industry chemicals manufacturing founded 2005 merger between great lakes chemical corporation and crompton headquarters philadelphia u.s. area served worldwide key people craig a. rogerson chairman ceo & president number of employees 2500 2015 1 2 website chemtura.com chemtura corporation is a global corporation headquartered in philadelphia pennsylvania with its other principal executive office in middlebury connecticut . the company focuses on specialty chemicals for various industrial sectors and these are transportation including automotive energy and electronics . chemtura operates manufacturing plants in 11 countries . 4 1 its primary markets are industrial manufacturing customers . the corporation employs approximately 2500 people 1 for research manufacturing logistics sales and administration . 5 operations are located in north america latin america europe and asia . in addition the company has significant joint ventures primarily in the united states . 5 for the year ended december 31 2015 the company s global core segment revenue was 1.61 billion . 4 1 chief executive officer is craig a. rogerson who is also the president and chairman of the board of chemtura corporation . 6 7 8 9 10 contents 1 history 1.1 founding and early years 1.2 acquisitions and dip 2007 2012 1.3 acquisitions and sales 2012 2013 1.4 recent developments 2014 2016 2 products and distribution channels 2.1 business segments 2.1.1 industrial performance products 2.1.2 industrial engineered products 3 locations and facilities 4 legal 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit founding and early years edit chemtura corporation is the successor to crompton & knowles corporation which was incorporated in massachusetts in 1900 and engaged in the manufacture and sale of specialty chemicals beginning in 1954 . crompton & knowles traces its roots to crompton loom works incorporated in the 1840s . 8 11 a 19th century print depicting the crompton loom works in the late 1800s worcester massachusetts was a leading manufacturing center that attracted inventors and manufacturers . both william crompton and lucius j. knowles made the city their home and opened their respective loom companies there . both were the top loom manufacturers in the world . however each company based the method of weaving on a different premise . the companies later merged in 1879 becoming one entity known as crompton & knowles loom works . still supplying the world market the new company now applied both theories of weaving . 11 12 13 meanwhile in 1843 charles goodyear formed the goodyear metallic rubber shoe company connecticut . a year later he patented the vulcanization of rubber . goodyear s company then became one of nine companies that formed the founding of the united states rubber company in 1892 by charles r. flint also in naugatuck connecticut . the rubber company manufactured a large array of products through two world wars the cold war and became the uniroyal company uniroyal incorporated in 1961 . in 1986 uniroyal chemical company was formed as a subsidiary of avery inc. then in 1989 uniroyal chemical company investors holding bought uniroyal chemical company from avery and became uniroyal chemical corporation . in 1996 uniroyal chemical corporation went public and merged with crompton & knowles . in 1999 crompton & knowles merged with witco to form crompton corporation . in 2005 crompton acquired great lakes chemical company inc. of west lafayette indiana to form chemtura corporation . 8 11 11 14 15 additionally great lakes chemical corporation still exists as a subsidiary company of chemtura . 6 16 17 18 by january 2014 the company had manufactured and marketed a new brominated polymer flame retardant replacing the traditional hexabromocyclododecane hbcd flame retardant . 19 acquisitions and dip 2007 2012 edit by the end of january 2007 chemtura completed stock acquisition and ownership of kaufman holdings corporation with an all cash transaction . 7 20 21 the corporation operated as a debtor in possession dip under the protection of the united states bankruptcy court for the southern district of new york from 10 march 2009 through 10 november 2010 . 19 22 23 on september 26 2012 chemtura entered into a business transfer agreement bta with solaris chemtech industries limited an indian company and avantha holdings limited an indian company and the parent company of solaris chemtech . as provided in the bta chemtura agreed to purchase from solaris certain assets used in the manufacture and distribution of bromine and bromine chemicals for cash consideration of 142 million and the assumption of certain liabilities . 19 acquisitions and sales 2012 2013 edit in april 2013 chemtura completed the sale of its antioxidant business to sk blue holdings ltd and addivant usa holdings corp. for 97 million 9 million in preferred stock issued by addivant and the assumption by sk and addivant of pension environmental and other liabilities totaling approximately 91 million . additionally chemtura paid 2 million in cash as part of a pre closing adjustment . on may 15 2013 chemtura purchased the remaining 50 % interest in daystar materials l.l.c. from its joint venture partner up chemical company . as a result daystar became a consolidated entity . the purchase price was 3 million in cash which approximated the fair value of the remaining share of the assets and liabilities primarily inventory and fixed assets as of the purchase date . in addition chemtura reimbursed up chemical for a 3 million loan they had made to daystar . 19 in december 2013 chemtura completed sale of its consumer products business including dedicated manufacturing plants in the united states and south africa to kik custom products inc. for 300 million and the assumption by kik of pension and other liabilities totaling approximately 8 million . 19 recent developments 2014 2016 edit on april 16 2014 chemtura entered into a stock and asset purchase agreement to sell its chemtura agrosolutions business to platform specialty products corporation for approximately 1 billion consisting of 950 million in cash and 2 million shares of platform s common stock . the sale became final on november 3 2014 . 