Belleville, New Jersey
Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "beautiful town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 38,222. an increase of 2,296 (+6.4%) from the 2010 ...
–based company formed from the merger of Novadel Process Corporation and Agene Process in August 1928. Novadel Corporation was founded in 1926 to take over the American and
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
rights to Novadel Process. Novadelox was first used in the bleaching of flour in the United States in 1921. Prior to this it had been used largely in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an milling.''Novadel-Agene Merger'',
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
, August 29, 1928, pg. 5.
On September 23, 1953, one of its plants, in
Tonawanda, New York
Tonawanda is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,129 at the 2020 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal ( Tonawanda Creek) from North Tonawanda, east of Grand Island, a ...
, United States, exploded and caused 11 deaths.
Merger
Novadel-Agene sought to merge with Wallace & Tiernan Company, which already owned a portion of its business. Wallace & Tiernan was also located in Belleville. A December 21, 1953, hearing in
United States District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
, sought to restrain the merger. A delay was sought until a civil
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 ...
suit against both corporations and others, was solved. The
United States government
The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States.
The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...
wanted the Wallace & Tiernan Company to divest itself of its interest in Novadel-Agene prior to a merger. The merger was to become effective by December 31, 1953. Novadel-Agene retained its corporate entity but the joined companies became known as Wallace & Tiernan, Inc.''U.S. Urges Court Hold Off Merger'',
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...