Calumet Specialty selling Anchor Drilling subsidiary for $84 million

Indianapolis-based Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP on Tuesday said it has reached an agreement to sell subsidiary Anchor Drilling Fluids USA LLC for about $84 million.

Calumet acquired Anchor in 2014 for about $235 million.

Q’Max America Inc., a unit of Houston-based drilling services company Q’Max Solutions Inc., agreed to pay $50 million in cash for Anchor Drilling, plus $15 million to be paid at various times over the next two years.

Calumet also will receive 10 percent equity ownership in Fluid Holding Corp, the parent company of Q'Max.

The company said it will use proceeds from the sale to pay down debt.

Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Anchor Drilling Fluids is the leading provider of drilling fluid products in the United States. It owns and operates more than 30 facilities across the country.

“Calumet's divestiture of Anchor Drilling Fluids is another step forward in our plans to strengthen our balance sheet and focus our resources on our core specialty products business,” Calumet CEO Tim Go said in written comments. “The merger of Q’Max and Anchor Drilling Fluids will create the largest independent drilling fluids company in the United States.”

Calumet produces fuel and specialty products, including oils, waxes, asphalt and solvents.

The company has been on a cost-cutting mission since posting a loss of $329 million in 2016. It recently sold a Wisconsin refinery for $492 million.

Calumet broke a string of seven straight money-losing quarters in this year's second quarter, but failed to report its third quarter results this month as expected, drawing a warning from the Nasdaq Stock Market for non-compliance with financial reporting rules

Calumet said Nov. 10 that it was “in the later stages of an enterprise resource planning system implementation,” which delayed the quarterly report.

Shares in Calumet slipped 10 cents Tuesday, to $8.20 each.