Kluber Lubrication Munchen KG announced Thursday that it has acquired another German company, specialty lube manufacturer OKS Spezialschmierstoffe GmbH. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.
Munich-based Kluber, a subsidiary of the Freudenberg Group, said OKS will maintain an independent presence in the market under its current management.
Thoroughly new and highly interesting perspectives are offered by OKS’ eminent position in the Indian market, President Hanno D. Wentzler said, referring to the fact that an OKS joint venture is the largest specialty lubricant supplier in the subcontinent. It is our goal to continue the growth strategies of both companies, thus increasing the global market share. This will enable the two companies to cover a wider market segment and combine their know-how to offer the customer comprehensive tribological solutions.
OKS posted sales of Euro 9.1 million (U.S. $10.2 million) in 2002 and has 45 employees. It serves the industrial maintenance market, supplying 120 specialty products – such as high-temperature bearing greases, chainsaw oils, assembly pastes and bonded coatings for metalworking applications. It reaches customers through lube distributors.
Kluber, on the other hand, markets directly, selling more than 2,000 specialty products to the industrial segment. It employs 1,500 people and had sales of Euro 260 million last year, 79 percent outside of Germany.
Officials at OKS, which is also based in Munich, said Kluber affords an avenue for international expansion.
This will strengthen the force of OKS, Marketing and Sales Manager Dieter Kaltenhauser said. Our strongest distribution is in Germany. Now we will have a network to reach other markets.