Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: CLMT) (the “Partnership,” “Calumet,” “we,” “our” or “us”), a leading independent producer of specialty hydrocarbon and fuels products, today announced that it closed on the sale of Anchor Drilling Fluids USA, LLC (“Anchor Drilling Fluids”) to Q’Max America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Q’Max Solutions Inc. (“Q’Max”). Under the agreement, Calumet will receive total consideration of approximately $84 million, including $50 million in cash, $15 million to be paid at various times over the next two years for net working capital and other items, and 10% equity ownership in Fluid Holding Corp, the parent company of Q’Max. Calumet plans to use the proceeds to lower its leverage profile and for general partnership purposes.

Tim Go, Chief Executive Officer of Calumet, commented, “Calumet’s divestiture of Anchor Drilling Fluids is another step forward in our plans to strengthen our balance sheet and focus our resources on our core specialty products business. The merger of Q’Max and Anchor Drilling Fluids will create the largest independent drilling fluids company in the United States. Anchor has been on a steady improvement trajectory with positive EBITDA contribution this year. We expect the value of our minority stake in Q’Max to continue to track the oilfield services recovery, as well as benefit from the operational and supply chain synergies created through the new entity’s increased scale and scope.”

Go concluded, “I want to thank our Anchor employees for their hard work and dedication over the past three years and am pleased to report that the new entity will transact under the long-recognized Anchor brand in its U.S. operations. We look forward to sharing in the future success of Q’Max as an investor, while we pursue our own vision to be the premier specialty petroleum products company in the world.”

Raymond James is serving as the exclusive financial advisor to Calumet on this transaction and Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP acted as legal advisor.

About Anchor Drilling Fluids
Anchor Drilling Fluids is the leading provider of drilling fluid products in the U.S. This includes a wide range of drilling muds, completion fluids, production fluids, and environmental chemicals all developed to the most stringent standards and Anchor Drilling Fluids’ decades of expertise. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma Anchor Drilling Fluids owns and operates more than 30 facilities throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to delivering mission-critical resources and expertise to decrease drilling and completion time and maximize well economics.

About Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P.
Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. (CLMT) is a master limited partnership and a leading independent producer of high-quality, specialty hydrocarbon products in North America. Calumet processes crude oil and other feedstocks into customized lubricating oils, solvents and waxes used in consumer, industrial and automotive products; produces fuel products including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel; and provides oilfield services and products to customers throughout the United States. Calumet is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and operates eleven manufacturing facilities located in northwest Louisiana, northern Montana, western Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey, and eastern Missouri.

About Q’Max Solutions, Inc.
Founded in 1993, Q’Max is a leading international oilfield services company that provides onshore and offshore drilling fluids, solids control, waste management and environmental solutions to the upstream oil & gas industry.

Q’Max is a global business with operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America, the Middle East and Africa with its Headquarters in Houston, TX, USA. Q’Max operates 11 drilling fluids laboratories around the world with a state-of-the-art Corporate Technical Center in Houston.

Since its acquisition by affiliates of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC in May 2014, Q’Max has significantly diversified the business and expanded market share through follow-on M&A and aggressive organic growth initiatives

Q’Max is the fifth largest drilling fluids company in the world, and holds as its mission to become the preeminent drilling fluids company.