The parent company of Kluber Lubrication last week announced the purchase of a U.S. release agents manufacturer and said it will fold the business into a newly created specialty chemicals unit.
Freudenberg and Co., based in Weinheim, Germany, acquired Chem-Trend, which it described as the worlds leading manufacturer of special release agents for the molding of rubber, plastic and polyurethane and for the high-pressure die casting industry. Chem-Trend, of Howell, Mich., has a workforce of 410 and reported sales of Euro 100 million (U.S. $124 million) in 2003.
Freudenberg, a family-owned company with sales of Euro 4 billion, said Chem-Trend has become part of its Chemical Specialities Business Group, which also includes Kluber and OKS, a specialty lube supplier that Kluber acquired last year, and Summit Industrial Products, in Tyler, Texas.Freudenberg Chemical Specialities employs 2,000 and had sales of Euro 375 million last year, with Kluber accounting for three-fourths of the workforce and 72 percent of revenues.
Hanno Wentzler, president and chief executive officer of Kluber in Munich, holds the same position in the new unit.