St. Louis-based lubricants blender Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. acquired the lubricants business of Hicks Oils & Hicksgas Inc., in southern Illinois, citing the appeal of Hicks’ experienced employees and having another plant in a second city. The cost was not disclosed.
Schaeffer produces and sells a broad range of synthetic motor oils, industrial lubricants, hydraulic fluids and other related products. Based in Du Quoin, Illinois, Hicks Oils is an independent lubricant blending and packaging business that produces automotive and industrial lubricants.
Jim Carroll, executive vice president of strategic expansion and product technology for Schaeffer, noted it has steadily grown over the last 25 years, and that expansion is essential for the company.
“Having a plant located in another city ensures we can avoid production disruptions, and buying a plant already fitted for lubricant manufacturing gives us an immediate boost to the number of pounds we can produce,” Caroll said a press release.
The Hicks Oil Du Quoin plant and associates will continue operating as before, he said, with Schaeffer supporting its customer base. “We’re ready to serve those customers who have depended on Hicks Oils, and we welcome them to Schaeffer,” Carroll said. He added that Schaeffer will retain all staff working at the Du Quoin plant.
“I believe the strategic and cultural fit of the two companies will provide significant growth opportunities, as well as a great work environment for Hicks’ employees,” Hicks President Shawn Coady said in a press release.
Founded in 1839, Schaeffer Manufacturing is a sixth-generation, family-owned company. Its engine oils, greases, hydraulic fluids, gear lubes and other specialty lubricants are manufactured in the United States under the brand name Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants.
Investment bank Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. advised Hicks on the sale. In its press release, Matrix noted that Hicks Oils was formed in 1978 by C.W. Hicks as a further expansion of his integrated petroleum operations, initially with the goal of providing products and services to the local coal mining industry. After C.W. Hicks’ passing in 1989, his grandsons Todd and Shawn Coady joined the company and took over running the lubricants business and the family’s multiple other companies.
Shawn Coady serves as president of the business and Todd as vice president. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s as markets changed, the business evolved and expanded to include contract packaging, private label and company-branded products. Hicks Oils now blends and packages motor oil, hydraulic fluid, gear lubes, transmission fluids and various specialty lubricants for distributors, major oil companies, original equipment manufacturers and after-market providers.