Ecolab, Inc. (NYSE: ECL; known as Economics Laboratory prior to 1986)[1] is a St. Paul, Minnesota based sanitation supply company founded in 1923.
The company provides sanitation and pest control supplies, foodservice equipment repair and parts, food safety services and consulting to restaurants, hospitals, food and beverage plants, laundries, schools, retail and commercial properties.[2] With sales of $5.5 billion and more than 26,000 sales-and-service associates, Ecolab Inc. is the global leader[3] in cleaning, sanitizing, pest elimination services, food safety and infection prevention products and services. Ecolab delivers comprehensive programs and services to foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, and hospitality markets in more than 170 countries.
Ecolab sells chemical products used by beef and poultry processors to reduce pathogens, such as E. coli and salmonella, on uncooked beef and poultry.[4]
The company stock is a component of the Standard and Poor's 500.[5]
In 2010, Ecolab was named one of the “World's Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere magazine. The extensive research process included reviewing over 10,000 of the world's leading companies on six continents. Fewer than 100 companies were chosen for the award.[6]
In 2010, Ecolab was ranked #365 in Fortune 500 magazine, moving up seventy three spots over last year. Ecolab also ranked 228 in terms of market value, 183 on return on sales, 111 for return on total assets, 131 for return on equity and 72 in total return (stock price plus dividends) to shareholders over the ten years ending in 2007.

Ecolab Inc. (Ecolab), incorporated in 1924, develops and markets products and services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare and industrial markets. The Company provides cleaning and sanitizing products and programs, as well as pest elimination, maintenance and repair services primarily to customers in the food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, government and education, retail, textile care, commercial facilities management and vehicle wash sectors. The Company operates in three business segments: United States Cleaning & Sanitizing segment, United States Other Services segment and International segment. In December 2010, Campbell Brothers Limited sold its chemical and cleaning solutions business Cleantec to Ecolab Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the Company. In March 2011, the Company purchased the assets of O.R. Solutions, Inc.
United States Cleaning & Sanitizing Segment
The United States Cleaning & Sanitizing segment consists of six business units, which provide cleaning and sanitizing products and programs to United States markets. The Institutional Division sells specialized cleaners and sanitizers for washing dishes, glassware, flatware, foodservice utensils and kitchen equipment (warewashing), for on-premise laundries (typically used by hotel and healthcare customers) and for general housekeeping functions, as well as food safety products and equipment, dishwasher racks and related kitchen sundries to the foodservice, lodging, educational and healthcare industries. The Institutional Division also provides pool and spa treatment programs for hospitality and other commercial customers, as well as a range of janitorial cleaning and floor care products and programs to customers in hospitality, health care and commercial facilities. The Institutional Division develops and markets various chemical dispensing device systems, which are made available to customers, to dispense its cleaners and sanitizers. In addition, the Institutional Division markets a lease program consisted of dishwashing machines, detergents, rinse additives and sanitizers, including full machine maintenance.
The Food & Beverage division addresses cleaning and sanitation at the beginning of the food chain to facilitate the processing of products for human consumption. The Division provides detergents, cleaners, sanitizers, lubricants and animal health products, as well as cleaning systems, electronic dispensers and chemical injectors for the application of chemical products, primarily to dairy plants, dairy farms, breweries, soft-drink bottling plants, and meat, poultry and other food processors. The Food & Beverage Division is also a developer and marketer of antimicrobial products used in direct contact with meat, poultry, seafood and produce during processing in order to reduce microbial contamination. The Food & Beverage Division also designs, engineers and installs clean-in-place (CIP) process control systems and facility cleaning systems for its customer base.
Ecolab’s Kay business unit supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemical products and related items primarily to regional, national and international quick service restaurant (QSR) chains and to regional and national food retailers (supermarkets and grocery stores). Its products include specialty and general purpose hard surface cleaners, degreasers, sanitizers, polishes, hand care products and assorted cleaning tools and equipment, which are primarily sold under the Kay and Ecolab brand names. Kay supports its product sales with employee training programs and technical support designed to meet the needs of its customers.
Both Kay’s QSR business and its food retail business utilize a corporate account sales force, which establishes relationships and negotiates contracts with customers at the corporate headquarters and regional office levels and a field sales force, which provides program support at the individual restaurant or store level. Customers in the QSR market segment are primarily supplied through third-party distributors. The Healthcare Division provides infection prevention and other healthcare related offerings to acute care hospitals, surgery centers, dental offices and veterinary clinics. The Healthcare Division’s infection prevention products (hand hygiene, hard surface disinfectants, instrument cleaners, patient drapes, fluid control and equipment drapes) are sold primarily under the Ecolab and Microtek brand names to various departments within the acute care environment (Infection Control, Environmental Services, Central Sterile and Operating Room).
The Textile Care Division provides chemical laundry products and dispensing systems, as well as related programs, to large industrial and commercial laundries. The Textile Care Division’s customers include free-standing laundry plants used by institutions, such as hotels, restaurants and healthcare facilities, as well as industrial and textile rental laundries. Products and programs include laundry cleaning and specialty products, related dispensing equipment, plus water and energy management. The Vehicle Care Division provides vehicle appearance products, which include soaps, polishes, sealants, wheel and tire treatments and air fresheners. Products are sold to vehicle rental, fleet and consumer car wash and detail operations. Brand names utilized by the Vehicle Care Division include Blue Coral, Black Magic and Rain-X.
United States Other Services Segment
The United States Other Services segment consists of two business units: Pest Elimination and GCS Service. The Pest Elimination Division provides services designed to detect, eliminate and prevent pests in restaurants, food and beverage processors, educational and healthcare facilities, hotels, quick service restaurant and grocery operations and other institutional and commercial customers. In addition, through its EcoSure Food Safety Management business, the Company provides customized onsite evaluations, training and quality assurance services to foodservice operations. The GCS Service provides equipment repair and maintenance services for the commercial food service industry. Repair services are offered for in-warranty repair, acting as the manufacturer’s authorized service agent, as well as after warranty repair. In addition, GCS Service operates as a parts distributor to repair service companies and end users.
International Segment
The Company conducts business in approximately 72 countries outside of the United States through wholly owned subsidiaries or, in the case of Venezuela, through a joint ventures with a local partners. In other countries, selected products are sold by the Company’s export operations to distributors, agents or licensees. Its largest International operations are located in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada, with smaller operations in Africa and the Middle East.

