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Valvoline

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Valvoline Inc.
Formerly
  • Continuous Oil Refining Co. (1866)
  • Ellis & Leonard
Company typePublic company
IndustryChemical manufacturing and distribution, car repair
Predecessors
FoundedSeptember 6, 1866; 158 years ago (1866-09-06) in Binghamton, New York, U.S. (as the Continuous Oil Refining Company)
FounderJohn Ellis
Headquarters
Lexington, Kentucky
,
U.S.
Key people
  • Lori Flees (CEO)
  • Mary Meixelsperger (CFO)
RevenueIncrease US$1.62 billion (2024)
Increase US$367 million (2024)
Decrease US$212 million (2024)
Total assetsDecrease US$2.44 billion (2024)
Total equityDecrease US$186 million (2024)
Number of employees
11,500 (2024)
Subsidiaries
Websitevalvoline.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3]

Valvoline Inc. (/ˈvælvəliːn/ VAL-və-leen) is an American retail automotive services company based in Lexington, Kentucky. It licenses the name for a number of Valvoline-labeled automotive oil, additives, and lubricants. It also owns the Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Great Canadian Oil Change and Valvoline Express Care car repair chains. As of 2023, it is the second largest oil change service provider in the United States with 10% market share and over 1,650 locations.[4][5][6]

History

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Valvoline motor oils exhibited

Dr. John Ellis, the inventor of a petroleum lubricant for steam engines, founded Valvoline in 1866, in Binghamton, New York, as the "Continuous Oil Refining Company". In 1868, Ellis renamed his Binghamton Cylinder Oil to the more memorable Valvoline. The next year, he moved the Continuous Oil Refining Company to Brooklyn. With his son and son-in-law, Ellis renamed the company to "Ellis & Leonard" and relocated to Shadyside, New Jersey. Valvoline received commendations by Charles F. Chandler and others at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.[7] By the 1890s, Valvoline oil was associated with winning race cars.[8] During the early 20th century, Valvoline was the recommended motor oil for the Ford Model T.[4]

In 1949, Ashland Inc. purchased the Freedom-Valvoline Company.[9]

By 2016, Ashland's Valvoline subsidiary accounted for about 37% of the parent company's annual revenue.[4] Valvoline completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on September 22, 2016,[10] ahead of Ashland spinning off Valvoline as an independent company on May 5, 2017.[1]

On August 1, 2022, Saudi Aramco announced the acquisition of Valvoline's lubricant unit for US$2.65 billion.[11][12]

Automobile and motorcycle partnerships

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Valvoline is an official recommended fuel and motor oil for all General Motors marquees including Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac and also all-Honda Motor Company group brands including Honda and Acura for automobiles only as well as Honda for motorcycles only.

Sponsorships

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NASCAR

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Mark Martin running Valvoline colors in 1997 at Pocono

Valvoline haș sponsored in some sort of capacity in NASCAR since 1981. They first entered the sport with Cale Yarborough in 1981 and 1982 with M. C. Anderson Racing. In 1983 and 1984, they appeared on the Wood Brothers Racing legendary 21 car with Buddy Baker then the year after they sponsored Ron Bouchard and the 47 Race Hill Farms Team. Following Bouchard to Curb Racing in 1986 and then with Greg Sacks in 1987 in the 50 for the Dingman Brothers Racing team. The following season, they sponsored RahMoc Enterprises and Neil Bennett, which capped the season off with a win in Australia, NASCAR's first entry outside of North America.

The No. 10 at the 2003 Auto Club 500

In 1992, they started their relationship with Roush Racing and driver Mark Martin which resulted in 27 wins together, one of the winningest combinations in NASCAR history. After the year 2000, Valvoline executive James Rocco decided he wanted to get into the car ownership side of the sport and Valvoline would own and sponsor a team, an unprecedented move at the time. They bought a share into Tyler Jet Motorsports which merged into MB2 Motorsports for the 2001 season on the 10 car. Johnny Benson would drive for the team for three years, resulting with one win in 2002. Following 2003, the team would sign Scott Riggs to drive the 10 in 2004. Following the 2005 season, Valvoine sold its share of the team back to MB2 and would take the sponsorship to Evernham Motorsports where the combo would drive for two more years together.

