Croda International plc is a chemicals company based at Snaith in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The Company was founded by George Crowe in 1925 at Rawcliffe Bridge to manufacture lanolin under the name Croda (a combination of the first few letters of his surname with that of his partner, a Mr Dawe).

Leading cosmetic companies started using its products in the 1950s and at that time it also began to expand internationally: it moved to its present location in 1955. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1964. It expanded rapidly in the 1960s acquiring United Premier Oil in 1967 and British Glues & Chemicals in 1968. In 1990 it developed Lorenzo's oil, a product famously used to treat Adrenoleukodystrophy. In 1998 it bought Westbrook Lanolin.

More recently it has focussed on specialty chemicals and in 2006 it announced that it had reached a deal with ICI to acquire ICI's Uniqema for a total consideration of £410m.

Operations

The Company's products include:

• Surfactants which are used as ingredients for cosmetic creams and lotions.
• Dietary supplements containing specialty lipids, such as Omega-3 oils.
• Fatty acid amides which add "slip" to plastic surfaces, so plastic bags can be easily peeled apart.

These products are sold to other manufacturing companies. Croda has factories in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Brazil, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Korea and Japan.

References

External links

• Official site
• Yahoo profile