Starting in late 1997, Ecolab's institutional division rapidly gained, through acquisition, a significant share of the market for commercial car wash cleaning products. This was a logical extension of the division's dishwasher cleaning product offerings; Schuman, in fact, told Chemical Market Reporter that a car wash is 'really nothing but a big dishwasher.' Two key acquisitions in this area were the December 1997 purchase of the specialty chemical business of Grace-Lee Products Incorporated, which had sales of $16 million, and the February 1999 purchase of Blue Coral Systems, a subsidiary of the Pennzoil-Quaker State Company with sales of about $30 million. Ecolab next moved into the repair of commercial kitchen equipment through the July 1998 acquisition of Danbury, Connecticut-based GCS Service Inc., which reported 1997 sales of $48 million. Ecolab intended to turn GCS Service, which became a division of Ecolab, into a national service company for its commercial foodservice customers. Ecolab aimed to grow both its car wash and equipment repair businesses into $100 million-per-year operations by about 2004.
At year-end 1999, Shannon retired. Schuman was elected by the company board to the additional post of chairman to replace him. Ecolab continued to post record results, with revenues exceeding $2 billion for the first time in 1999, while the company also reported its 19th consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings per share increases and paid common stock dividends for the 63rd straight year. Ecolab continued to churn out successful new products, such as a line of water filters for use in ice machines, juice machines, and coffee makers. The company was also investigating potential new areas of early 21st-century growth, such as selling its institutional products to apartment buildings and complexes. By continually evolving and expanding its array of products and services as well as seeking out new customers for its offerings, Ecolab appeared to have hit upon a strategy for unending success.
Principal Subsidiaries: Ecolab S.A. (Argentina); Ecolab Australia Pty Limited; Ecolab Finance Pty Limited (Australia); Ecolab Pty Limited (Australia); Gibson Chemical Industries Limited (Australia); Gibson Chemicals Limited (Australia); Gibson Chemicals (NSW) Pty Limited (Australia); Gibson Chemicals Fiji Pty Limited (Australia); Gibson Chemicals Great Britain Pty Limited (Australia); Intergrain Timber Finishes Pty Limited (Australia); Leonard Chemical Products Pty Limited (Australia); Maxwell Chemicals Pty Limited (Australia); Nippon Thermochemical Pty Limited (Australia; 60%); Puritan/Churchill Chemical Holdings Pty Ltd. (Australia); Vessey Chemicals (Holdings) Pty Limited (Australia); Vessey Chemicals Pty Limited (Australia); Vessey Chemicals (Vic.) Pty Limited (Australia); Ecolab Limited (Bahamas); Ecolab (Barbados) Limited; Kay N.V. (Belgium); Ecolab Quimica Ltda. (Brazil); Ecolab Ltd. (Canada); Ecolab S.A. (Chile); Ecolab Colombia S.A. (Columbia); Ecolab Sociedad Anonima (Costa Rica); Ecolab, S.A. de C.V. (El Salvador); Ecolab S.A. (France); Ecolab GmbH (Germany); Ecolab Export GmbH (Germany); Ecolab, Sociedad Anonima (Guatemala); Quimicas Ecolab, S.A. (Honduras); Ecolab Limited (Hong Kong); P.T. Ecolab Indonesia (80%); Ecolab Export Limited (Ireland); Ecolab Co. (Ireland); Ecolab Limited (Jamaica); Ecolab K.K. (Japan); Ecolab East Africa (Kenya) Limited; Ecolab Korea Ltd.; Ecolab Lebanon S.a.r.l.; Ecolab Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia); Ecolab S.A. de C.V. (Mexico); Ecolab Holdings Mexico, S.A. de C.V.; Ecolab Morocco; Ecolab Finance N.V. (Netherlands Antilles); Ecolab International B.V. (Netherlands); Ecolab Limited (New Zealand); Ecolab Nicaragua, S.A.; Ecolab S.A. (Panama); Gibson Chemicals (PNG) Pty. Limited (Papua New Guinea); Ecolab Chemicals Ltd. (People's Republic of China; 85%); Ecolab Philippines, Inc.; Ecolab Pte. Ltd. (Singapore); Klenzade South Africa (Proprietary) Ltd.; Ecolab Ltd. (Taiwan); Ecolab East Africa (Tanzania) Limited; Ecolab Limited (Thailand); Ecolab East Africa (Uganda) Limited; Ecolab Foreign Sales Corp. (U.S. Virgin Islands); Ecolab S.A. (Venezuela; 51%); BCS Sales Inc.; Kay Chemical Company; Kay Chemical International, Inc.; Ecolab Finance (Australia) Inc.; Ecolab Manufacturing Inc.; Ecolab Holdings Inc.; Ecolab Investment Inc.; Ecolab Foundation; Ecolab Leasing Corporation; FastSource Leasing, Inc.; GCS Service, Inc.; Jackson MSC Inc.; Puritan Services Inc.
Principal Divisions: Institutional; Food and Beverage; Kay; Pest Elimination; Textile Care; Professional Products; Water Care; GCS Service.
Principal Competitors: ABM Industries Incorporated; ARAMARK Corporation; Chemed Corporation; Colin Service Systems, Inc.; CPAC, Inc.; Healthcare Services Group, Inc.; ISS-International Service System A/S; Katy Industries, Inc.; National Service Industries, Inc.; Rollins, Inc.; The ServiceMaster Company; SYSCO Corporation; The Tranzonic Companies; Unicco Service Company; Unilever PLC/Unilever N.V.; Unisource Worldwide, Inc.