1989 car at Phoenix

In 2007, the team signed Canadian Patrick Carpentier to drive the car. After 2008, Valvoline scaled back its sponsorship to a part time roll in 2009 when that team merged with Petty Enterprises and formed Richard Petty Motorsports, they sponsored both Reed Sorenson and A. J. Allmendinger that year on the 43 and 44 Dodge Chargers. Following the season, the sponsorship returned back to Roush Fenway Racing to sponsor Matt Kenseth and Greg Piffle in some capacity over the years while also sponsoring Allmendinger's 43 Ford at Richard Petty Motorsports. In 2014, the oil brand reunited with Hendrick Motorsports and continues to this day, they currently sponsor Kyle Larson and William Byron.

Other brands the Valvoline sponsorship has been involved with other teams including the Zerex Coolant brand which was with AK Racing and Alan Kulwicki from 1986 to 1990 and the Aluguard Antifreeze brand which partnered with Rusty Wallace at Blue Max Racing from 1985 and 1986.

Other Motorsports

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Al Unser Jr. running the 1990 Indianapolis 500

Valvoline sponsored a number of auto races to market its motor oil, including the SCCA National Championship Runoffs and Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Valvoline also sponsored the first woman to compete in both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, Janet Guthrie, CART driver Al Unser Jr. (1988-1993),.[2]

In Australia, Valvoline owns naming rights to the Sydney Speedway[13] and sponsors the Australian Sprintcar Grand Prix. It also sponsored the 1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.

Since June 2020, Valvoline sponsors La Liga association club Sevilla FC as a global partner, with their logo appearing on the sleeves of match kits.[14]

Since July 2023 Valvoline is currently sponsoring the Aston Martin Formula One team as an extension of the team's existing partnership with Aramco, and the partnership will be upgraded to lubricant supply role from 2026 season onwards due to Honda engine direct partnership.[15] From 2025 season onwards Valvoline will also supplying lubricants to Renault-backed BWT Alpine F1 Team.

References

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  1. ^ a b Caproni, Erin (May 15, 2017). "Ashland, Valvoline complete split". Cincinnati Business Courier. American City Business Journals. Archived from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Baniak, Susan (June 22, 2017). "Lexington-based Valvoline Separates from Ashland Inc., Moves into New Headquarters". Business Lexington. Smiley Pete Publishing. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  3. ^ "Valvoline Inc. FY 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. November 22, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Willoughby, Jack (March 12, 2016). "Valvoline Spinoff: A 45% Gain for Ashland Holders". Barron's. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  5. ^ "Motor oil maker Valvoline maps IPO spinoff from Ashland". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. September 13, 2016. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  6. ^ "About Us". Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  7. ^ Scientific American, "Valvoline". Munn & Company. 1878-12-07. p. 356.
  8. ^ Smith, Gerald (November 19, 2014). "Valvoline was born in Binghamton". Press & Sun-Bulletin. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  9. ^ Thompson, Eric V. "A Brief History Of Major Oil Companies In The Gulf Region". University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  10. ^ Beckerman, Josh (September 22, 2016). "Valvoline IPO Prices at $22 a Share". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  11. ^ Krishna, Rithika (August 1, 2022). "Valvoline fuels retail drive with $2.65 bln lubricants unit sale to Saudi Aramco". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  12. ^ Gnana, Jennifer (2022-08-01). "Saudi Aramco acquires Valvoline in downstream push". www.spglobal.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  13. ^ "SYDNEY SPEEDWAY TO BE DEMOLISHED". Auto Action.
  14. ^ "Sevilla FC Valvoline". Valvoline Global.
  15. ^ "Aston Martin Aramco reaches milestone technical collaboration ahead of 2026 F1 regulations".
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