Fuchs Petrolub SE agreed last week to buy a majority stake in a Chilean lubricant distributorship, forming a joint venture that aims to expand its sales in the South American country.
The distribution business was part of Commercial Pacific Ltda., which is headquartered in Santiago and which supplies industrial components, such as conveyors and conveyor belts, along with engineering services such as design of processing lines. Commercial Pacific has also been a long-standing distributor of Fuchs lubricants.
That business is now a joint venture named Fuchs Lubricants SpA. Fuchs, which is based in Mannheim, Germany, owns 65 percent, and Commercial Pacific retains the other 35 percent.
Fuchs said the deal provided a simple means of establishing a business in Chile.
The acquisition focuses in particular on the customer base and workforce, the company stated in its press release. It added that the lubes business employs 13 and focuses on sales to the mining, food processing, paper and cellulose industries.
Fuchs already has subsidiaries in several other South American countries, including lube manufacturing units in Brazil and Argentina. The German company is the worlds largest independent lubricant manufacturer.