Akzo Nobel

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Akzo Nobel is a multinational company, active in the fields of healthcare products, coatings and chemicals. Headquartered in Arnhem, the Netherlands, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 62,000 people. Sales in 2005 were EUR 13 billion, of which 27% in Pharma products, 43% in Coatings, and 30% in Chemicals products.

Contents

1 Organization

1.1 Board of management
1.2 Pharmaceuticals
1.3 Coatings
1.4 Chemicals

2 Historical timeline
3 See also
4 External links

Organization

Headquarters in Arnhem, the Netherlands

Akzo Nobel consists of fifteen business units, with business responsibility and autonomy. For managerial purpose these cooperate in three groups, which are supported by one managerial board.

Board of management

Hans Wijers, as president in 2005 of the Board of Management

The Board of Management (BOM) of Akzo Nobel consists of four people, viz. Chairman and CEO since 2003 Hans Wijers, CFO Rob Frohn, and members Toon Wilderbeek and Leif Darner. The board holds office on the Akzo Nobel site in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

Pharmaceuticals

The Pharma group consists of two major business units

Organon International for human healthcare, and
Intervet for animal healthcare.
Diosynth is a smaller organizational unit, producing some core bulk ingredients
Nobilon produces vaccines

At the beginning of 2006, it was announced that Akzo Nobel intents to start an initial public offering for these business units, under the name of Organon Biosciences.

Products developed by the Pharma businesses include contraceptives (e.g., NuvaRing®, antidepressants (e.g., Remeron SolTab®), infertility treatments (e.g., Puregon®/Follistim®) and veterinary vaccines (e.g., Nobivac ® dog and cat vaccines; Equilis horse vaccines).

Coatings

Akzo Nobel is the world's leading coatings company with key products paints, services and specialized equipment for the car repair and transportation market. The coatings groups consist of the business units:

Car Refinishes (CR)
Decorative coatings Europe (DCE) and International (DCI)
Industrial finishes (IF)
Powder coatings (POW)
Marine and protective coatings (MPC)
Nobilas

The brands it manufactures include Sikkens®, International®, Crown® and Interpon®. These products were used on London's Millennium Wheel, La Scala Opera House in Milan, the Öresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, and Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Chemicals

Following a 2005 reorganization, the chemicals group now consists of five business units.

Base Chemicals (BC)
Functional Chemicals (FC)
Polymer Chemicals (PC)
Surfactants (SC)
Pulp and Paper Chemicals, under brand name Eka Chemicals (PPC)

As chemicals producer, Akzo Nobel is a world's leading salt specialist, chlor-alkali products, and other industrial chemicals. Ultimately, Akzo Nobel products are found in everyday items such as paper, ice cream, bakery goods, cosmetics, plastics and glass. Each BU has an annual turnover of approx EUR 600 million.

Historical timeline

1777 Danish paints company Det Holmbladske Selskab
1792 Dutch lacquers manufacturer Sikkens Lakken, founded by Wiert Willem Sikkens in Groningen
1826 British silk and crepe manufacturer Courtaulds founded by Samuel Courtauld,
1835 Dutch sulfuric acid producer Ketjens, founded by Gerhard Tileman Ketjens
1838 Dutch oils and oatmeal company Noury & Van der Lande
1841 Swedish stearin candles factory Liljeholmens Stearinfabrik, founded by Lars Johan Hierta in Stockholm
1870 Swedish superfosfate producer Stockholms Superfosfat Fabrik,
1874 Swedish chemical company KemaNobel was founded by Alfred Nobel
1886 Dutch chemicals and soda factory, founded by Constant Kortman and Herman Schulte in Rotterdam
1887 Dutch pharmaceuticals laboratory Zwanenburg
1895 Swedish electrochemical company EKA was founded also by Alfred Nobel
1899 German fiber producer Vereinigte Glanszstoff Fabriken
1911 Dutch nylon (artificial silk) company Eerste Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabriek Arnhem, founded by Jacque Coenraad Hartogs in Arnhem
1918 Dutch salt producer Nederlandse Zoutindustrie (NeZo)
1921 US slaughtering industry Armour Meat Packing starts fatty acid production, in Chicago
1923 Dutch pharmaceuticals company Organon founded by Saal van Zwanenberg
1937 Swedish producer of coatings for fishing lines Berol, founded by Bernström and Olson in Södertãlje
1965 Kortman and Schulte is taken over by Koninklijke Zwanenburg Organon forming Koninklijke Zout Organon
1969 The AKU and the Koninklijke Zwanenburg Organon merge, forming AKZO
1984 KemaNobel and Swedish weapons manufacturer Bofors merge to form Nobel Industries
1987 AKZO acquires speciality chemicals division of Stauffer
1990 Courtaulds separates itself into two businesses, viz., Courtaulds Textiles for apparel manufacture and Courtaulds plc for fibres and chemicals
1994 AKZO merges with Nobel Industries, forming Akzo Nobel. The new Akzo Nobel has 20 business entities. Bofors continues as a separate entity.
1998 Akzo Nobel acquires Courtaulds of the UK, a leading international chemical company which has leading positions in high-tech industrial coatings and man-made fibers. EU forces sale of Aeronautical films and sealants businesses to allow completion.
1999 Akzo Nobel divests its Fibers Group 'Acordis' to CVC Capital Partners.
2004 Catalyst business sold to Albemarle Corp. and Coatings Resins business divested to Nuplex Industries.
2006 Akzo Nobel acquires the quoted Canadian Coatings company SICO Inc.

External links

AEX companies of the Netherlands
ABN AMRO \| AEGON \| Ahold \| Akzo Nobel \| ASML \| Buhrmann \| DSM \| Fortis \| Getronics \| Hagemeyer \| Heineken \| ING Group \| KPN \| Numico \| Philips \| Reed Elsevier \| Royal Dutch Shell \| SBM Offshore \| TomTom \| TNT \| Unilever \| Vedior \| VNU \| Wolters Kluwer

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