Page 25 - Fuels & Lubes International Q2 2013

3-to-1 debt-equity structure, for which US$785
million of loans were secured on Houghton’s
balance sheet at a 6.5 to 6.6% interest rate.
For the remaining US$260 million, Gulf oil
International—the parent company of the
U.K. subsidiary—has given a commitment to
make that sum available. RBC Capital Markets
advised Gulf oil on the deal, while Deutsche
Bank and Morgan Stanley advised AEA
Investors.
Management of the debt at Houghton
has been a key factor for potential investors,
analysts say. Standard & Poor’s analyst Seamus
Ryan gave positive ratings to the company’s
debt after the deal, and described the outlook
as “stable.” Ryan is based in the greater Boston
area.
While results are not available for
Houghton, which has always been privately
held, Ryan describes the lubes maker as
“profitable” and says its margins are “healthy.”
In fact, the acquired company is nearly four
times as big as Gulf oil in revenues, with
US$858 million in turnover and six times bigger
in terms of earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)—the
company’s EBITDA margins are 15%. Turnover
at Gulf oil International last year was US$201
million.
Houghton operates in the industrial sector
of the lubricants business, with a 12% share of
the global market, while Gulf is concentrated in
the automotive sector.
The one thing that the merger has clearly
achieved for Houghton is the more stable
management of its debt. Analysts were sceptical
about other possible synergies. “Buying base oil
together for the two companies won’t have an
appreciable effect on margins,” Morvey says.
“We think the investment is a superb
one for the Hinduja Group, but that there’s no
real advantage for Gulf oil in the deal,” says
Speding. The Hinduja Group is a conglomerate
with highly varied holdings, from power plants
to truck makers to banking. With operations
in 38 countries, it is controlled by brothers
Gopichand and Srichand, now among the
richest people in the world—number 136 on the
Forbes magazine billionaires’ list.
“The outlook for Houghton International,
by itself, is positive,” Morvey says. “The
company should be able to maintain its margins
and to improve profits somewhat in the coming
year.”
Frank Rutten, international vice president
for Gulf oil International, had stated in
the original announcement that Gulf and
Houghton together would offer “a complete
end-to-end range of lubricants.”
But, when interviewed, he explained that
the two would not really be working “together.”
“The strategy for Gulf and Houghton
is that they will stay the same and will be
managed and run as two separate companies.
However, we will be looking at synergies that do
not affect the customer offering. In particular
synergies that relate to procurement will be
pursued with vigor,” Rutten says.
Rutten points out that Gulf and Houghton
together in terms of volume metric is now
以Houghton的资产负债表担保7.85亿美元的贷
款，利率为6.5-6.6%。剩下的2.6亿美元由Gulf Oil
International，该英国子公司的母公司承诺提供。
在此项交易中，RBC Capital Markets为海湾石油
提供了咨询，德意志银行和摩根斯坦利则为AEA
Investors提供了咨询。
管理Houghton的债务是潜在投资关心的重
点。分析师如是说。标普分析师Seamus Ryan在交
易后为公司的债务做出了积极的评级，为“稳定”
。Ryan常驻在大波斯顿地区。
此项交易的结果尚不得而知，通常也不会披
露，Ryan将该滑润油生产商称为“盈利的”，并说其
盈利水平“健康”。事实上，被收购的公司与海湾石
油相比，其收入水平为8.58亿美元，是后者的四倍；
其息税折旧摊销并收益（EBITDA）比后者大6倍，公
司的EBITDA毛利率为15%。海湾石油去年的营收为
2.01亿美元。
Houghton的业务主要在工业润滑油领域，占全
球市场12%的份额，而海湾石油则侧重在汽车市场。
对Houghton来说，合并的明显好处是其债
务得以更稳定的管理。分析师对其他好处持怀疑态
度。“对两家公司来说，买基础油方面的协同效能对
毛利水平不会有显著的影响。” Morvey说。
“我们认为该投资对Hinduja集团非常好，
但对海湾石油来说，从交易中并不能得到实际的好
处。” Speding说。Hinduja集团是一家大型联合
集团，拥有多种资产，从发电厂到卡车制造商，到
银行。集团在38个国家有业务，由Gopichand 和
Srichand两兄弟控制，他们是世界上的顶级富翁，在
福布斯杂志的富豪榜上名列136。
“就Houghton International自身来说，前景
看好，” Morvey说。“公司应该可以保持其毛利水
平，在来年提高利润。”
Gulf Oil International负责国际业务的副总
裁Frank Rutten在原先的宣布信息中说，Gulf 和
Houghton一起将提供“端到端完整的润滑油产品”。
但在采访中，他解释说两家公司并没有真正地“
合作”。
“Gulf 和 Houghton的战略是他们各自维持
现状，以两家不同的公司进行管理和运营。但是，在
不影响客户的情况下，我们会寻找协同效能，特别是
在采购方面。” Rutten说。
Rutten 指出，Gulf 与 Houghton相加，其
量是世界上第九大的润滑油公司，但“在不同地区
市场份额差异很大。”事实上，Houghton大部分
的业务在美国和欧洲，而海湾石油则集中在亚洲
和中东。但Rutten坚持认为两家公司将很好地整
合。“Houghton 和 Gulf致力于加速增长，包括内
涵式的增长和通过并购方式。因此我们在文化上高
度吻合。”
此外，按Rutten的说法，市场条件有利于新的
Gulf-Houghton联合体。“如我们在过去十年中所
见，其他主要润滑油品牌在不断地撤出下游市场，聚
焦于其上游业务，在其所提供的产品和服务方面更
为固定。这给海湾石油提供了很好的品牌成长机会，
也为公司发展其市场地位留出了空间。”
分析师们同意Houghton具有良好的市场地位
和积极的未来。标普的Seamus Ryan说，“公司领
先的市场份额，其产品的必要性，有利的地理位置多
元化和客户多元化使之在市场上处于有利地位。稳
定的未来反映了我们的期望，即，虽然需求略弱，但
Houghton将继续保持盈利，并产生足够的现金流
用于偿债。”
The strategy for Gulf and
Houghton is that they will stay
the same andwill bemanaged
and run as two separate
companies. However, we will
be looking at synergies that
do not affect the customer
offering.
25 FUELS & LUBES INTERNATIONAL Quarter Two 2013