Who Owns Which Stationery Brands? Parents and Dates
Most big stationery brands belong to a handful of groups. Newell Brands owns Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman, Sharpie and Prismacolor; F.I.L.A. owns Ticonderoga, Canson, Arches and Strathmore; BIC owns Rocketbook; PLUS owns Pentel and Sailor; Mitsubishi Pencil owns LAMY; Hamelin owns Pelikan; D'Ieteren owns Moleskine; Richemont owns Montblanc.
On this page
Key takeaways
- Newell Brands got Paper Mate, Parker and Waterman when it bought Gillette's stationery business on December 29, 2000; Sharpie came with Sanford in 1992 and X-ACTO with Elmer's in October 2015.
- Italy's F.I.L.A. bought Dixon Ticonderoga in 2005, Canson in 2016, Pacon (with Strathmore) in 2018 and the Arches paper business in March 2020.
- Japan's PLUS Corporation controls two famous pen makers: Sailor since May 23, 2022 (57.88% of votes) and Pentel since November 2022 (76.3%), renamed ASTRUM Corporation on April 1, 2026.
- Three European icons changed hands in the last decade: Moleskine (D'Ieteren, October 6, 2016), Pelikan (Hamelin, December 13, 2023) and LAMY (Mitsubishi Pencil, March 15, 2024).
- Mitsubishi Pencil, Pilot, KOKUYO, Designphil (Midori), Faber-Castell and STAEDTLER are not owned by a larger group; Faber-Castell is family-controlled and STAEDTLER belongs to a foundation.
A few groups own most of the stationery brands you see on a store shelf. This page lists each parent company, the brands from our guides that it owns, when it bought them and where that fact comes from.
We used annual reports, regulator filings and the companies’ own history pages. Where we couldn’t find a primary source, we say so.
Who owns which stationery brands?
Newell Brands, F.I.L.A., BIC, Exacompta Clairefontaine, Hamelin, ACCO Brands, 3M, PLUS, Mitsubishi Pencil, D’Ieteren and Richemont own most of the big names; Pilot, KOKUYO, Designphil, Faber-Castell and STAEDTLER are not owned by a larger group. The table covers every brand in our guides that has a parent company, with the year it joined.
| Parent | Brands in our guides | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newell Brands (US) | Sharpie | 1992 (Sanford) | Newell 10-K 1995 |
| Newell Brands | Prismacolor | 1995 (Berol) | Newell 10-K 1995 |
| Newell Brands | rOtring | 1998 | Newell 10-K 2001 |
| Newell Brands | Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman | 2000 | Newell 10-K 2001 |
| Newell Brands | Elmer’s, X-ACTO | 2015 | Newell 10-K 2015 |
| F.I.L.A. Group (Italy) | Ticonderoga, Strathmore (via Dixon Ticonderoga) | 2005; Strathmore 2018 | F.I.L.A. history |
| F.I.L.A. Group | Canson | 2016 | F.I.L.A. history |
| F.I.L.A. Group | Arches | 2020 | F.I.L.A. history |
| Société BIC (France) | Rocketbook | 2020 | BIC release |
| Exacompta Clairefontaine (France) | Clairefontaine, Rhodia, J. Herbin, Stillman & Birn | Herbin 1990; Rhodia 1997 | Group history; Stillman & Birn site |
| Hamelin (France) | Pelikan | 2023 | Pelikan history |
| TOPS Products (US) | Oxford (US brand) | not stated | TOPS site |
| ACCO Brands (US) | Five Star, Mead, Swingline | Mead and Five Star 2012 | ACCO 10-Ks |
| 3M (US) | Post-it, Scotch | own brands | 3M 10-K |
| Acme United (US) | Westcott | not stated | Acme United 10-K |
| PLUS Corporation (Japan) | Sailor | 2022 | Sailor filing |
| PLUS Corporation | Pentel (ASTRUM Corporation) | 2022 | PLUS history and releases |
| PLUS Corporation | Apica (Nippon Note) | 2019 | PLUS history |
| Mitsubishi Pencil (Japan) | LAMY | 2024 | Mitsubishi Pencil filing |
| D’Ieteren Group (Belgium) | Moleskine | 2016 | Borsa Italiana filings |
| Richemont (Switzerland) | Montblanc | not stated | Richemont |
| Chartpak (US) | Koh-I-Noor (North America) | 1999 | Chartpak |
| CCL Industries (Canada) | Avery | not stated | CCL |
| Fedrigoni (Italy) | Fabriano | 2002 | Fedrigoni |
| Sylvamo (US) | Hammermill; HP papers under licence | not stated | Sylvamo |
When did each brand change hands?
