Heckmann buys Thermo as One Equity gains Sonneborn


A waste oil recycling company and a chemical firm have both been sold through venture capital-backed deals.

Thermo Fluids Inc (TFI) has been acquired by environmental solutions company, Heckmann Corp, with funding from Chicago-based private equity backers CIVS Partners in a chash and stock deal worth $245m.  TFI provide waste recycling solutions, specifically in the collecting and recycling used motor oil.

The acquistion will expand Heckmann's offering which, until the expansion, focused many on water solutions - including waste water - for the shale oil and gas industry.  TFI, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, will provide virgin and reprocessed oil activities to extend Heckmann's portfolio and could as as much as $115m to the company's bottom line over the next nine months.

Meanwhile, specialist chemical producer, Sonneborn Inc, has been bought by another private equity financier, One Equity Partners, worth some $400m. The deal, financed through equity and secured loans, also takes on $30m of debt from the current owners of six years, Sun Capital Partners Inc.

Sonneborn generated $407m of revenue last year from its white oils, wax and hydrocarbon chemical products from plants in the US, Latin America, Asia and Europe.