History

In the late 1970s, Netlon’s founder, Dr Brian Mercer

Frank Brian Mercer

Frank Brian Mercer OBE FRS was an English chemist and businessman.He was born into a Blackburn family, which for generations had been involved in the textile industry and which owned and controlled companies engaged in spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing and educated at the Queen Elizabeth's...

, invented and patented the Tensar stiff polymer geogrid, now used worldwide. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the company developed, refined and researched Tensar uniaxial and biaxial geogrids, and expanded the range of construction applications where geogrids and associated geosynthetics

Geosynthetics

Geosynthetics is the term used to describe a range of generally polymeric products used to solve civil engineering problems. The term is generally regarded to encompass eight main product categories: geotextiles, geogrids, geonets, geomembranes, geosynthetic clay liners, geofoam, geocells and...

 could successfully be used.

Tensar Corporation in the US was initially formed in 1983 as a joint venture between Gulf Canada Limited, Netlon Limited and Dr Brian Mercer.

Frank Brian Mercer

Frank Brian Mercer OBE FRS was an English chemist and businessman.He was born into a Blackburn family, which for generations had been involved in the textile industry and which owned and controlled companies engaged in spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing and educated at the Queen Elizabeth's...

 In 1988, senior executives of the joint venture in the U.S. purchased the business and managed and operated the entity through 2000. At that time the business was sold to a private equity investment firm. The Company was purchased in 2005 by another private equity

Private equity

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

 firm located in Atlanta.

Throughout the development of its geogrids, Tensar International has invested in extensive third party research and testing with major test institutes in the North America and Europe. In 2005, the company in the UK, by now re-named Tensar International sold off the original Netlon brand and the associated range of non-construction related products. That same year Tensar International established its wholly owned manufacturing facility in China. In 2006, Tensar International was acquired by its US licensee, Tensar Corporation who are a subsidiary of Arcapita

Arcapita

Arcapita Inc. is a Delaware-incorporated holding and real estate company, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia....

.