The deals run from Newell’s purchase of Sanford in 1992 to Pentel’s new company name in 2026. Every date below comes from the buyer’s or the seller’s own filing or history page.
| Date | Deal |
|---|---|
| February 14, 1992 | Newell acquires Sanford Corporation (Sharpie) |
| November 2, 1995 | Newell buys Berol Corporation for US$118.8 million and folds it into Sanford |
| 1997 | Clairefontaine buys the Rhodia pad business |
| September 30, 1998 | Newell buys the Rotring Group |
| 1999 | Chartpak acquires Koh-I-Noor North America |
| December 29, 2000 | Newell completes “Paper Mate/Parker”, Gillette’s stationery business |
| April 2002 | Fedrigoni acquires Fabriano |
| 2005 | F.I.L.A. acquires Dixon Ticonderoga |
| May 1, 2012 | ACCO Brands completes its merger with Mead Consumer and Office Products |
| October 2015 | Newell completes the purchase of Elmer’s Products (Elmer’s, X-Acto) |
| October 6, 2016 | D’Ieteren completes the purchase of 41% of Moleskine |
| 2016 | F.I.L.A. acquires Canson and Daler-Rowney Lukas |
| 2018 | F.I.L.A. signs for 100% of Pacon (Strathmore, Princeton) |
| March 2020 | F.I.L.A. buys the Arches paper business from Ahlstrom-Munksjö |
| January 2019 | Apica and Kyokuto Associates merge into PLUS’s Nippon Note |
| December 15, 2020 | BIC completes its purchase of Rocketbook |
| May 23, 2022 | PLUS becomes Sailor’s parent with 57.88% of the votes |
| September 30, 2022 | PLUS announces it will buy KOKUYO’s 45.6% of Pentel, rising to 76.32% |
| November 2022 | Pentel becomes a PLUS subsidiary |
| December 13, 2023 | Hamelin completes its purchase of Pelikan Group GmbH |
| March 15, 2024 | Mitsubishi Pencil acquires 100% of LAMY |
| April 1, 2026 | Pentel Co., Ltd. becomes ASTRUM Corporation |
What does Newell Brands own?
Newell Brands, based in Atlanta, owns Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman, Sharpie, Elmer’s, X-ACTO, Prismacolor and Rotring, all listed on its brands page. Its 2025 annual report puts Paper Mate, Parker, Sharpie and Elmer’s in its Learning and Development segment.
Most of these came in four deals. Sanford (Sharpie) joined in 1992 and Berol in 1995; Berol’s brands are today sold under the Prismacolor name. Gillette’s stationery business arrived on December 29, 2000 under the name “Paper Mate/Parker”, and Newell’s 2001 annual report lists Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman, Rotring and Liquid Paper among Sanford’s trademarks.
X-ACTO is a later addition. Newell’s 2015 annual report says it bought Elmer’s Products in October 2015, “whose brands include Elmer’s, Krazy Glue … and X-Acto”. You can see the range in our guides to the Parker Jotter and Paper Mate Flair.
What does F.I.L.A. own?
F.I.L.A. of Pero, near Milan, owns Ticonderoga, Canson, Arches and Strathmore, plus LYRA, Daler-Rowney and Giotto. Its history page dates the deals: Dixon Ticonderoga in 2005, LYRA in 2008, Canson and Daler-Rowney in 2016, Pacon in 2018 and Arches in March 2020.
Strathmore came with Pacon, and Strathmore’s site now calls it “a division of Dixon Ticonderoga”. Arches was not part of the Canson deal; F.I.L.A. bought it separately from Ahlstrom-Munksjö. Our pencil-making story explains how a Ticonderoga No. 2 is made.
Who owns Rhodia, Clairefontaine and Pelikan?
Rhodia, Clairefontaine and J. Herbin belong to the Exacompta Clairefontaine group, and Pelikan has belonged to Hamelin since December 13, 2023. Both owners are French.
Exacompta Clairefontaine’s history says Exacompta, Clairefontaine and AFA were grouped under one holding company in 1996.
It bought the Rhodia pads in 1997 and Quo Vadis diaries in 1999, and Jacques Herbin joined in 1990. Its US company Exaclair distributes the group’s brands, and Stillman & Birn’s site calls the sketchbook maker “an Exaclair Company”. See our Rhodia No. 16 dot pad guide.
Pelikan’s own timeline says the sale of Pelikan Group GmbH to Hamelin was completed on December 13, 2023. Pelikan Group also owns Herlitz.
Hamelin owns the Oxford brand in Europe, which it bought in 1982. The Oxford notebooks sold in the US are a different line, listed by TOPS Products. Our Pelikan M200 guide covers the pen.
Who owns Pentel, Sailor and Apica?
PLUS Corporation of Tokyo controls all three: Sailor since May 23, 2022, Pentel since November 2022, and Nippon Note, the maker of Apica, since 2019. PLUS, founded in 1948, makes office furniture as well as stationery.
