It was founded as the Boston Blacking Co. in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1889.

It has its origins in the shoe industry and shoe adhesives. It was taken over by USM (United Shoe Machinery) in 1929 and was developed on a global scale, focusing on the shoe industry until the 1950's when the company embarked on international expansion and diversification.

In 1990, Bostik was purchased by TOTAL, the French oil and gas company, which carried on expanding Bostik by merging it with its own adhesives affiliates and through a steady acquisition policy which gradually brought Bostik among the leading players.

Bostik Findley was formed in 2001 as a result of the merger of two of France's largest oil & gas companies, Total Fina and Elf Aquitaine, and their two adhesives companies, Bostik and Ato Findley.

In 2004, Bostik became the official brand name of the company.

With a turnover of 1,4 billion Euros in 2009, Bostik employs close to 5,000 people in its production and R&D facilities and sales operations in about 40 countries: 50 production sites, 2 research and development sites and 10 applied research centres are spread over the five continents.

The company enjoys leading positions in various segments:

• worldwide for nonwoven disposable products
• worldwide for building renovation and construction applications
• in France for customer markets, with strong positions in other European countries.