ZCL Composites sells pultrusion division
EDMONTON, ALBERTA — ZCL Composites Inc. agreed to sell its pultrusion division to a group of investors led by the division's managers, the Edmonton-based firm announced April 7.
ZCL said in December that it planned to sell its money-losing pultrusion division, which makes composite decking under the E-Z Deck brand name.
Tony Barlott, ZCL vice president and chief financial officer, said the operation has about 10 pultrusion lines and was averaging about C$1.5 million (US$1.1 million) in annual sales until sales fell to about C$1 million (US$705,000) last year.
Barlott did not disclose terms of the purchase.
Ven Cote, ZCL president and chief executive officer, said in a news release the sale will allow his firm to focus on its core business of liquid-handling systems, including underground fiberglass storage tanks.
GenCorp expanding wallcovering unit
FAIRLAWN, OHIO — GenCorp Inc. is expanding its commercial wallcovering business by acquiring a major European player.
The Fairlawn-based firm said April 7 it agreed to buy the commercial wallcovering business of Walker Greenbank plc of Hertford, England. GenCorp did not disclose terms of the deal but a spokeswoman said a published price of about $116 million was accurate. The Walker Greenbank business has annual sales of about $70 million.
GenCorp will integrate the purchased business into its decorative and building products unit, a producer of commercial wallcoverings, decorative films, laminates and coated fabrics. The deal will launch GenCorp into the European market, where it has had ``a minimal presence,'' said GenCorp spokeswoman Rosemary Younts.
GenCorp uses vinyl in many of its decorative and building products. Walker Greenbank uses some vinyl but many of its products are fabric-based, Younts said. She said her firm's polymer-based products, including wallcoverings, films, laminates and roofing membranes, produced sales of $615 million last year out of GenCorp's total sales of $1.6 billion.
Uniflex to purchase Cycle Plastics division
HICKSVILLE, N.Y. — Custom packaging manufacturer Uniflex Inc. of Hicksville has agreed to buy the additional 25 percent of its Cycle Plastics subsidiary from the unit's president.
Elliot Berger will continue as Cycle Plastics president and was named senior vice president of manufacturing for the parent and its subsidiaries, Uniflex announced in a March 16 news release. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Berger co-founded Cycle Plastics together with Uniflex Inc., and has served as its president since Cycle was created in February 1995. Cycle, based in Albuquerque, converts polyethylene film into value-added niche market bags.
Uniflex designs, manufactures and markets specialty bags used for packaging, sales and advertising promotions, including general retail. Uniflex also manufactures patented medical products and the Ultravault tamper-evident cash- or document-handling envelope.
