CalPortland Company
| Formerly | California Portland Cement Company (1891–2008) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1891 |
| Headquarters | |
| Parent | Taiheiyo Cement USA (1990–pres.) |
CalPortland Company, or simply CalPortland, is an American corporation that produces cement and other building materials. It was founded in 1891 and claims to be the largest such company in the Western United States.[1] The company was founded in California but today maintains its headquarters in Summerlin, Nevada.[2] Since 1990, it has been owned by Taiheiyo Cement, a Japanese company.
History
The company's history can be traced from its founding in 1891 through its growth and merger in 1984 to its purchase by its current Japanese parent, Taiheiyo Cement, in 1990.
Founding and growth
The California Portland Cement Company was incorporated on September 18, 1891, in Los Angeles County, California, with a capital stock of $500,000 ($17 million in 2023).[3] Its first board of directors consisted of Los Angeles residents John P. Culver and Frank H. Jackson, and San Bernardino, California, residents Ernest Waycott, Harry R. O'Bryan, and R. H. Waycott.[3] The company's first cement plant was at Mount Slover in Colton, California, where cement was packed in wood barrels and shipped via mule trains.[4] By 1896, the plant was producing 400 barrels of cement per day, in addition to marble dust, lime, and other materials.[5] A warehouse was completed in 1897 to provide storage for up to 10,000 barrels of cement, and by this time the plant had a monthly payroll of $2,000 ($73,248 in 2023).[6]
In 1949, the company opened a plant in Rillito, Arizona, under the name Arizona Portland Cement.[4] A third cement plant, in Mojave, California, began production in 1956.[4]
In 1960, California Portland Cement reported net income of $7.3 million ($75.2 million in 2023). The following year, it formed a new subsidiary in Phoenix, Arizona Sand & Rock Company, to manufacture prestressed and ready-mixed concrete. By the late 1960s, profits had fallen, and the company expanded into new areas. It founded new subsidiaries such as Spancrete (hollow-core slabs and rectangular beams) in 1966, Colton Industrial Park Company (property development) in 1969, and Calport Financial Corporation (low-cost housing development and financing) in 1970. It also acquired a 54% stake in a petroleum exploration company called State Exploration in 1969.[7]
The company further diversified in 1971 by founding the Soldier Creek Coal Company to mine coal in Utah, some of which California Portland Cement used in its own cement plants.[7]
Merger to form CalMat
In 1984, California Portland Cement merged with Consolidated Rock Company, also based in Los Angeles, to form CalMat Company. Consolidated Rock (also known as Conrock) manufactured sand, gravel, and crushed rock. California Portland Cement shareholders owned 57% of CalMat, and Conrock shareholders the other 43%.[7]
CalMat sold two subsidiaries in 1985: State Exploration (by then renamed Statex Petroleum) for $19.3 million and Soldier Creek Coal for $22 million. It acquired Coast Asphalt, Inc., in 1986.[7]
The company was the target of a nearly $1 billion hostile takeover attempt by New Zealand investor Ron Brierley in March 1988. Brierley owned 19% of the company at the time, and had previously agreed not to purchase more than 20% unless he bought the entire company. He announced he would offer $40 a share, though one analyst thought the price could go as high as $50 a share if other bidders emerged.[8] The CalMat board was not receptive to the idea, and Brierly never actually made the offer. In the end, he sold his 19% stake to Onoda Cement, a Japanese company, for $41.75 a share ($242 million). As part of the deal, Onoda Cement obtained the right to purchase California Portland Cement and 13 Los Angeles-area ready-mix concrete plants for around $310 million.[9]
Some CalMat shareholders were angry at the deal, believing that CalMat had priced the cement business too low in order to fend off Brierley.[7] Ben Stein wrote, "It is difficult to escape the conclusion that CalMat’s management sold a valuable asset at far below full value primarily to get a worrisome corporate raider and greenmailer off its back."[7][10]
Sale to Japanese owners
Onoda Cement exercised its option and purchased California Portland Cement from the CalMat Company in 1990 for $316 million.[11][12] Onoda Cement merged with Chichibu Cement Company in 1994, then with Nihon Cement Company in 1998 to form CalPortland's current parent company, Taiheiyo Cement.[13] Taiheiyo Cement owns CalPortland through its Taiheiyo Cement USA subsidiary.[14]
The original plant in Colton stopped production on November 20, 2009, as the company restructured to deal with decreased demand during the Great Recession.[15]
California Portland Cement changed its name to CalPortland Company on June 20, 2008.[16]
Legal issues
In 1912, the company was the subject of a grand jury investigation along with a competitor, the Riverside Portland Cement Company (now Riverside Cement). An official with the San Bernardino Water Board accused the companies of price fixing after learning San Bernardino was being charged $2.45 per barrel ($77.00 in 2023) while the price was only $2 per barrel in Los Angeles, despite the companies' plants being closer to San Bernardino. The companies denied the claim, saying competition had actually brought prices down from $4 to $5 a barrel a few years earlier, when most cement was imported from elsewhere.[17]
California Portland Cement was again accused of conspiring to fix cement prices in a 1980 lawsuit, along with about 50 other defendants. The company denied any illegal activity, but paid a $6.5 million settlement for the claims, which related to the years 1968 to 1976.[7]
The company reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice in December 2011 to resolve allegations it violated the Clean Air Act at its plant in Mojave. CalPortland paid $1.425 million in penalties and agreed to spend another $1.3 million to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides.[18]
References
- ^ "About Us". CalPortland. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ "CalPortland Corporate Office and Headquarters". CalPortland. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ a b "City Briefs". The Los Angeles Times. September 19, 1891. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
- ^ a b c "About CalPortland". careers.calportland.com. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ "California Cement". The Los Angeles Times. June 5, 1896. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "Busy Colton". The Los Angeles Times. November 6, 1897. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g Grant, Tina, ed. (1998). International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. 19. Chicago: St. James Press. pp. 69–72. ISBN 978-1-55862-353-8.
- ^ Gellene, Denise (March 24, 1988). "Investor Offers $998 Million to Acquire CalMat". The Los Angeles Times. p. 14. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ Bradsher, Keith (July 21, 1988). "A Reluctant Brierly Will Sell Holdings in CalMat to Japanese". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ Stein, Benjamin J. (September 12, 1988). "The CalMat Maneuver". Barron's. pp. 13, 37–39.
- ^ "CalMat sells cement operations in $316 million deal". UPI. October 1, 1990. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ Hast, Adele, ed. (1988). International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. III. Chicago, London: St James Press. pp. 717–719. ISBN 978-0-912289-10-6.
- ^ "History". Taiheiyo Cement Corporation. Archived from the original on 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ Petition for Writ of Certiorari at ii, Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters, 598 U.S. 771. (No. 21-1449)
- ^ "Colton cement plant halts cement production". San Bernardino Sun. November 20, 2009. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "Lease Between the City of Los Angeles and CalPortland Company" (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ ""Cement Trust? Name's Piffle."". The Los Angeles Times. May 21, 1912. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ Elliott, Claudia (Sep 17, 2022). "CalPortland makes deal to buy Tehachapi cement plant". Tehachapi News. Tehachapi, California.