VHIUSD

Valhi Inc

A Dallas-based holding company whose subsidiaries make everyday things you might not notice: Kronos Worldwide produces titanium dioxide pigments that give paints, plastics, and paper their whiteness and brightness, while CompX International makes the cabinet and furniture locks found in offices, mailboxes, and vending machines. It began in 1932 as a sleepy agricultural firm, was taken over in 1974 by investor Harold Simmons, and took its current form in 1987 when it merged with the Amalgamated Sugar Company — a sugar-maker tucked inside what became an industrial empire.