History
About American Vanguard
American Vanguard Corporation (AMVAC) is a public limited company specialized in agriculture chemicals. It was incorporated in 1969, with Herbert A Craft as the chief executive officer (CEO) and the chairman of the board of directors. It is now being run by the current CEO and Chairman, Eric Glenn Wintemute, since July of 1994.
American Vanguard Corporation is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA. Since they are a public company, they offer their stock through to the general public through the stock exchange and brokerage firms. This Company trades their stock under symbol AVD – on the most prestige and famous stock exchange in the world, known as NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). As of November 28, 2018, 4:00 PM EST, the closing stock price for NYSE: AVD was $16.90.
AMVAC specializes in the agriculture industry and therefore have been known to manufacture various chemicals such as insecticides (chemical substance that kills insects), fungicides (a chemical substance that destroys fungi) and plant-growth regulators (chemicals that act as plant hormones to alter the growth and development of a plant).
How they got into the chemical industry:
AMVAC first got into the chemical industry after acquiring Absco Distributing in 1969. Absco was a chemical company that supplied construction companies, contractors and sub-contractors with industrial gases and welding equipment. They then got into the agriculture side of the chemical industry after acquiring Durham Chemical Co along with its subsidiary Alco Chemical Corp. In 1972, these two companies merged together in a deal to form AMVAC Chemical Corporation, which was one of the biggest and most successful decisions American Vanguard made. AMVAC chemical Corp is now acting as the main business for American Vanguard, also known as the principal subsidiary. Even though AMVAC Chemical Corp only used to distribute the products, they now have the right to produce/manufacture, develop and deliver a variety of goods and services related to agriculture, pest and turf to consumers for commercial use. However, in September 1989 American Vanguard Corporation’s board of directors decided that they want to sell Absco, along with some assets, to Phoenix Distributors for $4.5 million. According to the interview with the companies representative, owning and running Absco (an industrial gas supplying company) was distracting their focus from the agriculture chemical industry (which was their main business, producing the highest revenue) and they, therefore, decided to no longer be in the gas industry. Absco subsidiary now trades under the name 2110 Davie Corporation, which is a real estate enterprise owning the land AMVAC uses.
American Vanguard Corporation subsidiaries:
AMVAC Chemical Corp is one of the eighteen subsidiaries owned by the parent organizations. Other subsidiaries include: Tryatech, AMVAC de Costa Rica, AMVAC do Brasil, Quimica AMVAC de Mexico SA de CV, Calhart Corporation, GemChem Inc, AMVAC Ag Chemical, Agroservicios AMVAC SA de CV, 2110 Davie Corporation, AMVAC Colombia SAS, Manufactures Mirror & Glass Co Inc, AMVAC Chemical GmbH, Environmental Mediation Inc, AMVAC Chemical UK Ltd, Todagco. Some of these were acquired when AMVAC Corporation was founded in 1969 by purchasing all of their stocks.
Some of those AMVAC subsidiaries are located overseas: AMVAC de Costa Rica (Costa Rica), AMVAC do Brasil (Brazil), Quimica AMVAC de Mexico SA de CV (Mexico)
Latest News:
American Vanguard has acquired many other businesses over the years, including the very recent acquisition of Tyratech, Inc by American Vanguard – as stated on their websites reported news, on the 5th of November 2018. The decision to purchase all of the outstanding Tyratech, Inc (AIM: TYRU & TYR) shares was made by the board of directors at a meeting held on the 31st of October 2018. AIM is a London based stock exchange. After the acquisition of Tyratech, AMVAC now holds an estimated 35% of their shares. The CEO and Chairman of American Vanguard released a statement about this acquisition, stating that he is “excited” about the acquisition. This was an external expansion method known as horizontal integration since Tyratech Inc is also a chemical company that produced and developed similar products as AMVAC Chemical Corp.