In its first acquisition of 2019, Brenntag has signed an agreement to buy the lubricants division of US-based Reeder Distributors.

Financial terms of the deal, which does not include Reeder’s fuel and equipment divisions, were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2019.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Reeder distributes to automotive and various industrial and commercial customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Its lubricants business has annual sales of around $60 million.

“Brenntag North America intends to be an active market consolidator in selected regions in the lubricant distribution market,” said Markus Klaehn, CEO of Brenntag North America and member of Brenntag Group’s management board. “The acquisition of Reeder Distributors’ lubricants division is a bolt-on to our lubricants business platform and results in a geographical expansion in an adjacent market.”

Brenntag has been systematically strengthening its footprint in the global lubricants market with a string of acquisitions in recent years. In 2016, in particular in North America, the German-headquartered group spent nearly $37 million to buy NOCO’s lubricants business in the US northeast as well as investing $15.5 million to buy Oklahoma-based Mayes County Petroleum Products.

A year earlier, in November 2015, Brenntag signed agreements to buy J.A.M. Distributing Company and G.H. Berlin-Windward, both offering a range of lubricants throughout the Gulf Coast, Texas and northeast USA.