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Key people at Diversey.
Founded in Chicago by August and Herbert Kochs in 1923, Diversey is a Wilmington, Delaware-based global provider of commercial cleaning, sanitation, and hygiene solutions designed for institutional markets. The enterprise operates 78 manufacturing facilities across over 160 countries and employs a global workforce of more than 23,000 professionals across six continents. The company supplies advanced chemicals, digital technologies, floor care equipment, and infection prevention services to multiple sectors including healthcare, hospitality, food service, and retail facilities. In July 2023, the specialty chemical manufacturer Solenis acquired the business for four point six billion dollars, integrating it into a broader corporate portfolio with historical industry ties to SC Johnson and Victor Chemical Works. Recently named the Best Sustainability-Focused Chemicals Company in Southeast Asia by Acquisition International, the organization is widely recognized for its biodegradable products, circular economy practices, and community programs.
Key people at Diversey.
Diversey is a global provider of sustainable cleaning, sanitation, and hygiene solutions, operating through Institutional and Food & Beverage segments. It offers products like infection prevention items, floor care chemicals, ware wash machines, dosing equipment, and services including engineering, training, and water management, serving healthcare, education, food service, hospitality, retail, brewing, dairy, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture industries.[4][3] Founded in 1923, the company emphasizes a "cleaner, healthier future" with a century-long legacy in commercial hygiene, now as a subsidiary of Solenis following a $4.6 billion acquisition in 2023 that expanded Solenis's portfolio in cleaning and water treatment.[2][5][4]
Diversey traces its roots to 1923 in Chicago, when August Kochs and his son Herbert founded it as a division of Victor Chemical Works, an industrial cleaner business.[1][2][3] It became independent in 1950 via a public stock offering and grew through milestones like establishing an equipment department in 1968 and expanding distribution in 1982.[1][5] Key acquisitions shaped its path: Unilever bought it in 1996, merging it with Industrial Lever to form DiverseyLever; in 2002, Johnson Wax Professional (spun from S.C. Johnson in 1997) acquired it, creating JohnsonDiversey, renamed Diversey in 2010.[3][1][5] Sealed Air acquired it in 2011, Bain Capital took it private in 2017, and Solenis completed a $4.6 billion merger in 2023, integrating Diversey and U.S. Chemical.[2][5][4] Pivotal moments include a 2021 Nasdaq IPO and celebrating 100 years in 2023.[1][2]
Diversey rides the wave of sustainability-driven hygiene tech, where post-pandemic demand for infection prevention, water efficiency, and eco-cleaning intersects with industrial IoT for smart dispensing and monitoring. Timing aligns with global regulations on waste reduction and food safety, amplified by climate pressures favoring low-water solutions in food/beverage and healthcare.[3][2][4] Market forces like rising labor costs and supply chain localization boost its equipment/services model, influencing the ecosystem by setting standards in corporate social responsibility—e.g., EcoVadis Gold status—and partnering for industry-wide innovations in pulp/paper and wastewater treatment.[2]
Diversey is poised for growth within Solenis, leveraging merged strengths in hygiene and water tech amid trends like AI-optimized cleaning systems and circular economy mandates. Expect deeper penetration in high-growth regions (Asia-Pacific, Latin America) and expansions in biotech/pharma sanitation as sustainability reporting tightens globally.[2][4][5] Its influence may evolve from legacy cleaner to tech-integrated hygiene leader, potentially through acquisitions or digital platforms, reinforcing the "going beyond clean" ethos that began in 1923.[2][3]
