Champ Labs files for Ch11 Bankruptcy 6-2-16

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waiting for Motorking to chime in
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The way I read it, the FORMER sister company of Champion Laboratories is UCI, and now primarily builds components like water pumps.

I think "Champion Laboratories" is what we know of as a filter manufacturer and is now a component of Fram Filtration.

I could be wrong, but I think the relationship between UCI and Champ Labs ended when the latter got involved with Fram.



Further reading makes it really murky about who owns whom. "UCI" is listed as a "sister corporation" of Champion Laboratories.

Champion Laboratories appears on the "Fram Filtration" corporate website as a component company- no mention of UCI there at all, UNTIL you drill down into the Champ Labs link where you find it mentioned as a sister company.

But dang, if you follow THAT link and go to "UCI-Fram autobrands," it appears that (at least in New Zealand) Fram is a component of UCI.

This is why I'm in engineering, not in the corporate (filled with [censored] like shuffling names around) world.
 
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Originally Posted By: Kira
Number of sources for product goes down-prices for effected product go up.


This is another reason the Wix-Purolator should not be approved, if it hasn't been approved yet. And Purolator better not degrade Wix, or they'll lose the long-standing Napa contract and will go bankrupt as well. And Wix just got the Walmart contract too!

Fram's quality has been going up lately. Their CQ filters are/were high quality at a great price (when using promo codes), and the Ultra is a huge bargain for a wire-backed synthetic! Granted the OCOD and Ecores suck, but they do make plenty of good stuff.

AAP made a big mistake by dropping Fram and switching to Purolator.

Hastings/Baldwin better step up.
 
makes sense why I can get a champ labs filter for my Equinox for 1.41

Champ's quality has been terrible for some time now.
 
Here is another article on the topic:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...-Future-Success

And here if you dig a little you can find some more info on the structure:
https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-d...look--PR_321893
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=137555924

So, if I understand you have one big holding company called Rank Group which is an international investing company. Within the Rank group you have other affiliates. One of these is Autoparts Holdings Ltd which owns Fram. The other is UCI Holdings Limited and its subsidiary UCI International which owns Champ.

Within these affiliates there are cost sharing and manufacturing arrangements.

Here is a pictoral arrangement of the holdings on Rank's page:
http://www.rankgroup.co.nz/

So it seems that UCI is restructuring/filing for Chapter 11. It doesn't have any affect on Fram for example as those are separate affiliates.
 
Boys, Here is the scoop. FRAM and Champion are no longer married for lack of a better term.
Champion Labs is part of UCI Inc, that includes Airtex, ASC water pumps and formerly, Wells Vehicle Electronics. FRAM, Autolite and Prestone are part of a company called auto parts holdings (Prestone has since been sold). UCI Fram no longer exists. FRAM and Autolite are very healthy and will operate alone. FRAM and Champ will continue to have a cooperative agreement to supply each other as needed. I am staying with FRAM and Autolite as Technical Director.
 
And since it's a Chapter 11 filing, they are just seeking temporary relief from their debtors in order to have time to reorganize and restructure operations and debt load. They will continue to operate as a going concern into the future.

Expect some significant cost cutting to happen, and many of their vendors to take a haircut on what they are owed by Champ. BTDT.
 
Originally Posted By: Motorking
Boys, Here is the scoop. FRAM and Champion are no longer married for lack of a better term.
Champion Labs is part of UCI Inc, that includes Airtex, ASC water pumps and formerly, Wells Vehicle Electronics. FRAM, Autolite and Prestone are part of a company called auto parts holdings (Prestone has since been sold). UCI Fram no longer exists. FRAM and Autolite are very healthy and will operate alone. FRAM and Champ will continue to have a cooperative agreement to supply each other as needed. I am staying with FRAM and Autolite as Technical Director.


Thanks for the inside info.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
...

AAP made a big mistake by dropping Fram and switching to Purolator. ...


I agree that it was a mistake for AAP to drop the FRAM Ultra filters. It shocked me when I first found out they were no longer selling them.
 
So from a practical view point, what impact does this have on the quick oil change industry and certain respected lines like Mobil One, Royal Purple, Carquest, STP and ACDelco?
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The way I read it, the FORMER sister company of Champion Laboratories is UCI, and now primarily builds components like water pumps.

I think "Champion Laboratories" is what we know of as a filter manufacturer and is now a component of Fram Filtration.

I could be wrong, but I think the relationship between UCI and Champ Labs ended when the latter got involved with Fram.



Further reading makes it really murky about who owns whom. "UCI" is listed as a "sister corporation" of Champion Laboratories.

Champion Laboratories appears on the "Fram Filtration" corporate website as a component company- no mention of UCI there at all, UNTIL you drill down into the Champ Labs link where you find it mentioned as a sister company.

But dang, if you follow THAT link and go to "UCI-Fram autobrands," it appears that (at least in New Zealand) Fram is a component of UCI.

