Terms were not disclosed. Heritage expects the acquisition to add used oil collection volume of about 3.5 million gallons per year, primarily in Michigan. Heritage anticipates the acquisition will add 20 employees.

We expect this acquisition to add approximately $6 [million] to $7 million of annual revenue, based on current market prices and historical performance, Heritage President and CEO Joseph Chalhoub stated. Furthermore, once our rerefinery is complete, we plan to upgrade the value of the collected used oil by converting it to lube base stock.

Crystal Flash is a lot like most used oil collectors in that theyre picking up used lubricating oils primarily from vehicle and automotive sources, but theyll also pick up industrial oils, Greg Ray, Heritage-Crystal Cleans chief financial officer and vice president of business management, told Lube Report.

In the Michigan market, where Crystal Flash was operating, we really didnt have any significant used oil collection, Ray pointed out. We had other services but we werent doing used oil [collection] in that area. So this allowed us to expand our used oil capability into that market quite simply and quickly. It also allows us the ability to cross-sell from our existing service base to their oil capabilities, and vice versa.

According to Ray, the companys rerefinery project remains on schedule with base oil production expected to begin soon, sometime near the end of 2011. That doesnt mean before the end of the year, it means near the end – it could be December, it could be January, he said. In the meantime we continue to operate the front end of the plant – the distillation portion – which is making material we sell as vacuum gas oil, and that continues to work well. Were operating on a regular basis doing that.

Elgin, Ill.-based Heritage-Crystal Clean, which provides parts cleaning and waste services, has in the past sold the used oil it collects as fuel to electric utilities and asphalt plants although that is changing because of the rerefinery project. Our primary use for the used oil we collect will be as feed stock to our rerefinery, Ray noted. To the extent that we have more than we require for this purpose, the surplus will continue to be sold to the traditional burners such as asphalt plants. However, in the near term, I expect we wont have such a surplus.

It serves more than 41,000 customers through a network of 67 branches. Its management team includes former Safety-Kleen executives and engineers with experience in designing and building rerefineries.

Crystal Flash Ltd. Partnership of Michigan, operating as Crystal Flash Energy, will continue to operate its fuel distribution business, primarily within Michigan, servicing more than 30,000 customers with a fleet of 125 trucks.