Lubrication Engineers, a portfolio company of Aurora Capital, has agreed to acquire the industrial brands and products of Royal Purple (RPI) from publicly traded Calumet for $110 million.
RPI’s industrial brands and products include synthetic lubricants, greases, and fluids. The company’s product line includes Royal Purple industrial gear lubricants, stationary natural gas engine oils, hydraulic lubricants, and compressor oils, as well as BioMax bio-environmental lubricants. For the full year ending December 31, 2024, Royal Purple’s industrial business had revenues of $29 million.
Privately held Royal Purple was founded in 1986 and was acquired by Calumet in July 2012 for $335 million. Post-closing, Lubrication Engineers will be the exclusive manufacturer and seller of Royal Purple-branded industrial products, while Calumet will retain ownership of its Porter, Texas manufacturing facility and the consumer portion of Royal Purple, including the brands High Performance Motor Oil, HPS, HMX, Max EZ, Max Gear, Max-Clean, XPR, and Duralec Super.
Lubrication Engineers is a manufacturer and distributor of industrial lubricants and greases that enhance and maintain equipment performance and longevity. The company’s product portfolio includes Almasol industrial lubricants, Monolec synthetic gear oils, and Pyroshield open gear lubricants, which are used in applications across manufacturing, power generation, petrochemicals, and heavy equipment industries.
Through its network of distributors and technical service representatives, the company’s products are sold to customers in more than 60 countries. Lubrication Engineers, led by CEO Eric Borland, was founded in 1951 and operates a 150,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas.
Calumet (NASDAQ: CLMT) manufactures, formulates, and markets a diversified slate of specialty branded products and renewable fuels to customers across a broad range of consumer-facing and industrial markets. Calumet, led by CEO Todd Borgmann, is headquartered in Indianapolis and operates twelve North America-based facilities.
“This transaction is a strategic fit across the board,” said Mr. Borgmann. “After executing upon a number of strategic catalysts over the past year, Calumet’s top priority is deleveraging our balance sheet, which this deal accelerates. The Royal Purple industrial team is joining a great company, and I want to thank all of those employees who have worked to make Royal Purple’s industrial business the success it is today.”
Aurora Capital acquired Lubrication Engineers in September 2023, and the acquisition of RPI is its first add-on acquisition under Aurora Capital ownership. “RPI is a terrific fit with LE’s core strategy of developing, manufacturing, and marketing ultra-premium, MRO-oriented, industrial lubricants and related asset reliability solutions,” said Randy Moser, a partner at Aurora Capital. “We appreciate Calumet’s impressive stewardship of the Royal Purple brand over the past decade, and we are excited to invest further behind LE and RPI’s joint product development, customer service, and manufacturing capabilities.”
Aurora Capital makes control investments of $50 million to $300 million in industrial, manufacturing, and service-oriented businesses valued between $100 million and $500 million. The firm focuses on sectors including industrial services and distribution, engineered products, and technology-enabled services. Aurora Capital was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Los Angeles.
Moelis & Company was the financial advisor to Calumet on this transaction.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
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