Its consumer products and industrial segment marketed wallpaper, adhesives, plastics and resins.

After significant financial losses in the early 1990s and a leveraged buyout by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) in 1995, Borden divested itself of its various divisions, brands and businesses.

Struggling financially, the company was saved when Jeremiah Milbank, a partner in the wholesale food distributor I.

& R. Milbank & Co. and the son-in-law of banker Joseph Lake, agreed to invest and acquired 50 percent of the stock.

It became the Borden Company in 1919 and expanded rapidly, buying numerous dairies, ice cream manufacturers, cheese producers, and mincemeat processors.

Taking advantage of its many herds of cattle, the company became involved in rendering and the manufacture of adhesives.

In World War II, Borden pioneered the American manufacture of non-dairy creamer, instant coffee and powdered foods.

[4] Borden's Canadian operational head office moved to Toronto in 1931 when it acquired City Dairy.

[5][6] In the 1950s, Borden moved into the printing ink, fertilizer, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics business.

[1] In the 1950s, the parent company went on a buying spree, swallowing up companies such as Wyler's, which made bouillon and powdered soft drinks; ReaLemon, a manufacturer of synthetic and reconstituted lemon juice; Cracker Jack (sold to Frito-Lay in 1997); Campfire brand marshmallows; Wise Foods, a maker of potato chips and other snack foods; and Bama, makers of jellies and jams.

[1] In 1986, it purchased the dairy products division of Beatrice Foods, including the Meadow Gold brand.

[7] Stockholders blamed the company's decline on mismanagement, the incurrence of excessive debt to finance its numerous acquisitions, and several recent restructurings.

In deep financial difficulty, Borden was bought out by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) in 1995.

[11] In 2004, KKR sold Borden Chemical to Apollo Management, a private equity firm.