Another U.S. vinyl profiles firm has linked with a European major to beef up its technology and financial resources. Vinyl Building Products Inc. of Oakland, N.J., announced Sept. 12 it has entered a joint venture with Thyssen Polymer of Munich, Germany, a large vinyl profiles extruder with die and calibrator technology.
Company officials agreed to the deal less than a month after Acro Extrusion Corp. of Wilmington, Del., sold a controlling interest to Deceuninck Plastics Industries NV of Belgium.
VBP, established 18 years ago, had sales last year of $31 million. ThyssenPolymer sold more than $200 million of vinyl window and door extrusions in Europe last year, VBP President Nick Cangialosi said in a telephone interview. Its deal with VBP marks its entry into North America's vinyl profiles market.
Thyssen acquired 50 percent equity in VBP, but Cangialosi said he has 51 percent of voting control of the joint venture, which will retain the Vinyl Building Products Inc. name. Cangialosi would not disclose terms of the deal.
``They have die technology, materials technology and their equity makes us stronger,'' Cangialosi said. Thyssen Polymer is part of the Thyssen Group, a $40 billion conglomerate comprising about 150 companies in steel, heavy machinery and other industries. Its half-dozen North American subsidiaries, including automotive parts firm Budd Co., have annual sales of $6 billion, according to Cangialosi.
``What was attractive to them was our market share,'' Cangialosi said.
VBP sells to more than 55 U.S. and Canadian manufacturers, and claims to hold patents in double-hung vinyl windows and vinyl sash. Its management team will remain intact, he said.
North American firms are interested in European extrusion technology, which often can allow higher throughput, according to Werner Huber, sales director for Uniplast International Inc., a Meadville, Pa., supplier of tooling technology developed in Europe. In return, European players find it easier to form joint ventures rather than set up new operations in North America, Huber said.
Cangialosi said Thyssen technology allows high throughput and quality, but he would not describe how VBP will capitalize on the technology.
Huber said very high-output extrusion lines, like one introduced this summer at Veka Holdings Inc. of Fombell, Pa., are attractive, but only if a company can sell the extra output.
``It may be suited to only a few companies who can sell that much,'' Huber said.
