Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI)

History
ICI celebrates its 80th year in 2006. The Company was formed in 1926 by the merger of four UK chemical companies: Brunner Mond, Nobel Industries, British Dyestuffs and United Alkali. ICI is one of a small number of companies listed continuously on the leading UK stock index – originally the FT 30, now the FTSE 100 – since the 1930s.

During the course of its history, ICI has been an acknowledged leader in diverse disciplines, including fundamental science, engineering, manufacturing and human resources. The Group’s major inventions have been equally diverse, ranging from the plastics polythene and Perspex to beta blockers and the antimalarial treatment Paludrine.

In 1993, ICI demerged its bioscience businesses to a publicly listed company, Zeneca Group PLC (now AstraZeneca PLC). In 1997, ICI began its transformation from regional manufacturer of bulk chemicals to a global specialty chemicals and paints leader with the acquisition of Unilever’s Speciality Chemicals businesses.

Over the last decade, ICI has transformed its portfolio through a number of acquisitions and divestments worth more than £12bn. Divestment proceeds have been used to repay debt and improve balance sheet strength. Today, four specialty chemicals and paints businesses form the core of ICI – National Starch, Quest, Uniqema and ICI Paints.

Spread and balance of activities
ICI is headquartered in the UK, where it also has a number of major manufacturing activities. Outside the UK, the Group’s activities are geographically diverse with growing businesses in Asia and Latin America and a significant presence in North America. Around one third of ICI’s activities are in Europe. Typically, ICI’s International Businesses are staffed almost entirely by local nationals and in total 86% of ICI’s 31,910 employees are located outside the UK.

The Group has operations in over 50 countries around the world and its customers are spread across a diverse range of product sectors. More than 60% of ICI’s revenue is in sectors the Group believes are relatively non-cyclical, for example, food and beverages, decorative coatings, personal and household care products, and water treatment. Other sectors with a greater degree of cyclicality include automotive, industrial adhesives and construction materials, as well as semi-conductors. ICI believes this spread and balance of activities provides a manageable exposure to higher growth markets, for example in Asia, and to emerging products and technologies including food nutrition and electronics.

Overall, no one market sector dominates ICI’s customer base and no one customer represents a material proportion of Group revenue.