H.J. Baker & Bro. LLC, Shelton, Conn., acquired Oxbow Sulphur and its international affiliates effective June 21, 2019. H.J. Baker will take ownership of operations facilities in Canada and the U.K., and will maintain Oxbow Sulphur sales offices in the U.S., Canada, Kazakhstan, China, Singapore, and the Netherlands.
H.J. Baker said Oxbow Sulphur is the largest independent marketer of sulfur and sulfur-based products in the world. It owns and operates a wide array of assets and provides a variety of services to oil refineries and natural gas producers, as well as customers producing fertilizer and mining precious metals using sulfuric acid in the production of steel, paper, sugar, and gasoline around the globe. It delivers molten, bulk solid, and bagged sulfur, as well as sulfuric acid and a variety of fertilizer products.
“The combination of Oxbow Sulphur and H.J. Baker will expand our total reach in the expanding global sulfur market,” said H.J. Baker CEO Christopher Smith. “The team and products from Oxbow Sulphur are complementary to our company, and through the combined entity, give us the opportunity to increase the value delivered to our customers.”
“Oxbow Sulphur is thrilled to be joining the H.J. Baker organization,” said Mark Whittemore, Oxbow Sulphur President. “We believe that, together, we have a great opportunity to increase product offerings, service levels, and fuel future growth.”
Additional details regarding the terms of the acquisition were not announced. de Visscher & Co. LLC, New Canaan, Conn., acted as exclusive financial advisor to H.J. Baker on the transaction, while Seale & Associates Inc., Arlington, Va., served as financial advisor to Oxbow.
Oxbow Sulphur was owned by William (Bill) Koch’s Oxbow Carbon LLC, West Palm Beach, Fla., which acquired it along with fertilizer assets from International Commodities Export Corp. (ICEC) in 2011 (GM Feb. 7, 2011; Nov. 29, 2010). At the time, ICEC said it managed 6-7 million mt of sulfur, sulfuric acid, and fertilizer. Oxbow Carbon sold its Oxbow Fertilizer LLC unit’s U.S. fertilizer assets to Oakley Fertilizer Inc., North Little Rock, Ark., in late 2017 (GM Nov. 3, 2017).
Bill Koch was recently in danger of being required to sell all of his Oxbow Carbon assets in a hotly contested lawsuit with major investors. However, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in his favor earlier this year (GM Feb. 8, p. 24), saying he did not have to sell the company. According to the Oxbow website, the company is still involved in activated carbon and coal, as well as metallurgical and petroleum coke.