CLINTON, MASS. -- Nypro Inc. President and CEO Ted Lapres said Nypro needs to get bigger -- through the sale to Jabil Circuit Inc. -- to keep up with consolidation in its global markets.
The plastics packaging industry has undergone consolidation for years, with a regular series of blockbuster roll-ups, often fueled by private equity money.
Nypro's largest market is health care, and consolidation also has come to the medical-disposables sector.
Jeff Mengel of Plante & Moran PLLC said medical disposables — products designed to be used once for tests or drug delivery — have similarities to packaging. The high-volume medical-disposables business is part of the consolidation trend, he said, "and global is a big component for it."
Here is a look at some major medical consolidation deals:
- Phillips Plastics Corp. bought Medisize Corp. in mid-2011, bringing Wisconsin-based Phillips instant access to medical customers in Europe. Phillips is owned by Kohlberg & Co LLC., a private equity company founded by Jerome Kohlberg of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. fame.
- Vention Medical, a former MedTech Group Inc. business, bought Atek Medical Group in late 2011. The year before, Vention merged with Advanced Polymers Inc., a maker of catheters.
- Last year, MedPlast Inc. bought fellow contract manufacturer United Plastics Group Inc.
