul 25, 2012" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ "W. R. Grace Co, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Feb 6, 2013". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ Brickley, Peg (February 3, 2014). "5 Takeaways From the W.R. Grace Bankruptcy". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "W. R. Grace & Co, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Feb 7, 2014". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ "W. R. Grace & Co, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Feb 27, 2014". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ "The Ugly Truth: Mass. Superfund Sites Still Toxic Nearly 30 Years And More Than $1B Later". WBUR-FM. May 22, 2011.
- ^ Brown, Michael. LIBBY, MONTANA - A TOWN & ITS PEOPLE IN PERIL. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.
- ^ WITKOWSKY, KATHY (February 8, 2005). "W.R. Grace Charged in Asbestos Exposure Cases". NPR.
- ^ "A Town Suffering for Generations: Decades of Asbestos Exposure by W.R. Grace Mine Leave Hundreds Dead, 1,200+ Sickened in Libby". Democracy Now!. April 22, 2009.
- ^ "Environmental Crimes Trial Underway Against W.R. Grace for Widespread Asbestos Exposure in Montana Town". Democracy Now!. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012.
- ^ "W.R. Grace Acquitted in Libby, Montana Asbestos Case". Democracy Now!. May 12, 2009.
- ^ "India wins landmark patent battle". BBC News. March 9, 2005.