Chagrin Falls, Ohio-headquartered Etna Products Inc., which develops and produces lubricants for non-ferrous metal drawing and stamping operations, acquired Solon, Ohio-based JTM Products’ metalworking fluids line as part of its ongoing growth plans. Terms were not disclosed.
Etna President Mike Washington said the JTM metalworking product line brings technology and a distribution network that represent core competencies that are a “great fit” with Etna’s manufacturing and research and development center. “We will continue to evaluate additional strategic acquisitions,” Washington added.
Etna has an aggressive growth strategy, and acquisition of JTM’s metalworking line is an important step in that process, Etna CEO Catharine Golden noted in a press release. “This is another step in our growth plan that includes a combination of organic growth and acquisitions,” Golden said. “We plan to break ground on phase two of our plant expansion this spring to accommodate future growth moves.”
Established in 1943, Etna manufactures and distributes a broad variety of metalworking lubricants, coolants, rust preventatives and cleaners for multiple operations used in various industries, including steel, aerospace, automotive, HVAC and refrigeration, medical and bearing.
JTM Products has manufactured industrial lubricants since its founding in 1890 as the Phoenix Oil Co., when it produced axle greases, belt dressing and lubricants. According to JTM’s website, the company introduced the first water-soluble cutting oil for machine tools in the early 1900s. In the 1940s, JTM Products introduced a line of tire-mounting lubricants and in the early 1960s pipe joint lubricants for potable and water sewer lines, and today also offers a variety of industrial soaps and specialty lubricants.
In the 1920s, the company developed Murphy Oil Soap, eventually selling that business to Colgate-Palmolive in 1991. Since then, JTM Products had concentrated on developing its line of industrial water-soluble lubricants.