WR Grace Is Being Bought Out

This morning, WR Grace (GRA) said that it’s going to be bought out by Standard Industries for $70 per share.

Standard Industries had previously offered $65 per share which Grace turned down.

The name WR Grace is an important one in the history of American business. Truthfully, the WR Grace of today doesn’t have much in common with the WR Grace of history. The old firm used to be a vast empire, and I use the term empire in its literal sense. Grace’s recent history has been less than kind. The company spent 12 years in bankruptcy before emerging in 2014.

The company was started in Peru in 1854 by William Russell Grace, an Irish immigrant who left during the Great Famine. What brought him to Peru was guano, which is bird and bat droppings. Guano has a high level of nutrients like nitrate and ammonium. This is very good for fertilizer and Grace made a fortune. He was later elected the first Catholic mayor of New York City.

Grace’s grandson, J. Peter Grace, ran the company for 48 years. He led the Grace Commission which was authorized by Ronald Reagan to look at government waste. WR Grace owned countless holdings including, at various times, Miller Brewing, FAO Schwarz and Roto-Rooter. In 1974, the government of Peru nationalized WR Grace. The same year, the WR Grace building was completed in Manhattan overlooking Bryant Park and the New York Public Library.

Posted by on April 26th, 2021 at 11:20 am


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