Perrigo history

Luther became president of the firm when it incorporated in 1892.

1921 – Perrigo opens its first plant in Allegan, Michigan.

1921 – Perrigo opens its first plant in Allegan, Michigan. Its second plant opens in 1936.

William L. Tripp, one of Luther Perrigo’s grandchildren, became president in 1967.

When Tripp died in 1969 his son Bill Tripp Jr. took over the presidency.

1980: Perrigo is now the nation's largest private label manufacturer of health and beauty products.

Perrigo acquired Bell Pharmacal Labs of South Carolina in 1984.

The construction of the graphics department, coupled with other expenses, totals approximately $12.6 million in outlays to the company's printing and graphics department since the Grow purchase in 1986.

A similar acquisition occurred earlier, in January 1992, when Cumberland-Swan, Inc., a Tennessee-based maker of store brand personal care products and vitamins, was bought for $35 million.

The investors had purchased company stock through an October 1993 secondary offering, in which mostly shares held by company officials were sold.

The market value of the company in July 1994 based on a closing price of $14 a share was $1 billion, for instance.

Perrigo responded in June 1995 with a restructuring involving 180 job cuts, a reduction in distribution centers from seven to four, and a merger of sales and marketing functions across all of the company's product lines.

Results for fiscal 1997 were better with both revenues and profits on the upswing.

In June 1998 Perrigo announced that it would sell this unit, which included baby care items, toothpaste, deodorants, and other products, in order to focus on its higher-margin OTC drug and nutritional product lines.

The company did manage to sell its personal care business, offloading it in August 1999 to a Nashville investor group calling itself Cumberland Swan Holdings Inc.

In May 2000 David T. Gibbons was brought onboard as president and CEO; Jandernoa remained chairman.

2001: Perrigo acquires Wrafton Laboratories Ltd., a U.K. maker of store brand pharmaceuticals.

In fiscal 2002 these included store brand equivalents of Excedrin Migraine and Centrum Performance, a multivitamin.

In January 2003 Perrigo's recovery had proceeded to the point where it could count on ongoing cash flow—and could begin paying a dividend for the first time.

2004 – Perrigo New Jersey was established in 2004 with the initial goal of developing prescription generic pharmaceuticals.

2005 – Perrigo New York became a part of Perrigo in 2005 and is a state of the art cream and ointment tube plant that produces more than 50 million tubes annually.

2008 – Our consumer healthcare production was enhanced with the addition of Perrigo Michigan-Holland in 2008, through the acquisition of JB Labs, adding contract over the counter and nutritional products to the mix.

2010 – Perrigo’s global expansion continued with the acquisition of Orion Laboratories Pty., Ltd., a leading supplier of over-the-counter store brand pharmaceutical products in Australia and New Zealand.

2011 – In February 2011, Perrigo entered the diabetes care category through an exclusive agreement with AgaMatrix, Inc., to sell and distribute store brand blood glucose monitors and test strips in the United States

2012 – In September 2012, Perrigo announced its intention to enter the animal wellness category by acquiring the assets of Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Inc., a privately-held manufacturer of over-the-counter companion animal healthcare products.

In 2013, Perrigo acquired Elan Corporation plc, which provided a platform for further global expansion.

In 2015, Perrigo completed the acquisition of Belgium-based Omega Pharma NV, one of the largest OTC self-care companies in Europe.