 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| LSE: SYNT | |
| Industry | Chemicals |
| Founded | 1863 |
| Headquarters | London, England |
Key people | Caroline Johnstone (Chair) Michael Willome (CEO) |
| Revenue |  £1,986.8 million (2024) [1] |
| £50.4 million (2024) [1] | |
| £(66.7) million (2024) [1] | |
Number of employees | 5,000 (2023) [2] |
| Website | www.synthomer.com |
Synthomer plc, formerly known as Yule Catto & Co, is a British-based chemicals business. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The company traces its roots back to 1863, when Andrew Yule founded a trading house known as Andrew Yule & Co. in Calcutta. [3] At the same time Andrew's brother, George Yule, set up George Yule & Co. in London, which acted as British agency arm of Andrew Yule & Co. [4]
When in 1919 Andrew Yule & Co. and George Yule & Co. were sold to the US banking group J.P. Morgan & Co. and its British merchant banking affiliate Morgan Grenfell & Co., both were turned from a partnership into a private limited company. [5] That same year Thomas Catto (1879–1959) was sent to India to take over management of the firm from Sir David Yule (1858–1928), a nephew of Andrew Yule. [6] David Yule continued to hold the title of Chairman but had no active part in the operations of the business. [6]
In 1920, Thomas Catto and David Yule changed the name of the British purchasing arm of Andrew Yule & Co., George Yule and Company, to Yule, Catto & Company Ltd. [7] Due to increased taxation, the devaluation of the Indian rupee and the abolition of the managing agency system, Yule, Catto & Co. decided in 1969 to sell its shareholding in Andrew Yule & Co. to the Indian government. [8]
With the acquisition of Revertex Chemicals in 1980, [7] Thomas Catto's son, Stephen (1923–2001) started to turn Yule Catto & Co. into an international speciality chemicals and building products manufacturer. [9] Since 2007 the group has been transformed from a diversified chemical business to a focussed speciality polymer business. In 2012 the company changed its name to Synthomer on the basis that the majority of its business already traded under that name. [10]
In July 2019, Synthomer announced that it was going to buy OMNOVA Solutions for an enterprise value of $824 million; [11] the transaction was completed on 2 April 2020. [12]
In October 2021, Synthomer announced the acquisition of Eastman Chemical adhesive activities for $1 billion. [13] It included a former Hercules factory with 230 employees in Middelburg, the Netherlands, that produced about 80 different synthetic resins. They delivered, partly in 20 tonne bulk, to companies in over 70 countries. [14] [15]
The company has three activities: polymer chemicals, pharma chemicals and impact chemicals. [3]