This is why I'm in engineering, not in the corporate (filled with [censored] like shuffling names around) world.





Originally it was UIS (United Industrial Syndicate) a private holding company that bought poorly performing companies and turned them around....and it worked, they let each company operate their own affairs......then the Owner died. Children did not want to continue the company, so they sold off the companies to the UCI ...

Quote:
On June 20, 2003, we purchased the vehicle parts businesses of UIS, consisting of all of the issued and
outstanding common stock or other equity interests of Champion Laboratories, Inc., Wells Manufacturing
Corporation, Neapco Inc., Pioneer, Inc., Wells Manufacturing Canada Limited, UIS Industries Ltd. (which
is the owner of 100% of the capital stock of Flexible Lamps, Ltd. and Airtex Products Ltd.), Airtex Products
S.A., Airtex Products, Inc., (currently Airtex Mfg., Inc.), Talleres Mecanicos Montserrat S.A. de C.V.,
Brummer Seal de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., Brummer Mexicana en Puebla, S. A. de C.V., Automotive
Accessory Co. Ltd and Airtex Products, LLC, predecessors to the entities that now own the assets of the
Airtex business. We refer to this transaction as the ""Acquisition.''
The purchase price paid was $808 million, plus transaction fees. The Acquisition was Ñnanced through a
combination of debt and $260 million in cash contributed to us as equity by our parent, UCI Acquisition
Holdings, Inc. through contributions from Carlyle Partners III, L.P. and CP III Coinvestment, L.P. We are a
wholly owned subsidiary of UCI Acquisition Holdings, Inc. We and UCI Acquisition Holdings, Inc. are
corporations formed at the direction of The Carlyle Group, which we refer to as Carlyle.



So once UIS founder died, the children sold out the business to UCI, the "Carlyle Group" George W. Bush had some interest in this "Iron Triangle" Group. (EVIL)

So Rank acquired UCI for $980 million from private equity firm Carlyle Group in 2011.

This is what happened, UIS let each company run it's business and basically guided the companies to profitable ventures. Once Carlyle took over, things were controlled by "upper management" and lines would move around, for tax breaks, etc.

Once Rank got a hold of it, they moved corporate to some posh Chicago suburb, so now there is no Corporate exposure to the manufacturing plants....and then Engineering was clueless....

So "upper management" would never visit the manufacturing floor, only once a year, the engineers had no clue about the business they were in!

Companies like Airtex was constantly cutting open competition fuel pumps to "figure out how they worked"

There was HUGE disconnect with the "corporate types" and the men and women on the shop floor!

RANK RAN THE BUSINESS INTO THE GROUND, Carlyle at least consolodated, for example moved Airtex water pumps to ASC... Rank finally moved Airtex to Mexico and China. Justifying Donald J. Trumps rhetoric.

Champion Labs has been profitable, and they did need to close the West Salem plant, and consolidate to Albion IL.
 
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^^^^Now that is some interesting and cogent information. Good to get another side to the story.

I knew that not long after Rank acquired Fram, they shuttered the long time Startford Ontario CA Fram plant. Then not long after that Rank also closed the long time Champ Labs plant in York South Carolina.

I wasn't familiar with the West Salem plant closure.

Thanks for the post with some local flavor.
 
Originally Posted By: Sayjac


I knew that not long after Rank acquired Fram, they shuttered the long time Startford Ontario CA Fram plant. Then not long after that Rank also closed the long time Champ Labs plant in York South Carolina.


The problem with UCI Holdings was you had two of the three companies building the same product. Airtex under UIS, started out with mechanical fuel pumps, then electric, then grew out into water pumps.

Anyhow I hate the whole UCI thing, just a bunch of corporate thugs. Just read ASC About page:
Quote:
ASC is the only American Original Equipment (OE) water pump manufacturer that is a significant supplier to the automotive aftermarket.


These companies were all about aftermarket with "some" OEM presence (they felt OEM presence was important) However the group was all about the aftermarket, because the OEM was a "one time sell"

The problem was that aftermarket parts are highly competitive and the profit margins are in the tank, and you are competing with China. So they were building pumps with less profit, and more of them for less... instead of OEM pumps, where you build LESS and make MORE profit.

Champion Labs should make it through this Bankruptcy ok, since Champion has some good brands, with "multiple aftermarket sales potential" and they have modernized.

You replace a oil filter every 7.5k, you change a fuel pump every 200k, and you replace a water pump maybe once in the life of a car.
 
Are they still making Mobil 1 extended ? Seems every time you turn around the American company is bought - and they are soon made in China or Mexico. Out of the two - would rather it be Mexico - maybe then you don't need the Trump-wall ... Not saying US companies don't do the same - but you can't be service sector only ...
 
Originally Posted By: Stewie
Buy your ultras while they are still good
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Motorking said that Fram and Autolite are unaffected
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