InteSys Technologies Inc. has completed a major financing deal to fund continued expansion plans and allow some of the management/owners to reduce their equity stake in the firm. Management had announced in September that the Gilbert, Ariz.-based custom injection molder was for sale. Some of the six-member senior management team that had purchased the company from former parent DSM NV of Herleen, the Netherlands, sought a less-active role in the day-to-day activities of the company.
New investors in InteSys are Berkshire Partners, Harvard Management Co. and Banque Nationale de Paris.
InteSys was 39th in Plastics News 1995 ranking of North American injection molders, with 1994 sales of $87 million and 1,005 employees.
Titles have changed for some top managers. Gregory W. Layne, formerly executive vice president, is now president and chief executive officer. R. Terry Hill, formerly president and CEO, is now chairman.
Layne said InteSys brought in outside investors to provide a vehicle for those senior managers to reduce both their equity in the business and their time spent on its daily operations.
Richard Lubin, general partner with Berkshire Partners of Boston, said the financing involved transfer of some of InteSys' stock from part of the management team to an outside, institutional investor, as well as additional stock to those senior managers who will remain with the company in an active role.
Berkshire Partners is an active investor in private equity markets. It manages three private investment funds which have made capital investments in 38 companies with aggregate revenue in excess of $3 billion.
Harvard Management Co. is responsible for investing the Harvard University endowment, and Banque Nationale de Paris is one of the 20 largest banks in the world, according to information supplied by InteSys.
Layne said the new partners bring the financial resources that will enable the company to expand at a pace necessary to maintain its competitiveness in the markets it serves.
A $6 million, 75,000-square-foot addition to the company's main manufacturing facility is now complete, and 20 Cincinnati injection molding presses added. InteSys operates 62 presses with clamping forces of 28-700 tons. Additional capital equipment expenditures were ``several million dollars,'' said Layne.
``All our growth is fueled by continued strong sales, and growth of our existing and new customers,'' said Layne.
InteSys serves the telecommunications, computer and auto industries.
As a contract manufacturer, InteSys has extensive assembly and secondary operations, mold design and mold-building capabilities.
Future plans include the possibility of opening a shelter operation in Mexico later this year for additional assembly capabilities and to access available labor. Layne said management is also moving in the direction of taking the company public at some unspecified time.
Lubin said InteSys is a ``successful company, a strong, solid company that is very customer oriented.''