GrafTech

The company was founded in 1886 as the National Carbon Company, which in 1917 was acquired by Union Carbide and became its Carbon Products Division. In 1914, the company introduced the first 12-inch-diameter graphite electrodes. In 1990, the company introduced first 30-inch-diameter graphite electrodes for UHP DC arc furnaces. In 1999, the company developed first natural graphite-based heat spreaders for electronic thermal management. In March 2011, the company acquired Micron Research Corporation, a manufacturer of superfine-grained graphite. In October 2011, the company acquired advanced carbon composite manufacturer Fiber Materials, which it would sell in 2016. In 2011, the company was awarded two historical markers by the Ohio Historical Society. One is for pioneering battery research made at Parma by Lewis Urry and National Carbon Company. The other recognizes the Lakewood facility’s long history and National Carbon Company. In August 2015, GrafTech was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management. In 2017, the company sold its NeoGraf and Advanced Graphite Materials divisions to focus on graphite electrodes and petroleum coke. In April 2018, the company once again became a public company via an initial public offering. ==Controversies==

On April 1, 1998, the company was subject to a class action lawsuit for allegedly artificially inflating stock price. In 2000, the company settled the lawsuit for $40.5 million. In April 1998, the company was fined $110 million by the United States Department of Justice and in July 2001, the company was fined €50.4 million by the European Commission for participating in an international price fixing cartel with 7 other firms in the market for graphite electrodes. ==References==