Sailor’s filing of May 30, 2022 says PLUS became its parent on May 23, 2022, holding 57.88% of the votes, when it converted bonds it had bought in 2020. Sailor stays listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
KOKUYO had tried to buy Pentel in 2019. On September 30, 2022, PLUS announced it would buy KOKUYO’s 4,106,649 Pentel shares (45.6%), giving it 76.32%, and its company history dates the takeover to November 2022. PLUS’s March 17, 2026 release says Pentel was renamed ASTRUM Corporation on April 1, 2026, and that Pentel continues as a brand worldwide.
PLUS’s history says Nippon Note started in January 2019, when Apica merged with Kyokuto Associates. The 2026 release lists Nippon Note among the PLUS stationery companies to be merged step by step by 2028, and says Sailor will stay a separate listed company. Pentel guides include the EnerGel.
Who owns LAMY, Moleskine and Montblanc?
LAMY belongs to Mitsubishi Pencil, Moleskine to the Belgian D’Ieteren Group, and Montblanc to the Swiss luxury group Richemont. Each brand keeps its own headquarters.
Mitsubishi Pencil’s half-year report gives March 15, 2024 as the date it bought 100% of LAMY, for 21,881 million yen (about US$138 million) in cash. The sellers were Vera Lamy and Markus Lamy, who held 50% each; our LAMY story has the full deal.
D’Ieteren agreed on September 22, 2016 to buy 41% of Moleskine from Syntegra Capital and Index Ventures at 2.40 euros a share (about US$2.70), valuing the company at 506 million euros (about US$567 million). It completed that purchase on October 6, 2016.
After the tender offer it held about 89% of the shares. See our Moleskine Classic Notebook guide.
Richemont lists Montblanc among its maisons and says its writing instruments are made in Hamburg. Richemont’s history page doesn’t say when Montblanc joined. It says Richemont was founded in 1988 and took 100% of Vendôme’s luxury interests in 1998.
Who owns Rocketbook, Five Star and Post-it?
BIC bought Rocketbook in 2020, ACCO Brands owns Five Star, Mead and Swingline, and 3M owns Post-it and Scotch. All three owners are listed companies.
BIC’s release says it completed the purchase on December 15, 2020 for US$40 million plus a payment tied to Rocketbook’s later results. Rocketbook was founded in 2014 by Joe Lemay and Jake Epstein. See our Rocketbook Core guide.
ACCO’s 2012 annual report says its merger with the Mead consumer and office products business closed on May 1, 2012, which brought in Mead and Five Star. Swingline was already an ACCO brand then. Acme United’s 2025 annual report lists Westcott, “with a history of quality dating back to 1872”, as its school, home and office cutting brand.
Which stationery brands are still independent?
Pilot, KOKUYO, Mitsubishi Pencil, Designphil (Midori, TRAVELER’S, PLOTTER), Tsukineko, Faber-Castell, STAEDTLER, Schwan-STABILO and Cal Cedar (Blackwing) are not owned by another company. Several are listed or family-run.
- Pilot Corporation dates from 1918 and owns the Namiki brand.
- KOKUYO was founded in October 1905 and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime market.
- Designphil began in 1950 as Midori. Its history says it set up its own holding company in 2013, split TRAVELER’S COMPANY from Midori in 2014 and launched PLOTTER in 2017. See our Traveler’s Notebook guide.
- Tsukineko sells StazOn, VersaFine, VersaMagic and Memento under its own name.
- Faber-Castell is family-controlled, and STAEDTLER is owned by the STAEDTLER foundation; our Nuremberg story has the details.
Some ownership is split by country. In North America the Koh-I-Noor name belongs to Chartpak, which bought Koh-I-Noor North America in 1999. The Czech KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH is a separate company, and we didn’t find a parent for it.
Are any of our guides’ manufacturer details out of date?
No guide names the wrong owner, but a few leave the parent company out. The Pelikan guides don’t mention Hamelin, the Apica guide doesn’t mention PLUS, and the Sailor guides don’t mention PLUS. We will add the parents when we next update those guides.
Frequently asked questions
Who makes Paper Mate?
Paper Mate belongs to Newell Brands of Atlanta, which lists it on its brands page and in its Learning and Development segment. Newell bought it with Gillette's stationery business, which its 10-K records as acquired on December 29, 2000.
Is Parker still British?
No. Parker has been owned by the American group Newell Brands since Newell bought Gillette's stationery business ("Paper Mate/Parker") on December 29, 2000. Parker itself started in the United States, and retailers list today's Jotter as made in France.
Who owns Sharpie?
Newell Brands. Sharpie came with Sanford Corporation, which Newell acquired on February 14, 1992, according to Newell's 1995 annual report.
Who owns Ticonderoga pencils?
Italy's F.I.L.A. Group, which bought the Dixon Ticonderoga Company in 2005. Strathmore papers are now a division of Dixon Ticonderoga, according to Strathmore's own site.
