Socaz

The management buyout of Socaz opened the door to considerable growth opportunities. To seize these, the organization implemented a three-year investment program aimed at increasing production capacity. Although Socaz had virtually no spare capacity at the time of the buyout, capacity had increased by more than 50% by 2009. In addition to organic growth, Kroon-Oil successfully acquired two other oil producers. The first, Putoline Oil, was acquired in 2008. Putoline is a leading brand of motorcycle lubricants, first established in the 1970s. The second, VAT Oil, was acquired in January 2010 with the aim of strengthening Kroon-Oil's position in Eastern Europe. Click here to see an interview with Luc Niessen, CEO van Socaz, in which he discusses the acquisition of Putoline.


Socaz comprises two lubricant specialists. De Oliebron is a lubricant manufacturer, and primarily focuses on the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. In its capacity of problem solver, De Oliebron offers clients more than 16,000 different product-packaging combinations. In contrast, Kroon-Oil is a pure sales and marketing organization. Kroon-Oil branded lubricants are sold all over the world, from the Netherlands to Taiwan and Russia. We were approached by Cipelia - a leading French lubricant manufacturer and distributor - in early 2011 to discuss the possible disposal of Socaz. The company was sold to Cipelia in May 2011.

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