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Duracell is an American brand product line of batteries and smart power systems formerly owned by Procter & Gamble. In November 2014, Berkshire Hathaway announced its intent to acquire the brand for 4.7 billion US dollars. The acquisition received regulatory approval from the European Commission in July 2015, and is due to be completed in early 2016. ==History== Duracell originated via the partnership of scientist Samuel Ruben and businessman Philip Rogers Mallory, who met during the 1920s. The P.R. Mallory Company of Burlington, Massachusetts, United States, relocated its headquarters to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1924. The company produced mercury batteries for military equipment,〔Duracell, (Company history )〕 trumping the carbon-zinc batteries used then in virtually all applications. During the 1950s, Kodak introduced cameras with a flash. The design required a new cell size, and size AAA was developed.〔 In 1964, the term "Duracell" was introduced as a brand. The name is a portmanteau for "durable cell." Until 1980, the batteries also bore the Mallory brand. The name came from a conversation with a shop owner. The executive called the company and asked if A-1 Durable Carpet Inc. had a trademark on the name Durable. The executive spoke to the son of the cleaning company, Steve Nobrega. The executive explained how they were thinking of calling a new battery that had a copper cell "Durable Cell" and asked how the name suited the company. The owner's son explained that his father was the owner of a franchise originally called "Duraclean". His father had chosen the new company name for the company by dropping the ''clean'' in "Duraclean" and added ''able'' to ''Dura'' to keep the name similar. P.R. Mallory was acquired by Dart Industries in 1978, which in turn, merged with Kraft in 1980. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts bought Duracell in 1988 and took the company public in 1989. It was acquired by Gillette in 1996. In 2005, Procter & Gamble acquired Gillette. In September 2011, Duracell and Powermat Technologies Ltd. have made a joint venture, called Duracell Powermat, to make small wireless charger for mobile phone and small electronics. P&G will own 55 percent of the joint venture shares and the rest is for Powermat.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Duracell, wireless power company Powermat team up )〕 In March 2012, along with Powermat technologies, Duracell, under the Procter & Gamble cooperate umbrella, funded the Power Matters Alliance (PMA), an alliance of leading industry and governmental organizations, that is dedicated to advancing smart and environmentally sound wireless power.〔(Power Matters Alliance Official website )〕 AT&T and Starbucks had announced joining the board of the PMA in October, 2012.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Boston-area Starbucks testing wireless smartphone charging; Starbucks, Google and AT&T back PMA standard )〕 On October 24, 2014, Procter & Gamble announced it would spin off Duracell in 2015. On November 14, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway declared its intent to acquire Duracell in an all-stock deal, consisting of $4.7 billion worth of P&G stock currently owned by Berkshire Hathaway. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Duracell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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