Pennsylvania-headquartered Quaker Chemical Corp. combined with Houghton International in a $1.6 billion deal that created Quaker Houghton (NYSE: KWR), a global leader in industrial process fluids to the primary metals and metalworking markets. A cross-practice group of professionals from our firm’s M&A, securities, antitrust, business tax, corporate finance, employee benefits, environmental and intellectual property practice groups represented Quaker Chemical in the transaction.
The deal was financed with approximately $170.8 million in cash, the issuance of approximately 4.3 million shares of Quaker common stock to the selling shareholders (including Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group and other former owners of Houghton International, comprising 24.5% of the stock of the combined company) and the refinancing of approximately $660 million of Houghton’s net indebtedness. After securing conditional regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Houghton sold its product lines in Europe and North America to French multinational oil company Total S.A. for $50 million.
Quaker Houghton employs 4,000 associates and serves 15,000 customers worldwide. The company’s product and service offerings can be found in end markets such as aerospace, aluminum, automotive, machinery, can manufacturing, industrial parts manufacturing, mining, offshore, steel, and tube and pipe industries.
