Uniroyal Chemical Export Limited history

The new company prospered and expanded; by 1907 it had opened offices and warehouses in Philadelphia and in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 1920, after working as a sales representative with A. Dager & Company for two years, Wishnick, with Julius Tumpeer, incorporated Wishnick-Tumpeer Chemical Company as a chemical distributing concern on East Illinois Street in Chicago.

In 1922 the company was able to buy a 20 percent interest in a carbon black plant in Swartz, Louisiana.

In that year, Crompton & Knowles acquired the Bates Chemical Company, founded in 1923 when the federal government first certified food colorings.

Also in 1924, Wishnick-Tumpeer purchased its first manufacturing concern, Pioneer Asphalt Company in Lawrenceville, Illinois.

In 1935 Wishnick’s first overseas operation was created in Britain: the company acquired an interest in Harold A. Wilson & Company, a supplier of pigments to the United States.

In 1954, by the time sales had grown to nearly $20 million, a British stearate plant also was purchased.

In 1955 the decision was announced to end the company’s distributing business altogether and to begin moving toward complete self-sufficiency.

In 1960 the Sonneborn Chemical and Refining Corporation was acquired, bringing sales up to the $100 million mark.

He began with the 1966 acquisition of Argus Chemical Corporation at a price of $22 million.

The recession in 1974 led to the traditional cost-cutting measures at Witco.

In 1978 Bickett had been asked to join Witco while working for an accounting firm contracted by Witco.

When the Du Pont Company exited the dye business in 1979, Crompton & Knowles was waiting eagerly in the wings to purchase its holdings, which included the high-quality Sevron dye products.

In October 1985 “Chemical” was again dropped from the company name, making the new company title Witco Corporation.

Under Calarco’s management, the firm also became a major player in the flavor/fragrance market, following the 1988 acquisition of the Ingredients Technology Corp. of Pelhem, New York.

Although Bickett was considered a possible heir apparent to Wishnick, who was nearing retirement, Bickett left the company in 1989, reportedly because his and Wishnick’s operational styles clashed.

The deal not only solidified the company’s future in specialty chemicals (in 1993 chemicals accounted for 58 percent of Witco’s sales), it also significantly enhanced the firm’s global presence.

In mid-1996 Toller retired.

In November 1998 the company sold a 50 percent interest in Gustafson, its North American seed treatment business, to Bayer Corporation for $180 million, thereby turning Gustafson into a joint venture of the two firms.

In January 1999 the company announced that it was seeking a buyer for its oleochemicals and derivatives unit.

Then in April and May 2000, CK Witco announced that it was seeking to sell two units that had been part of Witco’s performance chemicals unit: refined products and industrial specialties.