Synthomer

Synthomer plc, formerly known as Yule Catto & Co, is a British-based chemicals business. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

History

The company traces its roots back to 1863, when Andrew Yule founded a trading house known as Andrew Yule & Co. in Calcutta.[3] At the same time Andrew's brother, George Yule, set up George Yule & Co. in London, which acted as British agency arm of Andrew Yule & Co.[4]

When in 1919 Andrew Yule & Co. and George Yule & Co. were sold to the US banking group J.P. Morgan & Co. and its British merchant banking affiliate Morgan Grenfell & Co., both were turned from a partnership into a private limited company.[5] That same year Thomas Catto (1879–1959) was sent to India to take over management of the firm from Sir David Yule (1858–1928), a nephew of Andrew Yule.[6] David Yule continued to hold the title of Chairman but had no active part in the operations of the business.[6]

In 1920, Thomas Catto and David Yule changed the name of the British purchasing arm of Andrew Yule & Co., George Yule and Company, to Yule, Catto & Company Ltd.[7] Due to increased taxation, the devaluation of the Indian rupee and the abolition of the managing agency system, Yule, Catto & Co. decided in 1969 to sell its shareholding in Andrew Yule & Co. to the Indian government.[8]

With the acquisition of Revertex Chemicals in 1980,[7] Thomas Catto's son, Stephen (1923–2001) started to turn Yule Catto & Co. into an international speciality chemicals and building products manufacturer.[9] Since 2007 the group has been transformed from a diversified chemical business to a focussed speciality polymer business. In 2012 the company changed its name to Synthomer on the basis that the majority of its business already traded under that name.[10]

In July 2019, Synthomer announced that it was going to buy OMNOVA Solutions for an enterprise value of $824 million;[11] the transaction was completed on 2 April 2020.[12]

In October 2021, Synthomer announced the acquisition of Eastman Chemical adhesive activities for $1 billion.[13] It included a former Hercules factory with 230 employees in Middelburg, the Netherlands, that produced about 80 different synthetic resins. They delivered, partly in 20 tonne bulk, to companies in over 70 countries.[14][15]

Operations

The company has three activities: polymer chemicals, pharma chemicals and impact chemicals.[3]

Sources

External links

• Official site