Who owns Kay?
Kay is owned by Ecolab (the United States, NYSE: ECL).[1]
Evidence: Ecolab Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-23, SEC EDGAR, 23 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Ecolab Inc. verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Saint Paul
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Category
- Home care › Household cleaning › Bleach & disinfectant
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: ECL
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Kay
Kay is a brand name used by Ecolab for the products of its Specialty business, which supplies quick-service restaurant chains and food retailers. According to the 10-K, those products include general purpose and specialty hard surface cleaners, degreasers, sanitizers, polishes and hand care products plus cleaning tools and equipment, sold primarily under the Ecolab and Kay brand names. It is a professional brand, not a household one.
What Ecolab's annual report says about Kay
Sentences about Kay from Ecolab's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Its products include specialty and general purpose hard surface cleaners, degreasers, sanitizers, polishes, hand care products and assorted cleaning tools and equipment which are primarily sold under the "Ecolab" and "Kay" brand names.
How often Ecolab names Kay in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
Ownership timeline of Kay
Where Kay sits in Ecolab
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Ecolab ownership tree →
See the full Ecolab brand portfolio (2) →
Other brands owned by Ecolab
Ecolab controls 2 brands on Brandtree, 2 of them in home care.
Also in home care
Other brands in bleach & disinfectant, and who owns them
The 17 brands in bleach & disinfectant on Brandtree belong to 10 owners. The largest is Grupo AlEn, with 4; Ecolab has 2.
About the owner: Ecolab
Ecolab is a publicly listed company headquartered in Saint Paul, United States. Brandtree records 2 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: ECL.
Ecolab Inc. is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota that sells water, hygiene and infection-prevention products and services to businesses rather than households. Its 10-K reports four segments: Global Water, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Pest Elimination and Global Life Sciences. Its cleaning and disinfecting products reach consumers only through the hotels, restaurants, hospitals and food retailers it serves. Nalco, Purolite and Ovivo Electronics are also Ecolab companies but are not listed here because no home-care category fits them.
🇺🇸 Kay and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,399 brands that began in the United States. 461 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Kay is not one of them.
- 3-IN-ONE — WD-40 Company 🇺🇸
- Air Wick — Reckitt 🇬🇧
- Ajax — Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸
- All-Clad — Groupe SEB 🇫🇷
- Amazon Basics — Amazon 🇺🇸
- American Girl — Mattel 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Kay?
The parent company of Kay is Ecolab, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Kay American?
Yes. Kay originated in the United States and its owner, Ecolab, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is Kay still owned by Ecolab?
Yes. As of 11 October 2026, Kay is still owned by Ecolab. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Ecolab Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-23 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 23 February 2026; retrieved 3 October 2026.
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