Cloeren Co. acquired a competing flat die manufacturer, Production Components/Chippewa Valley Die Inc. of Eau Claire, Wis., Cloeren announced Sept. 15.
``This acquisition now takes the U.S. [flat die] manufacturing industry down to two major players,'' said Peter Cloeren, chief executive officer of Cloeren Co.
Orange, Texas-based Cloeren also announced a joint venture with a German company, Plamex Maschinenbau GmbH. The venture, called Cloeren-Plamex GmbH in Kelberg, Germany, will provide die repair and reworking services to Cloeren's European customers.
Flat dies are used on processing machines to manufacture film and sheet, coated products, perform strand extrusion, extrude vinyl siding and make other products.
The three main U.S. manufacturers of flat dies had been Extrusion Dies Inc., Cloeren, and Production Components/Chippewa Valley Die.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Production Components' President Paul Peelman and other current management will remain intact, Cloeren said. Cloeren Co. will retain the Eau Claire factory, and will continue to market under the Production Components name in the United States.
Production Components employs 84 in Eau Claire. Cloeren Co. has about 230 employees in Orange.
Peter Cloeren said the acquisition makes his company a more well-rounded supplier.
Cloeren has been strongest in cast film and extrusion coating, while Production Components has focused on making flat dies for sheet and proximity coating.
``This is an opportunity to grow our business with complementary product lines,'' Cloeren said. ``There is no product overlap between the two companies.''
Extrusion Dies Inc. is located in Chippewa Falls, Wis., not far from Production Components. EDI was aware that Production Components was on the market, but EDI did not make a bid to buy Production Components, according to EDI President and CEO Robert Barfknecht.
Barfknecht said EDI already makes the types of dies that Production Components manufacturers, including sheet dies and slot coating dies.
He said slot coating is a way to coat low-viscosity fluids, such as adhesives and water-based coatings, onto a substrate.
EDI's slot coating die is called its UltraCoat line. Production Components has been making that type of die in the last several years, Barfknecht said.
Since EDI already makes the same type of dies as Production Components, EDI officials decided not to bid for the company, he said.
Cloeren Co. markets outside of North America through its subsidiaries Cloeren Europe Inc. in Kent, England; Cloeren Japan in Tokyo; and the new Cloeren-Plamex.
The company also has sales representatives in the Far East and South America.
