Univar -- Our History

1924	1930	1950	1966	1973	1986
Established in Seattle, Washington (USA), by George Van Waters and Nat S. Rogers, Van Waters & Rogers (now Univar USA) began as a brokerage, buying and selling naval stores, paint, raw materials and cotton liners.	Van Waters & Rogers became the Pacific Northwest sales agents for chemicals handled by Braun-Knecht-Heimann, a company it would acquire 20 years later.	Originally a strong northwestern US presence, Van Waters & Rogers grew throughout the western and eventually into the eastern United States. Van Waters & Rogers entered the Canadian market in 1950, incorporating that year as Van Waters & Rogers Ltd. (now Univar Canada), in Vancouver, British Columbia.	Van Waters & Rogers merged with United Pacific Corporation to form VWR United Corporation, which in 1973 changed its name to Univar Corporation. Van Waters & Rogers continued to do business under its own, well-established name as a division of Univar Corporation.	The acquisition of McArthur Chemicals provided nationwide coverage of the Canadian industrial market with the addition of tank farms and warehouses in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and the Atlantic provinces.	Van Waters & Rogers acquired McKesson Chemical. This merger solidified Van Waters & Rogers' presence throughout the United States. The Dutch company Royal Pakhoed, a global leader in chemical and oil logistics, entered the chemical distribution business by making a substantial investment in Univar.
1991	1994	1996	1999	2001	2002
Univar Europe has emerged over the last two decades through the acquisition of a number of well-established regional companies. The process began in 1991, when Univar acquired the chemical distribution interests of the Swedish Beijer Group (Beijer Industrial Distribution), serving the UK, the Nordic countries, Switzerland and Italy.	Royal Pakhoed acquired Lambert-Riviëre, a French company covering France, Spain, Portugal and Italy.	Royal Pakhoed purchased the remaining shares in Univar and combined Univar's European operations with those of Lambert-Riviëre.	Royal Pakhoed merged with its major competitor, Royal Van Ommeren, to create Royal Vopak, comprising two distinct business segments - chemical logistics and chemical distribution.	Vopak acquired Ellis & Everard, combining the E&E UK and Ireland operations with Vopak Distribution Europe, and the E&E North American business with the former Univar US operations.	All chemical distribution assets were split off from Royal Vopak. Univar was reestablished as an independent company and a world leader in the distribution of chemicals to industry.
2007	2007
Univar acquired CHEMCENTRAL Corp., solidifying its leadership position in the US.	Univar was acquired by Ulixes B.V., an entity ultimately owned primarily by funds managed and controlled by CVC Capital Partners.