The story
The company traces its origins to 1928 in the United States with the establishment of National Aluminate Corporation - formed from the merger of Chicago Chemical Company and the Aluminum Sales Corporation. In 1959 it changed its name to Nalco Chemical Company; and in 1964, it became a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It acquired Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories in 1966, and the marine business from Bull & Roberts (now Waltron) in 1984.
The company was delisted from NYSE and renamed to Ondeo Nalco Company, following its 1999 acquisition by the French company, Suez (presently GDF Suez).
On 9 December 2003, the private equity group consisting of the Blackstone Group, Apollo Management LP and Goldman Sachs Alternatives collaborated to acquire Ondeo Nalco Company from Suez SA for US$4.2 billion. The Company went public again, returning to the New York Stock Exchange in late 2004 under the name Nalco Holding Company.
In 2007, Nalco Water achieved sales of more than US$3.9 billion.
In July 2011, Nalco Water announced a merger with Ecolab, Inc., and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecolab Inc. in December 2011 after the completion of the US$5.4 billion acquisition by Ecolab.
From Wikipedia’s article on Nalco Water, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4