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{{Short description|American paint company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = The Valspar Corporation
| logo = The Valspar Corporation logo.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| traded_as = {{NYSE was|VAL}}
| foundation = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] <br>({{start date and age|1806}})
| founder = Samuel Tuck<br/>Lawson Valentine<br/>Henry Valentine
| location = [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]
| key_people = Gary Hendrickson <small>([[President (corporate title)|President]], [[Chief executive officer]])</small><br/>James Muehlbauer <small>([[Chief financial officer]], [[Chief administrative officer]])</small>
| industry = [[Coating]]s
| products = Paint<br />[[Varnish]]
| revenue = {{decrease}}US$4.191 billion (2016)<ref name=Yahoo2016>{{cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VAL/financials?p=VAL|title=Symbol Lookup from Yahoo! Finance|website=finance.yahoo.com}}</ref>
| operating_income = {{decrease}}US$529.0 million (2016)<ref name=Yahoo2016/>
| net_income = {{decrease}}US$353.0 million (2016)<ref name=Yahoo2016/>
| assets = {{decrease}}US$4.315 billion (2016)<ref name=Yahoo2016/>
| equity = {{increase}}US$1.113 billion (2016)<ref name=Yahoo2016/>
| num_employees = 11,083 (2016)<ref name=Yahoo2016/>
| parent   = [[Sherwin-Williams]]
| divisions =
| subsid = [[House of Kolor]]<br/> [[Huarun Paints]]<br/>[[Plasti-kote]]<br/>[[Samuel Cabot Incorporated|Cabot Stains]]
| homepage = https://www.valspar.com/
| footnotes = <ref>{{cite web | url=http://finance.google.com/finance?q=valspar | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711204742/http://finance.google.com/finance?q=valspar | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 11, 2012 | title=The Valspar Corporation | publisher=Google Finance | access-date=November 5, 2008}}</ref><ref name="officialhistory">{{cite web | url=http://www.valsparglobal.com/corp/about/ourhistory.jsp | title=Our History | publisher=The Valspar Corporation | access-date=November 5, 2008}}</ref>
}}
'''The Valspar Corporation''' is an American manufacturer of paint and [[coating]]s based in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]. With over 11,000 employees in 26 countries and a company history that spans two centuries, it was the sixth largest paint and coating corporation in the world.<ref>Merrill Lynch, November 25, 2008</ref> Valspar was founded in 1806 as a paint dealership in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. The Valspar name emerged in 1903 as the name of a clear [[varnish]] and became the company name in 1932.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
On March 20, 2016, [[Sherwin-Williams]] announced its intention to pay $9.3 billion to acquire Valspar.<ref>{{cite news |last1=DiSavino |first1=Scott |title=Sherwin-Williams paint company to buy Valspar for $9.3 billion |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sherwin-williams-valspar-idUSKCN0WM0W2 |website=Reuters |date=20 March 2016 |access-date=4 August 2018}}</ref> The acquisition finalized on June 1, 2017.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Sherwin-Williams Completes Acquisition Of Valspar, Creates The Global Leader In Paint And Coatings |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sherwin-williams-completes-acquisition-of-valspar-creates-the-global-leader-in-paint-and-coatings-300467108.html |website=PR Newswire |access-date=4 August 2018}}</ref>
== History ==
===19th century beginnings===
In 1806, Samuel Tuck established a paint dealership in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] called "Paint and Color".<ref name="officialhistory"/> Over the next 50 years, the dealership changed owners and names several times and was eventually acquired by Augustine Stimson. In 1832, Lawson Valentine incorporated [[Valentine & Company]] as a varnish manufacturer in Boston. The two businesses eventually [[Mergers and acquisitions|merged]] under the name Stimson & Valentine.<ref name="Advameg">{{cite web | url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/21/The-Valspar-Corporation.html | title=The Valspar Corporation - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on The Valspar Corporation | series=Reference for Business | publisher=Advameg, Inc. | access-date=June 15, 2017}}</ref>
In 1855, Otis Merriam joined as a principal owner, and in 1860, Henry Valentine, Lawson's brother, joined the company. By 1866, both Stimson and Merriam had retired from the group and the company name was changed back to Valentine & Company. Lawson hired Charles Homer, brother of American artist [[Winslow Homer]], as a chemist for the company. Homer was one of only a few chemists in the U.S. at that time, and was the first such specialist recruited into the American varnish industry.<ref name="Advameg"/>
In 1870, Valentine & Company relocated to [[New York City]] and acquired the Minnesota Linseed Oil Paint Company. Around this time, the company began to develop varnishes for use on vehicles that could compete with English-made varnishes. Henry Valentine succeeded his brother as president in 1882, taking over a company with operations in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and on the west coast of the U.S. Later, their operations expanded to Pennsylvania and [[Paris]].<ref name="Advameg"/>
