Fisons

Fisons Plc was a British pharmaceutical, scientific instrument and horticultural chemical maufacturer based in Ipswich, in the United Kingdom. Its branded products are marketed throughout the world. It is now a subsidiary of the global company Sanofi-Aventis.

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Its origin goes back to Edward Packard, one of the first to manufacture superphosphate in 1843. It takes its name from the 1808 company of James Fison of Thetford which it acquired in 1919 and which name survives as a brand. The company grew to be one of the largest in its UK sector by acquiring competitors throughout the twentieth century.

Fisons fertilizer activities were taken over by Norsk Hydro in 1982.

In 1995 the remaining part of Fisons plc was acquired by Pennsylvania-based Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Inc., which in turn was wholly owned by France's chemical giant Rhone-Poulenc S.A. This merged with Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft in 1999 to create the French-German pharmaceutical firm Aventis.

The Fisons brand continues in worldwide use.

Fisons were sponsors of Ipswich Town Football Club in the early 1990s, including the 1991-92 season when they won the Second Division championship and gained promotion to the new Premier League.

References

• Fisons Plc Entry at Buiness.com. Accessed September 2007

• Early history of the company to 1960 at UK Competition Commission , 1960. (PDF) Accessed September 2007

• Full business history International Directory of Company Histories. 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. Accessed September 2007

• Pictorial history at Yara International website Accessed September 2007