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Fairmount Acquires Proppant Business

Sept. 17, 2013
Price not disclosed Adds to “fracking” product line FTSI to focus on “well completion”

FTS International — a company that offers “well completion services” including pressure pumping, wireline and water management to oil-and-gas exploration companies, to enhance their recovery rates — reported it sold substantially all of its proppant business and related logistics assets to Fairmount Minerals.

The value of the sale was not announced. The seller said it intends to use the net proceeds of the sale to reduce its debt.

Proppants are solid materials (e.g., treated sand or ceramic materials) used in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) to keep an induced fracture open during or after a fracturing treatment.

Fairmount Minerals supplies high-purity silica, high-purity gravel, resin-coated sands, chemical resin systems, and bio-urethane binders.  Besides supplying sands and other materials to foundries, it has a considerable line of business in the oil-and-gas exploration sector.

FTSI also entered into a long-term agreement with Fairmount to provide proppants for FTSI’s well-completion customers.

“The sale of these assets further enables FTSI to refine the company’s focus on its core well-completion business,” according to FTSI chief executive officer Greg Lanham. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with Fairmount efficiently supplying quality proppant for our customers.”

About the Author

Robert Brooks | Content Director

Robert Brooks has been a business-to-business reporter, writer, editor, and columnist for more than 20 years, specializing in the primary metal and basic manufacturing industries. His work has covered a wide range of topics, including process technology, resource development, material selection, product design, workforce development, and industrial market strategies, among others. Currently, he specializes in subjects related to metal component and product design, development, and manufacturing — including castings, forgings, machined parts, and fabrications.