Ostrow Holdings Inc history

Another facility was located in Buxton, England, where a British subsidiary had been established in 1965.

By 1968, 80 percent of Lea-Ronal's sales were related to gold electroplating, by selling compounds and proprietary processes to customers.

In 1976 Lea-Ronal announced a new electroplating process for applying zinc without the use of either cyanide or ammonia chemicals, which were also undesirable pollutants.

In 1977 Lea-Ronal acquired a majority stake in a German company and a minority stake in a Dutch company, each acting as distributors.

In 1979 the company began marketing what it believed to be the only palladium-free catalyst system for plating printed circuit boards.

LeaRonal's net income never fell below $6 million or rose much above $8 million for most of the decade, although it reached $11.2 million in 1989.

LeaRonal was marketing gold electroplating processes to several hundred customers in 1990, with the majority of sales made to the electronics industry and the balance to manufacturers of watches, jewelry, appliances, and automotive components.

During fiscal 1992 revenues fell to a five-year low of $129.1 million, in part due to lower gold prices, in part due to lower gold sales.