===The Valspar name===
Valspar was the first ever clear varnish; it was developed by L. Valentine Pulsifer, Lawson Valentine's grandson. Pulsifer had joined the company in 1903 after earning a degree in chemistry from [[Harvard University]]. After three years of experimentation, he created the clear varnish, which went into production by 1905. The Valspar varnish was the company's main product for more than 30 years. The advertising [[tagline]], "The varnish that won't turn white" made Valspar a household name. Famous users of Valspar included [[Robert Peary]] in his 1909 expedition, the U.S. military during [[World War I]], and [[Charles Lindbergh]] during his 1927 solo intercontinental flight.<ref name="Advameg"/>
In 1932, the Valspar Corporation was formed, with Valentine & Company retained as a subsidiary. In 1960, Valspar merged with Ralph Baudhuin's Rockcote, which gave the company more manufacturing in the midwestern U.S. and a new headquarters in [[Ardmore, Pennsylvania]]. Under the leadership of Ralph and F. J. Baudhuin, Valspar averaged almost two acquisitions per year through the 1960s. In June 1970, Valspar merged with Minnesota Paints and relocated to [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]. Its former president, C. Angus Wurtele, became chairman of Valspar in 1973. The influx of cash from this latest acquisition boosted Valspar's acquisition power, and by the end of the decade, the company's annual revenue had increased by $74 million.<ref name="Advameg"/>
===Era of acquisitions===
Before the 1980s, Valspar's primary focus was on its consumer business.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
In 1984, the company acquired [[Mobil]]'s coatings division for $100 million, which was a low price because the division represented less than 0.5 percent of Mobil's total business. This acquisition effectively doubled Valspar's revenues. Valspar completed the integration of Mobil's operations by 1986.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mobil Chemical To Sell 10 Plants |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/18/business/mobil-chemical-to-sell-10-plants.html |website=New York Times |access-date=4 August 2018 |date=18 May 1984}}</ref>
{{citation needed span|Throughout the rest of the 1980s and during the early 1990s, Valspar continued to acquire paint and coatings companies and continued growing. It acquired the Enterprise Paint Companies in 1987, the McCloskey Corporation in 1989, and Hi-Tek Polymers and portions of [[Cook Paint and Varnish Company]] in 1991. Valspar announced in 1993 that it would acquire [[Cargill]]'s resin products division, but the [[Federal Trade Commission]] tried to block it because Valspar would have had too large a share of the resin market in the midwestern U.S. Valspar went ahead with the deal anyway, but divided the business between two companies: McWhorter Technologies and Engineered Polymer Solutions.|date=June 2017}}
[[Richard Rompala]], formerly of [[PPG Industries]], became president of Valspar in 1994, chief executive officer in 1995, and chairman in 1998.<ref name="Advameg"/> He pushed the then-primarily North American company into China, Hong Kong, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa and acquired a number of companies.<ref name="Advameg"/> In 2000, Valspar acquired [[Lilly Industries]] for $1.04 billion, which required Valspar to divest its mirror coatings business to conform with [[United States antitrust law|U.S. antitrust law]].<ref name="Advameg"/> Because of the cooling economy, [[restructuring]] charges from 14 plant closings in 2001, increasing raw materials prices, and higher debt servicing costs, Valspar's 26 consecutive years of earnings growth ended.<ref name="Advameg"/>
In 2005, Valspar bought [[Samuel Cabot Incorporated]], known for its Cabot brand interior and exterior stains and finishes. Cabot had been privately owned since 1877.<ref>"Valspar completes acquisition of Samuel Cabot Incorporated", Minneapolis, June 14, 2005. [http://investors.valspar.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=80086&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=720482&highlight= press release]</ref>
[[Sherwin-Williams]] acquired Valspar on June 1, 2017 in an all-cash deal valued at $9.3 billion.
==Notable employees==
*[[Joseph Campbell (accountant)|Joseph Campbell]], fourth [[Comptroller General of the United States]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Obituary - Joseph Campbell |url=http://curecordarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/imageserver.pl?oid=cr19840720-01&getpdf=true |website=Columbia University Record |access-date=10 August 2018 |page=7 |format=PDF |date=20 July 1984}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Minnesota Corporations}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Paint and coatings companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1806]]
[[Category:1806 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1806]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Minneapolis]]
[[Category:2017 mergers and acquisitions]]