Description
Ecolab is an American corporation that develops and offers services, technology and systems that specialize in water treatment, purification, cleaning and hygiene in a wide variety of applications. It helps organizations both private market as well as public treat their water, not only for drinking directly, but also for use in food, healthcare, hospitality related safety and industry. It was founded as Economics Laboratory in 1923 by Merritt J. Osborn, and renamed "Ecolab" in 1986.
History
2000 - Present
In the mid-2000s, strategic acquisitions continued, and Ecolab diversified its portfolio of customer offerings by venturing into the food safety management business as well as a healthcare business unit.
In 2004, Douglas M. Baker, Jr. was named chief executive officer. In 2006, he also was named chairman of Ecolab's board of directors.
In 2005, the company opened a new global research, development, and engineering center in Eagan, Minnesota.
In 2006, Ecolab won the Black Pearl Award for Corporate Excellence in Food Safety and Quality, presented by the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP).
In 2007, Ecolab acquired Microtek Medical Holdings, Inc., expanding its infection prevention expertise and offerings to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
In 2008, Henkel sold all of the 73 million shares, nearly a 29.5% stake it held in Ecolab, ending the two-decade-long partnership. The same year, Ecolab established Zurich as its Europe, the Middle East and Africa headquarters.
In July 2011, Ecolab announced a merger with Nalco Holding Company, Inc., an industrial water technology firm. In December 2011, Nalco, later renamed Nalco Water, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecolab after Ecolab completed the US$5.4 billion acquisition.
In May 2012, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, through his investment vehicles Cascade Investment and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation increased his stake of 10.8% in Ecolab to 25%.
In August 2012, Ecolab opened its Taicang, China, manufacturing plant. The facility, one of the company's largest, helped expand Ecolab's presence in Greater China and was the company's first plant to recycle 100% of its wastewater.
In October 2012, Ecolab entered an agreement to acquire Champion Technologies, a global specialty chemical company. The $2.2 billion transaction closed in April 2013.
In November 2014, Ecolab, working with TruCost, launched the Water Risk Monetizer. It provides an online, no-cost financial modeling tool to assess and monetize the risk of water scarcity.
In November 2015, for $40.5 million, Ecolab acquired the U.S. operations of Swisher Hygiene, which provides hygiene and sanitizing solutions for the foodservice, hospitality, retail and healthcare markets.
In June 2016, Ecolab announced plans to acquire Laboratoires Anios, a leading European manufacturer and marketer of hygiene and disinfection products for the healthcare, food service, and food and beverage markets. Based in Lille, France, Anios served customers in 85 countries and had 2015 sales of approximately US$245 million. The US$800 million transaction closed on February 1, 2017.
In July 2016, Ecolab made a minority investment in Aquatech International, LLC of an undisclosed amount.
In August 2016, the company opened a Latin America regional headquarters in Miramar, Florida.
In October 2016, Ecolab acquired the assets of UltraClenz, a developer of electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems and dispensers.
In October 2020, Christophe Beck was named the next CEO of Ecolab, effective January 1, 2021.
Operations
Ecolab employs approximately 50,000 people, and operates in more than 170 countries. It is organized in the following geographical divisions:
- North America (based in St. Paul, Minnesota)
- Europe (based in Zurich, Switzerland)
- Middle East and Africa, including South Africa (based in Dubai, UAE)
- Asia Pacific (based in Singapore)
- Greater China (based in Shanghai)
- Latin America (based in Miramar, Florida)
