Lubrizol Corp. said last week that it has sold Lubrizol Performance Systems to Dutch holding company Delft Instruments B.V. for an undisclosed amount. The unit, a supplier of blending and metering equipment, is the first of several non-core assets that Lubrizol plans to divest.
The companies described Lubrizol Performance Systems as a leading producer and supplier of custom-engineered, explosion-proof precision blending and additive metering equipment for the petroleum industry. It has offices and factories in Roswell, Ga., and Fareham, U.K., and has annual sales of $20 million.
Delft, which is based in Delftechpark, Netherlands, owns a group of companies that develop and supply precision hardware and software for industrial and medical customers. Industrial applications include control and management of the storage and transport of oil and gas products. It reported sales of 262 million (U.S. $316 million) in 2004.
Delft renamed the unit Enraf Fluid Technology and made it part of its Enraf Terminal Automation business. Delft said it made the acquisition to extend its presence in the on-shore segment of the oil and gas industry. Lubrizol said Delft plans to retain the business units 77 employees.
Lubrizol, which is based in Wickliffe, Ohio, said in July that it planned to divest Performance Systems and four other units – the foam control business that Lubrizol owned before its 2004 acquisition of Noveon International; its emissions control business; and Noveons Food Ingredients and Industrial Specialties operations. A spokesman said Monday that the company has no update on its efforts to sell the other units.