Fuchs Petrolub SE announced the purchase of Welponer SpA, an Italian lubricant distributor with annual revenue of €4 million, the company’s fourth distributor acquisition in the past year.
Welponer, which is based in the northern city of Bolzano, had distributed Fuchs lubes as well as products of Bremer & Leguil. Fuchs, which is based in Mannheim, Germany, said the deal would allow it to consolidate sales channels and to expand its customer base in the Italian market.
The companies did not disclose the price of the transaction, which included Welponer’s customer base as well as its staff, thought to number less than 10.
The acquired activities have been folded into Fuchs’ subsidiary in Italy, Fuchs Lubrificanti S.P.A., which already had 100 employees and annual turnover of €75 million, according to a news release issued by Welponer.
Fuchs is the world’s largest independent lubricant manufacturer and has acquired numerous other lube producers the past two decades. Last year it agreed to acquire three lube distributors located in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Welponer was focused on supplying lubricants and tribological solutions for industries such as ceramics, concrete, power, food-processing, rail transportation and the manufacture of plastics and parts for the auto industry.