S&L Plastics Inc. plans to expand its tubing and profile business by acquiring assets and goodwill from DSM Engineering Plastic Products Inc.
S&L agreed to buy seven extrusion lines at DSM's Reading, Pa., plant formerly called Polymer Corp., rights to the Nylatron trade name, and other goodwill, said S&L President John Bungert in a telephone interview. He did not disclose terms of the deal or size of the business.
Bungert said the DSM business mainly comprises nylon products and represents a new market for his firm. Nylatron tubing and profiles include high-pressure products and shapes that are wear-resistant with low friction characteristics.
Main markets include industrial, agricultural, textile and aerospace.
S&L extrudes tubing and profiles for a range of industries at its Nazareth, Pa., headquarters plant. It also does PVC extrusion at the former Beta Polymers plant in Indianapolis it bought last year.
Bungert said S&L has focused on custom business whereas the DSM business has been mainly in stock extrusions. He expects S&L to grow in each area, aided by DSM's distributor channels.
DSM wants to sell the business to focus on its core business of other stock shapes, Jerry Thurston, president of the Reading, Pa., firm said in a news release.
DSM spokesman Marshall Osborne said such shapes include plates, rods and bars, rather than semifinished products with more-complex cross sections.
The two firms announced Sept. 17 that they signed a letter of intent. They expect to close the deal by Nov. 30. Bungert said S&L will move equipment from Reading to Nazareth, where S&L added 30,000 square feet last year.
He predicted S&L sales will exceed $10 million this year, with tubing and profile extrusion accounting for about a third of that. It also does injection molding, mainly of proprietary goods, and sheet extrusion.