an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . february 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message univar type public traded as nyse unvr genre chemical distribution company founded seattle washington united states 1924 1924 founder george van waters and nat s. rogers headquarters downers grove illinois number of locations global key people j. erik fyrwald president and chief executive officer revenue 10.3 billion 2013 1 owner cvc capital partners clayton dubilier & rice number of employees 8 900 june 2015 website univar.com univar is a chemical distribution company based in downers grove illinois . the company was founded in 1924 and as of 2013 it employed approximately 8 000 employees worldwide and generated net sales of 10.3 billion in 2013 . 1 contents 1 history 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit on august 8 1924 george van waters and nat rogers opened a small firm in seattle washington usa buying and selling naval supplies paint raw materials and cotton linters . when van waters & rogers entered the laundry supply business it paved the way for the company s future in chemicals . near the end of the 1920s the company moved into a 5 000 square foot 460 m2 facility just south of downtown seattle and soon after it expanded into the entire facility and plant next door . in 1936 van waters & rogers sales topped 1 million and by the end of the decade the company was closing on the 2 million mark . locations were added in portland oregon spokane washington and los angeles california . a notable addition was the industrial chemicals division headed by glen mcelvain a chemical salesman who was instrumental in the acquisition of local chemical companies . in the 1940s sales increased from 2 million in 1940 to more than 18 million in 1949 citation needed . acquisitions led to market entries in san francisco and texas and the first two women were appointed to officer positions . in 1949 van waters & rogers celebrated its 25th anniversary . univar acquired industrial materials ltd. of vancouver british columbia and braun knecht heimann of san francisco in 1950 . in 1956 van waters & rogers made its first public stock offering . by the end of the decade van waters & rogers had locations in all 11 western states texas and western canada . sales climbed from 18 million to more than 80 million in 1959 citation needed . in the 1960s company headquarters relocated to san francisco for a brief period . by mid decade shareholders approved the merger of van waters & rogers and united pacific corporation . in 1966 van waters & rogers became vwr united and the decade ended with the company s listing on the new york stock exchange on march 6 1969 . at the march 25 1970 board meeting co founder nat rogers retired from the company and later that same year jim wiborg became ceo . as leadership changed so did the company s name . the name univar was adopted in 1974 and the company continued to expand through acquisitions with the stated goal of becoming a national distributor . the most important acquisition was the purchase of mcarthur chemical which established univar as a major distributor throughout canada . in the 1980s univar became north america s largest chemical distributor and sales topped 1 billion citation needed . responding to new government regulations and environmental concerns the company focused on product stewardship and introduced chemcare a waste management service . univar acquired mckesson chemical with financial backing from royal pakhoed and combined the two distribution giants formed a coast to coast network of more than 100 locations in the united states and canada . during the 1990s univar launched an internet based chemical distributor named chempoint.com . acquisitions led to further expansion as univar acquired four chemical distribution companies in europe forming univar europe . in 1996 royal pakhoed acquired univar and it merged with royal van ommeren in 1999 to become royal vopak . detroit romulus distribution facility romulus mi univar focused on industries that were population based such as food pharmaceuticals personal care coatings and energy . univar hired specialists scientists and phds to assist customers with product formulations and technical solutions . growth continued through the acquisition of ellis & everard which included operations in the uk ireland and north america . in 2002 univar split off from royal vopak as an independent company and world leader in chemical distribution . in 2007 univar purchased a leading competitor chemcentral and became a privately held company owned primarily by funds managed or advised by london based cvc capital partners . 2 univar ended the decade with 7.2 billion in net sales from the distribution of approximately 5.4 million metric tons of chemicals in 2009 . 3 in 2010 clayton dubilier & rice llc acquired a 42.5 % ownership interest in univar and the company continued to grow . it acquired us based basic chemical solutions a global distributor and trader of commodity chemicals and the quaron distribution business in belgium and the netherlands in 2010 and 2011 respectively . in 2013 univar moved its corporate headquarters from redmond to downers grove illinois a suburb of chicago . in june 2014 univar filed for a 100 million initial public offering . 4 in june 2016 it was announced that univar had joined the fortune 500 for the first time . 5 see also edit univar canada references edit a b prior to 2013 univar s global headquarters were located in redmond washington . univar about investors . www.univar.com . retrieved 2011 05 24 . cvc capital partners to absorb univar . www.forbes.com . july 9 2007 . retrieved 2011 05 24 . univar company profile . univar.com . retrieved 2011 02 01 . univar files for 100 million ipo here are the 15 new companies joining the fortune 500 . fortune.com . 2016 06 06 . retrieved 2016 06 07 . external links edit univar about univar chempoint.com retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title univar & oldid 727361687 categories chemical companieschemical companies of the united statescompanies based in dupage county illinoiscompanies listed on the new york stock exchangehidden categories articles with a promotional tone from february 2012all articles with a promotional tonearticles needing additional references from february 2012all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from september 2013 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog 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