AMSTERDAM: Over time companies can change significantly and Koninklijke DSM (OTCQX:RDSMY) is a prime example of transformation throughout a company’s history. This Dutch science-driven chemicals and biotech multinational was founded as a state-owned company in 1902 for the exploitation of the coal mines in Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands.
Those days are long gone, over the decades the firm diversified into fertilizers and other chemicals and by the time the last coal mines closed (because imported coal was much cheaper) the company had transformed into a bulk (petro)chemical company.
The company name still refers to its old mining past, the name DSM was adopted in 1973 and is an abbreviation for Dutch State Mines. An IPO followed in 1989 and seven years later the Dutch state sold its last stake in the company.
