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Hercules, Inc., was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, which was formed as the Hercules Powder Company. Hercules Powder Company was formed in 1882 by DuPont and Laflin & Rand Powder Company〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Laflin & Rand Powder Company )〕 to finance construction of a dynamite plant on land adjacent to San Francisco Bay owned by DuPont subsidiary California Powder Works.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History and Background )〕 Hercules was spun off from DuPont as a result of U.S. federal government actions in the field of antitrusts. Hercules, Inc., operated under this name until 2008, when it was merged into Ashland Inc. Hercules, Inc., was one of the major producers of smokeless powder for warfare in the United States during the 20th century. At the time of its spin-off, the DuPont Corp. retained the processes and patents for the production of "single-base" nitrocellulose gunpowders, whereas Hercules, Inc., was given the patents and processes for the production of "double-base" gunpowders that combined nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. ==History== Hercules Inc. was founded by T. W. Bacchus in 1912. Some of their products were used by the military in World War I. A school is named after T. W. Bacchus in Bacchus, Utah. Hercules Powder Company ranked 65th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.〔Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) Harvard Business School p.619〕 Richard F. Heck, recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, gained experience with transition metal chemistry while working at Hercules in 1957. By the 1960s, the community was experiencing the first signs of a suburban transition. The Hercules Powder Co., once a small dynamite manufacturing firm, had begun producing rocket motors at its Bacchus Works south of the Magna community. The growing availability of jobs was one factor encouraging subdivision development in the Magna, Kearns and West Valley areas. Hercules Inc. was the defendant in a 1989 lawsuit stemming from a 1976 contract with Brown Machine after James Miller, a Hercules employee, injured himself using a trim press used to make Cool Whip bowls. Miller originally sued Brown directly, as it was the manufacturer of the equipment. Brown settled the suit for nearly $160,000 before it went to trial. It subsequently sued Hercules to recover the cost of the settlement with Miller, alleging that the original contract contained an indemnification clause. Brown prevailed against Hercules at trial, but Hercules successfully appealed.〔''Brown Mach., Div. of John Brown, Inc. v. Hercules, Inc.'', 770 S.W.2d 416 (1989)〕 By the end of the 1990s, Hercules Inc., had sold off a significant number of its divisions that had not been profitable for the company. This has caused the price of shares of common stock in Hercules to rise above 70 dollars. Also, several successful cost-savings programs were implemented in addition of corporate buying its own shares. Also at that time, Hercules had a significant amount of assets available for possible purchases of other corporations. Hercules, Inc., had a Paper Technology Division (PTD) whose products were slowly becoming commodities. In order to survive, this division needed to obtain new products. First, Hercules Inc., tried to purchase the Allied Colloids Company, but this was not successful. Next, Hercules bought the Betz-Dearborn Corporation. Betz-Dearborn produced mostly chemicals for paper processing, and the Hercules PTD produced mainly functional chemicals for paper. According to some business analysts, Hercules Inc. paid about three times as much for Betz-Dearborn as compared with its actual value. Soon after the purchase of Betz-Dearborn, the price per share of stock in Hercules Inc., had dropped from above $70 to below $10 (ten dollars). It has also been speculated that Hercules Inc., was close to going bankrupt after this failed purchase operation. Afterwards, several senior managers were forced out of the company because of this failure; however, a significant amount of former PTD´s senior managers were able to keep their position within Hercules. The price of stock shares in Hercules Inc. never recovered from this debacle. Finally, Hercules Inc. was sold off to the Ashland Corporation. As of July 11, 2008, Hercules was to be acquired by Ashland Inc. for $3.3B.〔(Ashland to Acquire Hercules ), Hercules News Release, Accessed July 11, 2008.〕 The acquisition was completed on November 13, 2008.〔(Ashland Completes Acquisition of Hercules ), News Release, Accessed November 26, 2008.〕 The history of Hercules Inc. was recently the subject of the song "Hercules", by San Francisco-based poet and rapper George Watsky who, in the song, claims he is an heir. 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「Hercules Inc.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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