HIG Capital sells fuel oil converter to CIVC

HIG Capital has sold Thermo Fluids, a Phoenix, Arizona-based fuel reprocessor, to an investor group led by Chicago-based CIVC Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Thermo Fluids is the largest producer of commercial fuel oil from recovered used oil in the western United States. The used oil is collected by the company and reprocessed to produce usable fuel oil that is sold to industrial customers, primarily asphalt manufacturers and paper and pulp companies. The reprocessed fuel is a less expensive alternative to diesel fuel or natural gas.

The company collects the used oil from companies across a wide range of industries, including quick-lube and other automotive service companies, auto dealerships, mining operations and industrial companies. The company said such companies are often mandated by government regulations to safely dispose of used oil, and Thermo Fluids allows them to do that.

HIG acquired Thermo Fluids in 2001 in partnership with the company’s management team. Doug Berman, managing director of HIG, said that in the past five years, through a series of growth initiatives and acquisitions, the company has increased sales fives times and EBITDA eight times. “We are very proud of what the TFI management team has accomplished,” he said. “TFI has generated an outstanding return for investors.”