Hubertus Staerk, head of public relations for Fuchs, told Lube Report that Fuchs acquired Tribotcnicas specialty grease business at the end of April and Igucimas forging business in mid-February. The Tribotcnica acquisition involved 28 employees and the Igucima acquisition involved 18 employees, he said, all of whom are working for Fuchs in sales and technical areas.

Staerk explained that in each case Fuchs acquired a specific businessline of each company – including customers – not the entire company itself, and the two brand names will continue.

In both cases, for us as a lubricants specialist, these are very sensible additions to the product portfolio – to get the know-how of these specialty areas and the customers of these specialty areas, he said. And it will help us to expand our specialty lubricants business in Brazil.

Founded in 1987, Igucima supplies process lubricants and conductive inks to metalworking, glass and electric-electronic industries. According to its Web site, Igucima’s lubricants, release agents and parting compound products support forging, casting, wire drawing, tube rolling, roll bond and aluminum smelting. Igucima lubricants and release agents use proprietary technology and are manufactured as water extendable graphite, oil- based graphite and water-based synthetics.

Activities where Tribotcnicas grease products see use in Brazil include metallurgy, machines and tools, the paper and cellulose industry, and the sugar and alcohol industry, according to the companys Web site.