Valspar history

By 1820 the pair were commercially producing varnishes for the first time in the United States.

By 1827 both had retired, quite possibly from the health problems they acquired due to inhaling the fumes in their shop.

In 1832, Lawson Valentine incorporated Valentine & Company as a varnish manufacturer in Boston.

Around 1852 the Valentine and Company merged with the former Paint and Color, to create Stimson & Valentine, a company focused on varnish, but also selling paints, oils, glass, and beeswax.

In 1855 Otis Merriam joined Stimson & Valentine as the other principal owner; Merriam, interestingly, had for the previous six years been associated with the original varnish plant in Cambridge.

Around 1860 Valentine's brother, Henry, joined the firm.

In 1866, Henry Sherwin spent his life savings of $2,000 to buy a partnership in the Truman Dunham Company of Ohio.

In 1870, Valentine & Company relocated to New York City and acquired the Minnesota Linseed Oil Paint Company.

In 1877, the Sherwin-Williams & Company transformed into The Sherwin-Williams Company.

In 1878 Valentine & Company entered the Midwest market via a Chicago branch office.

Henry Valentine succeeded his brother as president in 1882, taking over a company with operations in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and on the west coast of the United States Later, their operations expanded to Pennsylvania and Paris.

In 1884, Sherwin Williams made their smartest move.

In 1888 Sherwin-Williams opened a manufacturing plant in Chicago.

By 1900, Valentine & Company had established additional operations in Pennsylvania as well as Paris, and had won dozens of international medals for its high-quality varnishes.

In 1903, Lawson Valentine’s grandson, L. Valentine Pulsifer, a Harvard-educated chemist joined the company.

In 1905 the Cover the Earth trademark was developed, and Sherwin Williams forever became known for a bucket of paint that doused the earth.

In 1906, Pulsifer unveiled a new kind of varnish which was the first coating for wood that retained its clear finish when exposed to water.

The first such exhibition involved a boiling water test at the Grand Rapids Furniture Show in 1908.

In 1920 Sherwin Williams made its biggest move as a company by going public on the stock exchange.

Valentine & Company acquired Con-Ferro Paint and Varnish Company and Detroit-Graphite Company in 1930.

In 1932, the Valspar Corporation was formed, with Valentine & Company retained as a subsidiary.

Inver Group was founded in 1934 and specializes in liquid and powder coatings products as well as resins that are used in a variety of industrial applications including off-road equipment, auto and off-road parts, architectural aluminum windows, railways and trams.

By 1958, Baudhuin had taken special notice of Valspar; two years later, he succeeded in merging Rockcote with the old-line firm, then headquartered in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and consolidated headquarters in Rockford.

In 1960, Valspar merged with Ralph Baudhuin's Rockcote, which gave the company more manufacturing in the midwestern United States and a new headquarters in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

Its former president, C. Angus Wurtele, became chairman of Valspar in 1973.

In effect, the company more than doubled in size through a bargain purchase: 1983 revenues for Valspar were $161 million while revenues for the Mobil division were around $180 million.

In 1984, the company acquired Mobil's coatings division for $100 million, which was a low price because the division represented less than 0.5 percent of Mobil's total business.

By 1986, Valspar had successfully integrated the Mobil operations, thereby proving its adeptness at acquiring even the largest paint and chemical plants and instituting means for improving efficiency and profitability.

1987 Enterprise Paint Companies, maker of Enterprise Paint and the Federal floor care line, was purchased for $60 million.

1989 The McCloskey Corporation, with $42 million in sales, was acquired.

1990 The company acquired certain assets of DeSoto, Inc., which had combined revenues of approximately $45 million.

1991 Hi-Tek Polymers, Inc. was acquired from Rhône Poulenc.

The Hi-Tek purchase was among the key factors in Valspar's 18 percent increase in packaging coatings sales for 1992.

1993 The company announced an agreement to acquire Cargill Inc.'s resin products division, which had $190 million in revenues, but the deal would not be consummated as an outright acquisition.

Valspar went ahead with the purchase, a $76 million in cash deal concluded in February 1994, and divided the combined resin operations into two separate companies: McWhorter Technologies, Inc. and Engineered Polymer Solutions, Inc.

The operations acquired from Dexter, which were particularly strong in Europe, had 1997 revenues of $208 million, vaulting Valspar into the number one position worldwide in packaging coatings.

During 1998 the company purchased Anzol Pty.

In 1999 Valspar celebrated a milestone of 25 consecutive years of record earnings.

In February 2000, after 30 years as a director of Valspar, including 25 years as Chairman of the Board, C. Angus Wurtele resigned his position from the Board.

In 2001, Valspar opened a new facility in Shanghai and began construction of a new wood coatings laboratory and color studio in Dongguan.

Black, Sam, "Valspar Expands in Southeast Asia," Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal, August 30, 2002.

Sales of all product lines increased in 2003, led by Valspar’s consumer products.

Taking on the unenviable task of succeeding Rompala was William L. Mansfield, who had led Valspar's packaging coatings business for many years before being named chief operating officer in April 2004.

In February of 2005, Bill Mansfield succeeded Rompala as President and Chief Executive Officer, and Tom McBurney was elected non-executive Chairman of the Board in July.

Valspar celebrated its 200th year in the coatings industry in 2006 and sales reached nearly $3 billion.

Beginning in 2007, Valspar is introducing, “If it matters, we’re on it™” as the expression portraying its history as a leader in the coatings industry, while capturing the integrity and spirit of Valspar.

In June 2013 Valspar acquired European industrial coatings company Inver Group expanding its presence in the $6 billion European industrial coatings market.

On March 20, 2016, Sherwin-Williams announced its intention to pay $9.3 billion to acquire Valspar.

Sherwin-Williams acquired Valspar on June 1, 2017 in an all-cash deal valued at $9.3 billion.

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