Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc. (HCCI)

Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc. provided environmental services to small and mid-sized businesses and industrial customers. Its best-known offering was parts cleaning, in which it serviced solvent washers at auto repair shops and manufacturers, and it also collected and disposed of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, handled spill response and offered field and industrial services. Many of its customers were small businesses that relied on regular scheduled service visits from local branch staff rather than large industrial contracts.

The company also operated one of the largest used motor oil re-refining businesses in North America. It collected used oil from customers, re-refined it into base oil at plants including its facility in East Chicago, Indiana, and sold the product to lubricant blenders, making its earnings sensitive to base oil prices. Management worked over the years to reduce that sensitivity by charging for used oil collection and by selling more finished lubricants and other higher-value products.

Heritage-Crystal Clean listed on Nasdaq in March 2008 under the symbol HCCI. It expanded through acquisitions of oil collectors and environmental service providers, and in later years it used the shorter Crystal Clean brand. The Heritage Group, an Indianapolis family business, was a large early shareholder. Its branch network grew to cover most of the United States and parts of Canada, giving it a national presence in services that are often handled by local operators.

In July 2023 the company agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of J.F. Lehman & Company, a private equity firm focused on defense, maritime and environmental businesses. The transaction, valued at about $1.2 billion, closed on October 17, 2023 at $45.50 per share in cash, and the common stock was removed from the Nasdaq Global Select Market. After the deal the company continued operating under the Crystal Clean brand as a privately held business.