HollyFrontier Corp. (Dallas, Tex.; www.hollyfrontier.com) announced that its subsidiaries have completed the previously announced acquisition of Sonneborn US Holdings Inc. and Sonneborn Coӧperatief U.A. (collectively Sonneborn) for $655 million, including working capital with an estimated value of $72 million. HollyFrontier anticipates the acquisition will be immediately accretive to HollyFrontier’s earnings per share, cash flow and EBITDA margins.
For more than 100 years, Sonneborn has offered specialty products as one of the world’s largest dedicated suppliers of white oils, petrolatums and waxes. Many of the largest personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food processing companies use Sonneborn’s products. With manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe, Sonneborn is a leading specialty hydrocarbon producer that offers a global reach combined with expertise and depth of experience.
With the addition of Sonneborn, HollyFrontier becomes a leading global supplier of specialty products. Sonneborn’s strong brand recognition and diversified portfolio of products complements HollyFrontier’s existing business. This acquisition advances HollyFrontier’s downward integration strategy into specialty products and significantly grows the Rack Forward business segment. Sonneborn strengthens HollyFrontier’s global footprint by increasing processing and blending capabilities in North America and Europe and expanding the global sales organization and distribution network. HollyFrontier plans to review Sonneborn’s manufacturing capabilities and upgrade and expand where appropriate, having already identified a low-capital, high return project to expand the sulfonation line at the European facility as a likely opportunity.