For a decade, officials at Quaker Chemical Corp. had a chance to observe Binol AB, which served as a Quaker distributor for industrial lubricants. Apparently Quaker liked what it saw, because it bought the Swedish biolubricants producer Monday for SEK 137 million (U.S. $18.9 million).
Binol, headquartered in Karlshamn, Sweden, makes and markets vegetable-based biolubes under its Binol and BioSafe brands for two segments: metalworking along with forestry and construction. With a sales office in Raisio, Finland, Binols primary market is the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, although it has an international network of distributors as well. The company said its annual net sales are approximately SEK 100 million.
Quaker Chemical, a Conshohocken, Pa.-based supplier of process fluids and chemical specialties, acquired Binol from AAK, a Swedish vegetable oil and fats firm. Binol was an independent entity of AAK, and shared no mutual customers with AAKs other segments, according to the companys Nov. 3 press release.
The companies have been partners for a decade, with Binol serving as Quaker Chemicals exclusive distributor of water-miscible metalworking, sawmill and forestry and construction industrial oils since 2004, Quaker said in a Nov. 3 press release.
Binol has shown great development over the years, AAK official Renald Mackintosh said. However, in order to further strengthen and expand the business and bring it to the next level, we believe that it needs to grow in a more suitable environment. We are certain that Quaker Chemical will provide that environment.
Quaker believes this is an attractive opportunity to acquire a platform in a market supported by strong underlying fundamentals… with
… neat oils for metalworking applications and biodegradable hydraulic oils, said Michael F. Barry, chairman, CEO and president of Quaker Chemical.Binol, and its 19 employees, keeps its Karlshamn headquarters, production facility and research center and will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quaker, effective Nov. 3.