Imperial Sugar Company is a major

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar. Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...

operations in

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, and

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. The company was established in 1843 and has undergone ownership changes multiple times. The current name, Imperial Sugar Company, was established after a change in ownership in 1907. The company went through major expansion through acquisitions beginning in 1988, but filed for bankruptcy in 2001, emerging in the same year and embarking on a downsizing strategy. In May 2012, the company was purchased by

Louis Dreyfus Group Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC) is a French merchant firm that is involved in agriculture, food processing, international shipping, and finance. The company owns and manages hedge funds, Ship management, ocean vessels, develops and operates tele ...

of the Netherlands. In November 2022, Dreyfus sold Imperial to U.S. Sugar.

History

The company has been headquartered in Sugar Land since its inception. The city itself is named for the company and the company's crown logo is featured in the city's seal. The company was founded in 1843 by Samuel May Williams and passed through a series of owners until its purchase in 1907 by the I. H. Kempner family of

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. The company was later renamed the Imperial Sugar Company, in an effort to emphasize quality. Up until 1988 the company had only one plant, at its original location in Texas, when they purchased the Holly Sugar Corporation, a

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

processor headquartered in

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. At that time Imperial Sugar Company became Imperial Holly Corporation and began publicly trading on

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. Content mirrored at:
Imperial Sugar Company
at

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. Since the merger with Holly, the company made several more acquisitions that greatly enlarged the company during the 1980s and 1990s, including Michigan Sugar and the

Spreckels Sugar Company The Spreckels Sugar Company is an American sugar beet refiner that for many years was the largest beet sugar producer in the western United States. The company was incorporated and originally headquartered in San Francisco, with its largest operati ...

. However, the company's name returned to Imperial Sugar Company in 1999. On , the company filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

bankruptcy protection, attributing its problems to lower sales for refined sugar as well as higher energy costs. Then on August 29, 2001, the company emerged from Chapter 11 and turned its focus inward as it downsized its operations. In 2001, it divested itself of Michigan Sugar, which became an independent cooperative. In 2003, it closed its original plant in Sugar Land, TX, but its corporate headquarters are still located in its founding city; several of the factory buildings underwent demolition by

building implosion A building or edifice is an enclosed structure with a roof, walls and windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout ...

in 2010.Fort Bend Star
Plans for development. In 2005, it sold Holly Sugar Corporation (which included Spreckels Sugar) to the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative (SMBSC). However, Imperial retained the trademark to the Holly Sugar brand, and SMBSC rebranded Holly Sugar Corporation to Spreckels Sugar Company. In 2010, Imperial exchanged its aging nineteenth-century Gramercy, Louisiana refinery to Louisiana Sugar Refiners, LLC (LSR) for a one-third interest in the new company. LSR commenced operations on . Imperial continues to operate a small-bag processing facility at Gramercy.

2008 explosion

On , an explosion at a Port Wentworth, Georgia, sugar refinery killed 14 people and injured more than 40. It was likely caused by an overheated bearing on a conveyor beneath the sugar silos, which ignited sugar dust, then spread in a chain reaction of sugar dust explosions in the finished-sugar packaging area of the plant. OSHA had been criticized in a 2006 US Chemical Safety Board report for lack of preparation for such explosions and a safety program that "inadequately addresses dust explosion hazards". As of August 26, 2008, the death toll had risen to 14, with one still in critical condition. The plant, originally built as the Dixie Crystals sugar refinery in 1916–1917, had been acquired by Imperial Sugar in 1997. At the time of its purchase, the Port Wentworth refinery was the second-largest sugar refining operation in the U.S.

Acquisition by Louis Dreyfus Group

On 1 May 2012, Louis Dreyfus Commodities LLC announced that one of its subsidiaries would acquire all outstanding Imperial Sugar stock for $6.35 per share and assume $125 million in Imperial Sugar debt. The price per share represented a 57% premium over Imperial Sugar's closing price on 30 April. A spokesman for Dreyfus group said the acquisition was part of the company's efforts to expand into refining and distribution of sugar.

Acquisition by U.S. Sugar

In November 2021, US Sugar and Imperial Sugar announced their intentions to merge the two companies. They were sued by the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...

who claimed in a statement that the deal was anticompetitive and would “leave an overwhelming majority of refined sugar sales across the Southeast in the hands of only two producers”. Imperial Sugar and US Sugar stated that they disagreed with the

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

lawsuit and that they fully intended to litigate. US Sugar completed the $315 million purchase of Imperial in November 2022. On July 13, 2023, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia rejected the U.S. government's claim that the merger violated antitrust and refused to undo the merger.

Gallery

File:FortBend 379.JPG, Imperial Sugar offices in Sugar Land File:ImperialSugarTechCenter.JPG, Imperial Sugar Technology Center in Sugar Land

References

External links

Imperial Sugar Company corporate website

Imperial Sugar brand consumer website

Dixie Crystals brand consumer website
* {{Handbook of Texas, id=diicy, name=Imperial Sugar Company
Imperial Sugar Commercial, no.2, from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Sugar companies of the United States Companies based in Sugar Land, Texas Food and drink companies established in 1843 1843 establishments in the Republic of Texas Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 2012 mergers and acquisitions