Continuing to build its defoamer business by acquisition, The Lubrizol Corp. announced last week that it has bought Kabo Unlimited Inc.
The acquisition of the Cheyenne, Wyo., chemical company comes just over a year after Lubrizols purchase of Ross Chem Inc. and makes Lubrizol one of the five largest defoamer producers in the United States.
Kabo was a privately held business with 33 employees and annual revenues of approximately $14 million. Ross Chem, of Fountain Inn, S.C., had 55 employees and annual revenues of $12 million. Before last year, Lubrizol had only a small defoamer business, the result of two earlier acquisitions. In 1998, it bought Becker Chemie, of Germany, and BetzDearborns operations in Brazil.
Kabo develops and manufactures antifoam and defoaming agents primarily for the food, fermentation, mining and wastewater industries, although a Lubrizol spokesman said the technology will also be used in Lubrizols lubricant additive business.
According to Lubrizol, Kabo will complement its existing operations both by giving it coverage in the Western United States and by adding to its list of product offerings.