Who Owns ICL?
ICL is operated by ICL Group Ltd., an Israeli specialty minerals company dual listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker ICL. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, it reported $7.15 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue and is the world's leading producer of bromine alongside major potash, phosphate, and specialty agriculture businesses.
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Who Owns ICL?
- Parent Company: ICL Group Ltd.
- Ownership Type: Brand division
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock Ticker: NYSE and TASE (dual listed): ICL
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| ICL | ICL Group Ltd. | Brand division |
History of ICL
- Founded: 1968
- Founders: State of Israel (state-founded)
ICL's origins predate the state of Israel. Its foundational asset traces to Palestine Potash Ltd, founded in 1929, which established mineral extraction operations on the Dead Sea, one of the world's richest sources of potash, bromine, and magnesium. The Dead Sea Works that grew from that operation remain the heart of ICL's business nearly a century later.
The modern company was established as Israel Chemicals Ltd. in 1968 as a state-owned enterprise consolidating the country's mineral and chemical industries. It operated for decades under state control, building the Dead Sea extraction and processing operations into a major industrial complex and expanding into fertilizers, bromine compounds, and specialty minerals used across agriculture and industry.
Privatization came in stages through the 1990s and 2000s as the Israeli government sold down its stake. Israel Corporation emerged as the controlling private shareholder, while the state retained a golden share preserving governmental rights over the strategic Dead Sea assets. The company listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and later added a New York listing, becoming the dual-listed ICL Group traded today.
Through the 2010s and 2020s the company expanded globally, establishing operations and acquisitions across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and shifting emphasis from commodity fertilizers toward higher-margin specialty businesses in agriculture, food ingredients, and industrial minerals.
The most recent strategic chapter arrived in 2025 and 2026. ICL completed a comprehensive strategic review identifying specialty crop nutrition and specialty food solutions as growth engines, acquired Bartek Ingredients, a global food ingredients producer, to strengthen that specialty position, and signed a binding agreement regarding its Dead Sea Concession assets that resolved a long-running uncertainty over the future of its core resource rights. Fiscal 2025 delivered $7.15 billion in sales and $1.49 billion in adjusted EBITDA.
About ICL Group Ltd.
What is ICL Group?
ICL Group Ltd. is a public specialty minerals company headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, dual listed on the NYSE and TASE under the ticker ICL. It produces bromine, potash, phosphates, and specialty agriculture and food products, generating $7.15 billion in fiscal 2025 sales.
Is ICL Group publicly traded?
Yes. ICL trades on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker ICL. Shares are accessible to investors on either exchange.
When was ICL founded?
The modern company was established as Israel Chemicals in 1968, consolidating Israeli mineral and chemical industries. Its core Dead Sea operations trace to Palestine Potash, founded in 1929, making the underlying business nearly a century old.
Who owns ICL Group?
ICL is owned by public shareholders, with Israel Corporation as controlling shareholder at roughly 43%. The State of Israel holds a golden share granting rights over the strategic Dead Sea assets, and the remaining shares trade publicly.
What is ICL Group's market position?
ICL is a leading global specialty minerals company and the world's largest bromine producer. It is a significant potash supplier and is shifting toward higher-margin specialty agriculture and food products, a strategy formalized in its 2025 strategic review.
What is ICL's main controversy?
ICL's primary controversy is the environmental impact of its Dead Sea extraction operations, associated with sinkholes and ecological degradation, plus long-running disputes over its concession terms and royalties. A 2025 binding agreement reduced the legal uncertainty but environmental criticism continues.
- Founded: 1968
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock: NYSE and TASE (dual listed): ICL
- Revenue: $7.15 billion (FY2025)
- Employees: More than 12,000
Where Is ICL Made / Based?
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Manufacturing / Operations: Israel, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, China
ICL Categories & Tags
ICL Sustainability & Ethics
ICL operates an extractive and chemical business, so its sustainability profile centers on the environmental impact of mining and mineral processing, particularly around the Dead Sea, where extraction has been linked to sinkhole formation and water level concerns that draw ongoing environmental scrutiny in Israel.
The company publishes sustainability reporting covering emissions, water use, and its framing around food security, positioning specialty agriculture products as contributing to global food production. It operates under Israeli and international environmental regulation across its production sites.
ICL holds no B Corp certification. Its sustainability record is a mix of genuine operational commitments and the structural environmental criticism attached to Dead Sea mineral extraction, which is the most contested aspect of its operations among Israeli environmental groups.
ICL Recalls & Controversies
ICL's most persistent controversy is environmental and centers on the Dead Sea. Extraction operations have been associated with sinkholes, ecological damage, and the broader degradation of the Dead Sea, which has drawn sustained criticism from Israeli environmental organizations and periodic regulatory attention. The company's Dead Sea Concession itself has been a long-running subject of public and governmental debate over royalty payments and the balance between private profit and a shared natural resource.
That concession question was substantially addressed in 2025, when ICL signed a binding agreement regarding the Dead Sea Concession assets, reducing uncertainty over its core resource rights, though the environmental debate over Dead Sea extraction continues regardless of the concession's legal status.
Industrial incidents at chemical operations have occurred across the company's history, consistent with the risks of minerals and chemical production, but no single catastrophic event defines its recent regulatory record. There are no consumer product recalls associated with the brand, since it sells to industrial and agricultural customers rather than consumers.
ICL Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Dead Sea mineral endowment provides a low-cost, hard-to-replicate resource base
- +World-leading bromine position delivers pricing power in a concentrated market
- +Dual NYSE and TASE listing provides public market capital access
- +Strategic shift toward specialty agriculture and food improves margin mix
- +Binding Dead Sea Concession agreement resolved a major long-term uncertainty
Considerations
- -Dead Sea extraction carries ongoing environmental criticism and regulatory exposure
- -Commodity segments remain exposed to global fertilizer price cycles
- -Israel Corporation's controlling stake and the state golden share limit full independence
- -Geopolitical risk inherent to Israeli-headquartered operations
- -Growth through specialty markets requires competing against established chemical majors
Frequently Asked Questions About ICL
Sources & Further Reading
Competitors to ICL
No direct competitors found in the same category. This could be because ICLoperates in a unique market segment or we're still building our competitor database.
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