Quaker Houghton to Strengthen Portfolio and Capabilities with Acquisition of Norman Hay plc

Quaker Houghton (NYSE: KWR) has announced it has agreed to acquire the operating divisions of Norman Hay plc, a private UK company with a strong global presence that provides speciality chemicals, operating equipment, and services to industrial end markets. 

Norman Hay plc serves a number of parallel as well as complimentary industries including aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and power generation through four divisions:

• Ultraseal – a leading global provider of impregnation technology, including porosity sealants, and associated chemistry and equipment for die cast components;
• SIFCO ASC – a leading global provider of surface treatment solutions through selective electroplating, anodizing, chemical solutions and engineering solutions;
• Surface Technology – a speciality provider of surface treatment solutions including coatings, thermal sprays, plating and other ancillary services; and
• Norman Hay Engineering – a leading provider of design and engineering services that support surface treatment plants and equipment for the Ultraseal, SIFCO ASC and Surface Technology businesses as well as additional third party industrial engineering applications.

Quaker Houghton focuses on delivering value-added service to their customers, something which the Norman Hay engineering design and manufacturing capability will further strengthen by providing expertise and solutions which will improve customer’s production efficiency and reduce costs.  Norman Hay will also add impregnation chemicals and equipment, special coating and metal finishing businesses and process engineering capabilities to Quaker Houghton’s comprehensive global product portfolio. With the current trends toward light-weighting and portability, this acquisition will position Quaker Houghton for the future. This acquisition is expected to close in October 2019.

Michael F. Barry, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Quaker Houghton, said, “This acquisition represents an opportunity to add new technologies with good growth characteristics in attractive core market segments with high barriers to entry such as die casting, automotive OEM and aerospace. We also believe it provides a strategic opportunity to take advantage of external market trends such as the light-weighting of vehicles and 3D printing where we have the opportunity to leverage our global footprint and complementary geographic strengths. In addition, Norman Hay’s engineering expertise, which includes robotics applications, strengthens the existing equipment solutions platform inside Quaker Houghton and further positions the Company for Industry 4.0.”

Norman Hay plc was established in 1946 as a decorative electroplating business and has evolved into a global speciality chemicals sealant, surface coatings and engineering group. The company is headquartered at its modern, state of the art production facility in Coventry, England. The company has approximately 400 employees with production and R&D facilities across Europe and the United States.