PT Online

Mergers and Acquisitions

GLS Is Now Part of PolyOne

PolyOne Corp., Cleveland, completed its purchase of TPE supplier GLS Corp., McHenry, Ill. GLS will remain a separate operation and will integrate PolyOne’s own TPE product lines.

Bayer Acquires TPU Slush Molding Powders

Bayer MaterialScience, Pittsburgh, has bought intellectual property related to TPU slush molding from the former Collins & Aikman Corp. Designed for instrument-panel skins and other interior trim, C&A’s TPU technology included size reduction to produce the “slush” rotomolding powders and formulations for light-stable aliphatic TPUs that don’t need paint. Bayer plans to offer the powders in custom colors.

Berry Plastics to Acquire Captive Plastics

Berry Plastics Corp., Evansville, Ind., has agreed to acquire Captive Plastics, Inc., Piscataway, N.J. Berry has 64 plants in the U.S. and more in Mexico, Canada, Europe, and China. It produces injection and blow molded and thermoformed packaging as well as extruded flexible films for packaging and agriculture. Founded in 1969, Captive Plastics was an early leader in injection-blow molding. It has 13 plants in the U.S. that blow mold bottles and injection mold closures. Both firms are owned by venture-capital firms.

Georg Fischer Buys Central Plastics

Georg Fischer Corp. of Schauffhausen, Switzerland, will acquire Central Plastics Co., Shawnee, Okla. Central Plastics is a family-owned firm said to be the North American leader in polyethylene utility piping systems. It has sales over $80 million and employs more than 500 at its Shawnee headquarters and plants in Texas, China, Argentina, and New Zealand. Georg Fischer’s GF Piping Systems is a global supplier of metal and plastic pipe and has sales of around $1 billion and employs more than 3000. It had not been in the utility pipe market in the U.S., owing to differences in standards.