One of the most trusted names in wood protection technology is no longer Lonza, but now Arxada – a name that covers the entire global chemical business.
Corporate name changes are an odd feature of the business world, either reflecting a change in the company’s direction or a desire to clarify a brand after structural changes. For the newly minted Arxada, it’s business as usual producing specialty ingredients and solutions, but a strong new name to reflect the purchase of Lonza Specialty Ingredients (LSI) by private equity funds Bain Capital and Cinven from Lonza Group AG in July this year and the subsequent combining of the company with Troy Corporation in October.
It’s not the first name change for Arxada: before LSI and Lonza it was known in Australia as Arch Wood Protection (Aust) Pty Ltd, which remains its legal name here. But over its 120 years of formulating specialty ingredients, it’s also been known as Koppers-Hickson and Koppers-Arch. For over 80 years it’s been a leading company when it comes to wood protection technologies. Conveniently, brands such as Tanalith, Vacsol, Permatek, Taratek, Antiblu and Tanacoat will remain unchanged under Arxada.
Troy Corporation has 50 years of experience in developing and manufacturing preservatives and additives for various industries, particularly architectural coatings, industrial preservation, leadership in IPBC technology and broad range of performance additives that perfectly complements Arxada’s strengths in wet state preservation.
Together, they promise to “create a comprehensive and innovative offering in microbial control, enabling the delivery of new solutions and value-added services to customers.”
The new company name was derived from the Latin noun arx, meaning a stronghold, castle or citadel and figuratively represents defence or protection.
To quote the name-change announcement, “The Arxada name will signify a philosophy of providing our customers with products and services that offer superior defence against microbial attack and protection across multiple markets, including but not limited to Wood Protection, Paints and Coatings, Industrial Hygiene, Home and Personal Care and general materials protection.”
The company’s old legal name will live on in invoices, meaning payment terms and processes will remain the same, so accounts teams won’t need to take any action. Email address will now have the format firstname.lastname@arxada.com.
As for how you pronounce the new name, investigations continue. We went to school after the years of good Latin teaching had passed but suspect a Roman might have gone for something like ARKS-ada. We’ll keep you updated (and welcome the inevitable correction from a superior student of Latin!)
