Aspro-Nicholas
Maker of agricultural, veterinary, ethical pharmaceutical and household products, of Slough
1956 Reorganisation of the Aspro company's diverse activities under one company which would be called Aspro-Nicholas. New factory being built at Slough[1].
1958 Sold Sherley range of pet foods and medicines to Ashe Laboratories[2].
1960 Acquired Griffiths Hughes Proprietaries Ltd and Askit Ltd; acquired the ethical pharmaceutical business of Glidden Laboratories Inc; acquired a controlling interest in Nicholas International Ltd, the American company formed jointly by Aspro-Nicholas and its Australian associates[3].
1961 Acquired Graesser Salicylates, fine chemical manufacturer[4].
1963 The 2 major ethical companies in the Nicholas Group were Nicholas Laboratories and British Schering[5]. Nicholas Research Institute was the research arm of Nicholas Laboratories and British Schering[6].
1964 The Aspro and Rennie products were successfully introduced on the Continent
1968 Nicholas Australia Ltd was floated in Australia in order to purchase Nicholas Proprietary Ltd[7].
1969 Aspro-Nicholas merged with Nicholas Australia. Home market was served by Nicholas Products
1971 Group renamed Nicholas International[8].
1981 Merger of two long-established Australian companies, Nicholas International, whose business was mainly in pharmaceuticals and toiletries, and the Kiwi Polish Co whose business was mainly in household products, including Kiwi shoe polish, to form Nicholas Kiwi, an Australian public company[9].
1984 Sara Lee Corporation acquired Nicholas Kiwi. It was the dominant shoe polish in some countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, where it had about two-thirds of the market[10].
1988 Piramal India acquired Nicholas Laboratories, the pharmaceutical company, from Sara Lee[11].
1991 Roche Holdings acquired Nicholas, the European subsidiary of Sara-Lee Corporation, to establish an over-the-counter medicine business, including Aspro and Rennies[12]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, 21 January 1956
- ↑ The Times, 1 December 1958
- ↑ The Times, 26 July 1960
- ↑ The Times 25 July 1961
- ↑ The Times, 30 January 1963
- ↑ The Times, 2 September 1963
- ↑ Australian Science [1]
- ↑ The Times, 2 October 1971
- ↑ Competition Commission [2]
- ↑ Competition Commission [3]
- ↑ Nicholas Piramal India [4]
- ↑ The Times June 4, 1991