OVERALL
Beta: 0.70
Market Cap (Mil.): $12,107.73
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 232.04
Annual Dividend: 0.70
Yield (%): 1.34
FINANCIALS
ECL Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 23.38 9.48 16.70
EPS (TTM): 17.72 -- --
ROI: 15.12 2.73 3.22
ROE: 25.96 4.67 5.81

Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1923 as Economics Laboratory
Employees: 12,007
Sales: $1.89 billion (1998)
Stock Exchanges: New York Pacific
Ticker Symbol: ECL
NAIC: 325611 Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing; 325612 Polish and Other Sanitation Good Manufacturing; 325999 All Other Miscellaneous Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing; 333319 Other Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing; 561710 Exterminating and Pest Control Services; 561990 All Other Support Services
Key Dates:

1923: Merritt J. Osborn founds Economics Laboratory as a specialty chemical manufacturer.
1957: Company goes public.
1978: Fred T. Lanners, Jr., is named CEO.
1979: Apollo Technologies is acquired.
1982: Richard C. Ashley is named CEO but soon after is killed in a car accident.
1983: Pierson M. 'Sandy' Grieve is named CEO; Apollo subsidiary is shut down.
1986: Company changes its name to Ecolab, Inc.
1987: Company sells its consumer dishwashing detergent unit, and purchases lawncare servicer ChemLawn for $376 million.
1991: Ecolab and Henkel KGaA form Henkel-Ecolab European joint venture.
1992: ChemLawn is sold to Service Master L.P. for $103 million.
1994: Kay Chemical, maker of cleaning and sanitizing products for the fast-food industry, is acquired.
1995: Allan L. Schuman is named CEO.
1997: Company acquires Australia-based Gibson Chemical Industries Limited for $130 million; company enters the commercial car wash cleaning products sector.
1998: GCS Service Inc., provider of repair services for commercial kitchen equipment, is acquired.

Name Age Since Current Position
Baker, Douglas 52 2006 Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer
Fritze, Steven 56 2008 Chief Financial Officer
Miller, James 54 2011 President - Global Services and Specialty Sectors
Nestegard, Susan 50 2010 President - Global Healthcare Sector
Handley, Thomas 56 2011 President - Global Food & Beverage and APLA Sectors
Mason, Phillip 60 2010 President - EMEA Sector
White, James 46 2010 President - APLA Sector
Hickey, Michael 49 2011 Executive Vice President - Global Services Sector
Beck, Christophe 43 2009 Executive Vice President - Institutional
Berger, Larry 50 2008 Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer
Meyer, Michael 53 2008 Senior Vice President - Human Resources
Tabb, Robert 60 2006 Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Corkrean, John 45 2008 Vice President, Corporate Controller
Seifert, James 54 2010 General Counsel, Secretary
Johnson, Joel 67 1996 Independent Director
Levin, Jerry 66 1992 Independent Director
Biller, Leslie 62 1997 Independent Director
Grundhofer, Jerry 66 1999 Independent Director
Lumpkins, Robert 67 1999 Independent Director
Zillmer, John 55 2006 Independent Director
Beck, Barbara 50 2008 Independent Director
O'Hara, C. Scott 49 2009 Independent Director
Reich, Victoria 53 2009 Independent Director
Higgins, Arthur 55 2010 Independent Director

Address:
370 North Wabasha Street
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55102-1390
U.S.A.
 
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