【简讯】意大利化工集团Italmatch Chemicals Group将在5月底完成对雅富顿化工 Afton Chemical金属加工液业务的收购。

据报道，收购资产为雅富顿在美国弗吉尼亚亚里士满公司所有金属及工业相关业务及资产。包含伊利诺伊州贝德福德和英国曼彻斯特工厂的经营权；以及在印度海德拉巴和中国境内的技术中心和工厂。雅富顿继续管理印度和中国的工厂以保证产品供应的可靠性。

此次收购为Italmatch今年进行的第二次收购，也是该公司自2017年来完成的第五次收购。目的为进一步巩固了其在工业润滑油及金属加工液业务的地位。

Italmatch Chemicals Group is set to acquire Afton Chemical’s metalworking fluid business, strengthening the Italian company’s position in the industrial lubricants market, the companies announced Friday. The deal is expected to close by May 30.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The deal encompasses all of the Richmond, Virginia_based company’s metalworking fluids_related businesses and assets. This includes operations plants in Bedford Park, Illinois, and Manchester, United Kingdom; the company’s research and development sites in India and China; and capacity in Hyderabad and throughout China, according to the press release. The plants in India and China, however, will be retained by Afton to insure security of supply.

“This transaction further strengthens Italmatch Chemicals Group’s position in the industrial lubricants and metalworking fluids business, integrating the current production range with a series of fluid additives for high_performance metal processing thanks to the application of advanced technology,” said Silvia Lingiardi, Italmatch’s corporate communication specialist, in an interview.

Italmatch has not yet decided if there will be any changes to the Afton metalworking fluids brand, but emphasized that customers will gain access to a broader range of industrial lubricants through this deal. “The integration process will be mainly based on employment continuity,” Lingiardi added.

The companies declined to comment on how the acquisition came about. One industry expert speculates the move may be an attempt to achieve a more profitable company, should the owners of Italmatch decide to sell.

“Italmatch s owners are considering whether to put the business up for sale, so I assume that the acquisition from Afton is an attempt to achieve a bigger scale, and maybe profitability,” R. David Whitby, chief executive for British consulting firm Pathmaster Marketing Ltd., told Lube Report. “The sale also allows Afton to focus on its core automotive and industrial lubricants additives units,” he added.

Whitby believes that when Afton acquired its metalworking fluid business from Polartech, it didn’t fit well with the company, making this sale an unsurprising move. “The metalworking fluids part of the lubricants business is fundamentally different to other segments of the automotive and industrial lubricants businesses,” Whitby said.

He asserts that Afton’s metalworking fluid unit meshes better with Italmatch, because the company is already an established metalworking fluid additive and other lubricant additives supplier.

“This agreement strategically follows the recent acquisition of Elco Corp. in the USA, still in industrial lubricants business, allowing an important development of our current production range through the introduction of new and advanced technologies mainly dedicated to water[based] metalworking fluids and permitting to count on new sites in the United States of America, in Europe and India,” said Sergio Iorio, the CEO of Italmatch, in the press release.

This is Italmatch’s second acquisition this year, and its fifth acquisition since 2017. Early last month, the company acquired Chinese antiscalant phosphonate component business Jiayou Chemical from Ecolab Inc., adding a plant specializing in phosphonates to its portfolio.

In December, Italmatch acquired Elco, a Cleveland, Ohio_based company that focuses on the production of high performance lubricant additives for industrial applications, and hydrochloric acid. Elco now acts as a U.S. subsidiary of Italmatch.

Using its Brazil subsidiary, Italmatch Do Brasil Partipacoes, the company acquired Brazilian distributor Sudamfos de Brasil in October 2017. The distributor specialized in phosphonates, phosphates and other specialty chemical products.

Finally, in an effort to expand its production range for the industrial water and process treatment markets, Italmatch acquired Magpie Polymers in July of last year. The French startup developed and patented selective filtration to recover precious metals.

Italmatch is a global specialty chemicals company focused on the production and marketing of industrial lubricants, performance additives for water and process treatment, oil and gas, and plastics. Afton Chemical is a global lubricant and fuel additives company.