WhereIsAtlas · Chemicals

Imperial Chemical Industries

The giant British chemical firm that made everything from paint to explosives — broken up and sold off in the 2000s

Defunct — Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was once one of Britain's biggest and most famous industrial companies, making chemicals, paint, drugs and materials. Through a series of sales and mergers in the late 1990s and 2000s it was broken apart — its paints arm and much of the rest went to AkzoNobel, ending ICI as an independent firm.

Imperial Chemical Industries was formed in 1926 when four of Britain's largest chemical companies merged, creating one of the most important industrial firms in the country. For decades ICI made an enormous range of products — dyestuffs, fertilizers, plastics, explosives and chemicals — and was a symbol of British manufacturing strength.

Along the way ICI also created some well-known consumer brands, most famously the Dulux paint brand. It operated huge plants across the UK and around the world, and at its height it was one of the most valuable companies on the London stock market.

But a series of restructurings, demergers and sales stripped the company down. In 2008 AkzoNobel completed its acquisition of ICI's paint business and much of the rest of the company. The ICI name effectively vanished as an independent entity, its assets scattered among new owners.

Quick facts

Founded
1926, merger of four British chemical firms
Signature brands
Dulux paint, and a huge range of chemicals
Peak
One of the UK's most valuable companies
Broken up
Late 1990s to 2000s
Acquired
Paints and more sold to AkzoNobel, completed 2008
Now
Brand largely dissolved

Lineage — where the name went

Four Victorian chemical businesses merged into ICI in 1926, and the tree follows where the pieces went — into AstraZeneca and Syngenta on the pharmaceutical side, and into AkzoNobel for the rest.

  1. 1926 — Brunner Mond & Co merged into Imperial Chemical Industries (one of the four companies that formed ICI)
  2. 1926 — Nobel Industries merged into Imperial Chemical Industries (Alfred Nobel's British explosives business)
  3. 1926 — United Alkali Company merged into Imperial Chemical Industries (formed in 1890 from 48 chemical companies)
  4. 1926 — British Dyestuffs Corporation merged into Imperial Chemical Industries (the British Dyestuffs Corporation)
  5. 1926 — Imperial Chemical Industries appointed Sir Alfred Mond (the new company's first chairman, later Lord Melchett)
  6. 1931 — Imperial Chemical Industries created Dulux (the paint brand that outlived the company)
  7. 1993 — Imperial Chemical Industries spun off Zeneca Group (the pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals businesses were demerged)
  8. 1999 — Zeneca Group merged into AstraZeneca (Zeneca merged with Astra AB; Zeneca holders took 53.5 per cent)
  9. 2000 — Zeneca Group merged into Syngenta (Zeneca's agrochemicals merged with Novartis Agribusiness)
  10. 1997 — Imperial Chemical Industries spun off Orica (the 62.4 per cent stake in ICI Australia was divested, and the business was renamed Orica in February 1998)
  11. 2006 — Croda International acquired Uniqema (agreed in June 2006 for £410 million)
  12. 2008 — AkzoNobel acquired Imperial Chemical Industries (the £8 billion takeover completed on 2 January 2008)
  13. 2012 — AkzoNobel spun off ICI Pakistan (demerged as ICI Pakistan, renamed Lucky Core Industries in 2022)

Entities in this tree: Imperial Chemical Industries (company, 1926); Brunner Mond & Co (company, 1873); Nobel Industries (company, 1870); United Alkali Company (company, 1890); British Dyestuffs Corporation (company, 1919); Sir Alfred Mond (person); Zeneca Group (company, 1993); AstraZeneca (company, 1999); Syngenta (company, 2000); Dulux (brand, 1931); Orica (company); Uniqema (company); Croda International (company); AkzoNobel (company); ICI Pakistan (company)

Sources

  1. Imperial Chemical Industries - Wikipedia — Wikipedia (2026-09-05)
  2. Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI) — Encyclopaedia Britannica (2026-09-05)
  3. Brunner Mond — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  4. Nobel Enterprises — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  5. United Alkali Company — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  6. British Dyestuffs Corporation — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  7. Alfred Mond — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  8. Zeneca — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  9. Syngenta — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  10. Orica — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  11. Uniqema — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  12. Dulux — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  13. AkzoNobel — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  14. Akzo Nobel completes ICI takeover — BBC News (2026-09-20)
  15. ICI Pakistan — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)

Related: blaupunkt