The story
The company was founded in Torrance, California, in 1976 by David and Arline Parker as a mail-order home business. It was David Parker's desire to "develop unique and practical products for the dive market."
Pelican introduced its Protector case in 1978. In the early 1980s, the SabreLite was launched for the dive market, and Pelican's products received their first safety approvals. In the early 1990s, molding operations were brought in-house, and the company's headquarters moved to Torrance, California. A subsidiary opened in Spain to serve the European market. In the early 2000s, Pelican opened a subsidiary in Canada and received safety approvals in Europe for their Peli flashlights.
In October 2004, the private equity investment firm Behrman Capital acquired Pelican Products for approximately $200 million. Lyndon J. Faulkner was named CEO of Pelican in 2006. In 2007, the Pelican 7060 flashlight is introduced after being developed with the Los Angeles Police Department.
2006–2007
Pelican Japan and China open
Company surpasses 100 million in sales
Canadian Armed Forces contracts Pelican to build the special MOB "Mobile Operations Box" case
Their largest injection molding machine (code named "Colossus") is installed at the Torrance, California plant
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The Pelican i1010/i1030 Micro Case series is launched
Pelican's first robot (code named "T-Rex") is installed in their Torrance, California plant
2008
Pelican Products purchased their largest Australian distributor and opened Pelican Australia
Pelican Products makes Inc. magazine's 5000 list for the second year
The company purchased portable LED area lighting manufacturer Bluei UK
General Peter Pace becomes Pelican's chairman of the board
The 9430 Remote Area Lighting System debuts
2009
Pelican Products announced the acquisition of long-time competitor, Hardigg Industries of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, the world's largest manufacturer of rotationally molded protective cases for $200 million
Pelican lands an $80 million contract to create the General Mechanics Tool Kit for the U.S. Military
The Pelican 1090 HardBack case is introduced
2010
Pelican's chairman of the board, Peter Pace, initiates the Pelican For Patriots program, which provides cases for wounded military veterans to protect their prosthetic
Pelican sends coolers, flashlights and cases to aid in the Haiti disaster rescue and recovery
Pelican introduces Advanced Case Solutions line for custom case applications
Pelican is certified as a Sony Green Partner
Pelican introduces the 1460 EMS case for the emergency and fire safety markets
2011
Pelican purchased Australian roto-mold case manufacturer Trimcast
Pelican India and South Korea open
2013
The company introduces their consumer division, offering backpacks, lighting tools, coolers and more
The company acquired temperature-controlled container manufacturer Minnesota Thermal Science
2014–2015
Pelican introduces the Pelican 7000 flashlight, their first to shine up to 600 lumens
Pelican introduces Pelican Elite luggage
Pelican acquires Cool Logistics and re-brands the combined division (Minnesota Thermal Science + Cool Logistics) as Pelican BioThermal
2016–2017
Pelican celebrates its 40th anniversary
Pelican introduces their Pelican Air Case line
Pelican introduces Pelican Traveler tumblers
2020
Pelican acquired the temperature-controlled packaging manufacturer NanoCool.
Phil Gyori was named president and chief executive officer, and Lyndon Faulkner executive chairman.
2021
Platinum Equity completed the acquisition of Pelican.
From Wikipedia’s article on Pelican Products, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4