Who owns Pentel?
PLUS Corporation of Tokyo. PLUS reached 76.32% of Pentel in November 2022 after buying KOKUYO's 45.6% stake, and on April 1, 2026 renamed the company ASTRUM Corporation. Pentel remains the brand.
Who owns Rhodia and Clairefontaine?
Both belong to the French Exacompta Clairefontaine group. Clairefontaine bought the Rhodia pad business in 1997; J. Herbin joined in 1990, and Exaclair, the group's US arm, runs Stillman & Birn.
Who owns Moleskine?
The Belgian D'Ieteren Group. It closed the purchase of a 41% stake on October 6, 2016, then bid for the rest at 2.40 euros a share (about US$2.70), holding about 89% of the shares after the offer closed on December 2, 2016.
Is LAMY Japanese now?
LAMY is still based and made in Heidelberg, but since March 15, 2024 the company has been 100% owned by Mitsubishi Pencil of Tokyo, which paid 21,881 million yen (about US$138 million) in cash.
Sources
- Newell Brands: Our Brands
- Newell Brands Form 10-K for 2025 (segments and key brands), filed February 13, 2026
- Newell Rubbermaid Form 10-K for 2015 (Elmer's Products, incl. X-Acto, acquired October 2015)
- Newell Rubbermaid Form 10-K for 2001 (Rotring Group, September 30, 1998; Paper Mate/Parker, December 29, 2000)
- Newell Co. Form 10-K for 1995 (Sanford, February 14, 1992; Berol, November 2, 1995)
- F.I.L.A. Group: Our History (Dixon 2005, LYRA 2008, Canson 2016, Pacon 2018, Arches 2020)
- F.I.L.A. Group: Brands and Products
- Strathmore: site footer (a division of Dixon Ticonderoga)
- Société BIC: Closing of the Rocketbook acquisition, December 15, 2020
- Exacompta Clairefontaine (French): Le groupe, history 1858–2013
- Exacompta Clairefontaine (French): Rhodia and Jacques Herbin brand pages
- Exacompta Clairefontaine: Rapport annuel 2025 (list of subsidiaries)
- Exaclair, Inc. and Stillman & Birn ("an Exaclair Company")
- Pelikan: Our History (sale of Pelikan Group GmbH to Hamelin completed December 13, 2023)
- Hamelin Brands (French): OXFORD brand history (Hamelin bought OXFORD in 1982)
- TOPS Products: Our Brands
- RR Donnelley and Esselte: RR Donnelley to Acquire North American Operations of Esselte, January 6, 2014
- ACCO Brands Form 10-K for 2025 (trademarks)
- ACCO Brands Form 10-K for 2012 (merger with Mead C&OP, May 1, 2012)
- 3M Form 10-K for 2025 (Post-it and Scotch brands)
- Acme United Form 10-K for 2025 (Westcott)
- Designphil (Japanese): 沿革 (company history)
- Mitsubishi Pencil (Japanese): C. Josef Lamy GmbHの持分の取得（連結子会社化）に関するお知らせ, February 29, 2024
- Mitsubishi Pencil (Japanese): 半期報告書, January–June 2024 (LAMY business combination note)
- LAMY: press releases (The Mitsubishi Pencil Company takes over LAMY, February 28, 2024)
- PLUS Corporation (Japanese): プラスグループのステーショナリー事業の段階的統合及び連結子会社の商号変更に関するお知らせ, March 17, 2026
- PLUS Corporation (Japanese): 沿革・年代別トピックス (company history: Nippon Note 2019, Sailor and Pentel 2022)
- PLUS Corporation (Japanese): コクヨ株式会社保有のぺんてる株式会社株式の譲受に関するお知らせ, September 30, 2022
- Pentel (Japanese): 当社株主変更に関するお知らせ, September 30, 2022
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): 臨時報告書 on change of parent company, filed May 30, 2022 (EDINET)
- Pilot Corporation (Japanese): 沿革 (founded 1918)
- KOKUYO (Japanese): 会社概要 (founded October 1905; TSE Prime)
- D'Ieteren and Moleskine: agreement to acquire a 41% stake, September 22, 2016 (Borsa Italiana filing)
- DM Invest (D'Ieteren): notice on completion of the 41% acquisition, October 6, 2016
- DM Invest (D'Ieteren): provisional results of the Moleskine tender offer, December 2, 2016
- Richemont: Montblanc maison page and Richemont history
- Tsukineko (Japanese): official site (StazOn, VersaFine, VersaMagic, Memento)
- Chartpak: Koh-I-Noor brand history (1999 acquisition of Koh-I-Noor North America)
- CCL Industries: Avery
- Fedrigoni: history (Fabriano acquired April 2002)
- Sylvamo: Our Brands (Hammermill, HP Papers)