Cipelia acquires Kroon-Oil and De Oliebron
12 May 2011
Utrecht – Cipelia SAS and Gilde Equity Management Benelux have announced the successful sale of Socaz Group to Cipelia. Socaz consists of two distinct operating companies, Kroon-Oil and De Oliebron. GEM Benelux acquired the company together with Luc Niessen – CEO of Socaz - from Royal Dutch Shell in 2006.Cipelia is a French privately held company that specializes in the production and sale of lubricants. The company is predominately active in France, and operates under various well-known brands like IGOL, UNIL OPAL, YACCO, and DURANT. Through the acquisition of Socaz, Cipelia is able to establish a leading position in the Benelux lubricants market. Furthermore, it regards Socaz as a stepping stone to the still fragmented German market.
Jeroen Nienhaus of GEM Benelux: “Socaz is a very successful transaction for GEM Benelux. Together with Luc Niessen we were able to create the most successful lubricants player in the Benelux. From the start of our investment we significantly expanded the company’s production facilities to support the very strong autonomous growth. Additionally we completed two acquisitions. In 2008 Socaz acquired Putoline, the leading brand in motorcycle lubricants. In 2010 the acquisition of VAT Oil was completed providing entrance to the fast growing East European markets. We view Socaz as a perfect fit for Cipelia and we are proud that we can hand over the shareholdership of Socaz to this blue chip French company. We wish Cipelia every success with Socaz.”
Financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed.
About Socaz
Socaz Group is a 100 years old Dutch lubricant manufacturing company internationally operating through its subsidiaries De Oliebron and Kroon-Oil, and is one of the larger international independent Dutch lubricating oil companies. The company operates a fully integrated business model through its private label/toll lubricants manufacturing company de Oliebron and branded-lubricants sales and marketing company Kroon-Oil. De Oliebron has a total of almost 700 active lube oil formulations in its systems and over 18,000 grade-pack combinations. Socaz has especially strong presence in semi and full synthetic lubricants, the growth segment of the market.
About Gilde Equity Management Benelux
Gilde Equity Management Benelux is a renowned private equity investor, focused on realizing midmarket management buy-outs in the Benelux region, with EUR 500 million of assets under management. Examples of investments include Hamal Signature, the leading Belgian salad producer and marketer, owning strong brand names like Delio, Johma and Hamal; Dunlop Protective Footwear, the European market leader in protective footwear operating under the Dunlop brand; HG International, a branded supplier of specialist cleaning products in Belgium, The Netherlands and the UK and NSPYRE, a strong growing Dutch market leader in the secondment of technical automation professionals.
