Altivia Oxide Chemicals LLC acquired KMCO and its associated chemical ethoxylation manufacturing assets in Crosby, Texas, last week out of Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Products the facility can make include lubricant additives and surfactants.
KMCO, owned by private equity firm Org Chemical Holdings, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May. A fire occurred at the Crosby site on April 2, 2019, killing one worker and injuring two others. News reports at the time said the fire involved a tank holding isobutylene before spreading to a nearby warehouse. This year the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Texas Southern Bankruptcy Court on May 8. Companies filing for that that type of bankruptcy are considered past the stage of reorganization and must sell off all nonexempt assets to pay creditors.
According to a May 19 bankruptcy court document, Altivia paid $25,000 for KMCO’s assets plus an estimated $623,000 in property taxes for 2019 and assumes property taxes for 2020.
Altivia said it plans a $25 million process safety and control systems upgrade to the facilities and will start production in two new oxide reactors by the end of this year. “We have completed a detailed evaluation of these assets and are looking forward to starting production by year end,” Altivia CEO J. Michael Jusbasche said in a June 1 news release.
According to Altivia, the facilities – located on 160 acres near Houston – include 31 reaction and distillation trains with capacity for ethylene and propylene oxide reactions as well as a broad range of organic reactions, including polymerization, neutralization, and condensation. Products include surfactants, lubricant additives, fuel additives, and a variety of ethoxylation and propoxylation based intermediates. Its products service the coatings, automotive, fuels and lubricants, and surfactant industries.
KMCO was owned by Org Chemical Holdings, a private equity form. According to KMCO’s company brochure, it had specialty chemical manufacturing and tolling facilities in Crosby, and Port Arthur, Texas. The company provided specialty chemical manufacturing and toll processing services to many large chemical companies.
Its main facility has batch and continuous distillation and multiple reaction capabilities producing over 900 million pounds per year of toll manufacturing products, according to the brochure.
“All 30+ reactor trains and distillation systems will return to operations,” Jusbache told Lube Report. “AOC will have the capability to produce all the products that KMCO supplied to the market and to toll customers.”
He said Altivia will work with all former customers of this facility. “We understand the traumatic suspension of supply and the impact this had on customers,” Jusbache said. “We plan to accommodate the needs of previous customers as a priority.”
According to its website, KMCO produced several glycol products, including monoethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol and tetraethylene glycol. It also manufactured a variety of brake fluid products and oilfield products. Other products cited included antifreeze and cement grinding products. Altivia has four businesses in the petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, ketones and additives, and chemicals segments. The Altivia Ketones and Additives business produces ketones and carbinols at its facilities in Institute, West, Virginia. Acquired from Down Chemical Co. in 2019, the ketones and additive business services the coatings, industrial and automotive lubricant and adhesives industries.
“There is a great deal of commonality of lubricant and coatings customers for Altivia Ketones & Additives and Altivia Oxide Chemical,” Jusbasche said.