19 24 25 for the year ended december 31 2015 the company s global core segment revenue was 1.61 billion . 4 1 products and distribution channels edit chemtura operates in various industries including automotive construction electronics lubricants packaging plastics for durable and non durable goods and transportation 19 most products are sold to industrial manufacturing customers for use as additives ingredients or intermediates that add value to their end products . additionally the company considers itself a strong competitor in the global market based on its ranking of its products within given sectors as defined by sector industries and operating segments . 7 8 business segments edit the company currently has two reporting segments industrial performance products includes the petroleum additives and urethanes businesses ; industrial engineered products comprises the great lakes solutions and organometallic specialties businesses . 26 industrial performance products edit this segment markets synthetic lubricants and greases synthetic basestocks lubricant additives and urethanes . 26 industrial engineered products edit this segment markets brominated performance products flame retardants fumigants and organometallics . 26 locations and facilities edit the company has plants in 11 countries 4 1 in locales such as michigan new jersey arkansas germany italy china taiwan mexico brazil and the united kingdom . 19 legal edit firemaster 550 is one of chemtura s brominated flame retardants . 27 it is marketed as a flammability decreasing additive for polyurethane foam used in upholstered furniture . as polyurethane foam ages and breaks down into fine dust additives like firemaster 550 can leach out and be absorbed inhaled or ingested . 28 29 in a 2012 investigative series the chicago tribune reported that a team of researchers detected harmful effects from firemaster 550 at levels that were significantly lower than those used in the studies conducted on behalf of chemtura . 30 31 32 in response to the studies linking flame retardants to accumulation in humans and resulting potential harm california governor jerry brown proposed a regulation phasing out flame retardant chemicals in furniture . 33 on january 15 2013 chemtura filed a lawsuit in sacramento county superior court attempting to force the state of california to leave the old standards in place . in that lawsuit the company alleges that chemtura would be irreparably harmed if the proposed new regulation were not rescinded . 33 in november 2013 governor brown s office announced publication of the new flammability standards with mandatory compliance scheduled to begin on january 1 2015 . 33 in mid january 2014 chemtura filed a lawsuit against the state of california alleging the california bureau of electronics and appliance repair home furnishings and thermal insulation failed to comply with its legislative mandate by issuing a revised fire safety standard that does not address the risk of ignition from open flame ignition sources . 34 35 on september 30 2014 california governor jerry brown signed a bill requiring upholstered furniture labeling indicate whether the product contains toxic flame retardant chemicals . 36 this labelling requirement has triggered demand for furniture free of flame retardants . 37 see also edit philadelphia portal list of companies based in the philadelphia area list of chemical companies list of largest chemical producers references edit a b c d e f chemtura corporation files form 10 k . globenewswire chemtura . february 22 2016 . retrieved 2016 03 11 . chemtura reports fourth quarter 2014 financial results . nasdaq . february 25 2015 . retrieved 2015 03 19 . fourth quarter 2014 financial results . chemutra . 2015 . retrieved 2015 03 19 . a b c d chemtura corp form 10 k ex 31.1 exhibit 31.1 february 22 2016 . getfilings.com . february 22 2016 . retrieved 2016 03 11 . a b about chemtura . chemtura.com . 2015 . retrieved 2015 03 19 . a b rudnick leslie r. 2009 . lubricant additives chemistry and applications second edition . crc press taylor & francis . pp. 40 237 238 timeline 439 . isbn 9781420059649 . a b c plunkett jack w. july 2008 . plunkett s chemicals coatings & plastics industry almanac 2009 . houston texas plunkett research limited . isbn 9781593921255 . a b c d this article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the united states government . form 10 k online pdf . for the fiscal year ended december 31 2013 . u.s. securities and exchange commission . 24 february 2014 . retrieved 19 may 2014 . company & people . wall street journal . dow jones & company inc. retrieved 16 june 2014 . financials . wall street journal . dow jones & company inc. retrieved 16 june 2014 . a b c d historical timeline . chemtura corporation . retrieved 20 may 2014 . crompton & knowles looms free pdf download . crompton and knowles loom works collection . worcester polytechnic institute . 22 may 2013 . retrieved 25 may 2014 . pederson jay p. gale directory of company histories chemtura corporation . international directory of company histories . 91 . the gale group inc. issn 1557 0126 . somma ann marie . charles goodyear and the vulcanization of rubber . connecticut history.org . connecticut humanities and university of connecticut . retrieved 25 may 2014 . simons martha ann 16 february 2014 . cradle of the rubber industry . the naugatuck historical society . retrieved 25 may 2014 . nndb 2012 . witco corporation bibliography . bibliography . soylent communications . retrieved 19 may 2014 . nndb 2012 . great lakes chemical . bibliography . soylent communications . retrieved 19 may 2014 . company overview of witco corporation . bloomberg business week . 2014 . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b c d e f g h this article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the united states government . quarterly report chemtura corporation 30 april 2014 . form 10 q free pdf download . for the quarterly period ended march 31 2014