Volume 7 Issue 18

Spanjaard: Color Me Purple

Purple Capital Ltd. has acquired a 30 percent equity stake valued at 6.35 million rand (U.S. $901,000), in Spanjaard, a fellow South African company that manufactures and distributes specialized lubricants and allied chemical products for industrial, marine, mining, consumer and automotive applications, both in Southern Africa as well as internationally. According to a joint announcement issued by the two Johannesburg-based companies, Spanjaard will use the cash received to fund future acquisiti...

Aftermarket Supplier Absorbs Hi-Tach Oil

Specialty automotive aftermarket supplier Industrial Enterprises of America Inc. last week purchased Hi-Tach Oil Co. Inc. for $350,000 in a combination of cash and promissory notes. Hi-Tach, formed in 1979 and based in Kannapolis, N.C., markets lubricants and a line of oil and fuel additives. As part of the purchase agreement, Industrial Enterprises acquired all of Hi-Tachs inventory, purchase orders, marketing materials, formulas and copyrights. David Zazoff, director of corporate communication...

GM Pops Hood to Showcase Dexron-VI Licensees

General Motors has begun publishing a list of approved sources at its Web site for its Dexron-VI automatic transmission fluid, in an effort to make it easier for prospective customers to know which companies are official licensees. GM introduced the trademarked Dexron-VI automatic transmission fluid in April 2005, calling it a significant upgrade over the previous spec, Dexron-III(H). The company ceased issuing Dexron-III(H) licenses at the end of 2005, meaning all such licenses expired at the e...

Ford Unveils New Transmission Fluid

Ford Motor Co. last week gave the lubricants industry its first look at a new automatic transmission fluid specification. Mercon LV is intended to be a fill-for-life fluid for the automaker’s emerging transmission technologies, explained Ford Mercon Committee Chairman Chintan Ved. The automaker also has streamlined its Mercon V licensing program in ways that will greatly cut costs for transmission fluid branders and re-branders. Ved unveiled the new trademarked fluid and described the lice...