The company traces its origins to 1928 in the United States with the establishment of National Aluminate Corporation - formed from the merger of Chicago Chemical Company and the Aluminum Sales Corporation.[2] In 1959 it changed its name to Nalco Chemical Company; and in 1964, it became a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It acquired Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories in 1966.
The company was delisted from NYSE and renamed to Ondeo Nalco Company, following its 1999 acquisition by the French company, Suez (presently GDF Suez).[GT-DEX 3]
On 9 December 2003, the private equity group consisting of the Blackstone Group, Apollo Management LP and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners collaborated to acquire Ondeo Nalco Company from Suez SA for US$4.2 billion.[GT-DEX 4] The Company went public again, returning to the New York Stock Exchange in late 2004 under the name Nalco Holding Company.
In 2007, Nalco achieved sales of more than US$3.9 billion.
In July 2011, Nalco announced a merger with Ecolab, Inc., and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecolab Inc. in December 2011 after the completion of the US$5.4 billion acquisition by Ecolab
.