Kuhlmann, Etablissements

Four other Farben directors arrived, led by Ter Meer. Against the five Farben men and the Ambassador, the entire French dyestuffs industry was represented by only three men, led by Monsieur Duchemin of Etablissements Kuhlmann, largest of the French companies. M. Duchemin was shocked by the presence of the Ambassador. Behind the scenes, Von Schnitzler had fixed everything so that "the French would come unprepared" for his "tactical maneuvers." To his Paris representative, the Baron had written ... 

As it happens, the wartime SNMC and CNMC were directed not by the French government, but by French private enterprise. That enterprise was in the hands of one of the most important companies in the history of French chemical industry - the Etablissements Kuhlmann. Therefore, in order to understand the CNMC, one needs first to understand the role played by this company during the First World War. 

In October 1914, Etablissements Kuhlmann faced the prospect of total ruin when its factories in northern France were overrun by invading German forces. Only four... 

At the outbreak of war, therefore, the company was powerful and expanding. Kuhlmann s political presence lent the firm an influence larger than the few factories it owned. All this was threatened by disaster when, on 12 October 1914, German forces seized Lille, and, therefore, most of Kuhlmann s factories. Only a small plant in Amiens (producing only 5 per cent of the Etablissements production) remained in French hands. Some 180,000 tons of material, worth FF 8.5 million, were taken by the Germans. Etablissements Kuhlmann was threatened with obliteration. 

ETABLISSEMENTS KUHLMANN AND THE COMPAGNIE NATIONALE DES MATIERES COLORANTES... 

The financial structure of the Syndicat National des Mati res Colorantes (SNMC) was mapped out in November 1916. The Syndicate, which was to issue 20,000 shares, was to be the pivot of a new Compagnie Nationale des Matieres Colorantes (CNMC) - created in January 1917 - which was to issue 80,000 shares. The constitution of the Syndicat was handed by the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas and Etablissements Kuhlmann. They formed the first nucleus of major shareholders (Table 3), subscribing the first 20000 shares at 500 francs each, for a total of FIO million. The other 60,000 shares were sold to the public, including 12,000 shareholders who were to get only a few shares each. ... 

Etablissements Kuhlmann Donat-Agache and Emile Lambert Industrie chimique 900... 

Source Etablissements Kuhlmann, Cent ans d industrie chimique. Les Etablissements Kuhlmann. 1825-1925 (Paris Compagnie Nationale des matieres Colorantes et Manufactures de Produits Chimiques du Nord reunites, 1926), 138 p. 

DPPD (Monsanto), Altofane DIP (Etablissements Kuhlmann, Paris, France) JZF... 

Compagnie Nationale de Mati6res Colorantes et Manufactures de Produits Chimiques du Nord R6unies Etablissements Kuhlmann (Fr. 845 407 [1939] C.A. 1941 1624). 

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