Visy buys, renames Southcorp business
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Melbourne-based Visy Industries, a division of Visy Industries Holdings Pty. Ltd., has taken ownership of Melbourne-based Southcorp Ltd.'s Asia-Pacific packaging business, renaming it VisyPak and launching a new logo.
The A$800 million (US$440.8 million) purchase was completed Feb. 1. The business manufactures PET, high density polyethylene and polypropylene rigid packaging, including buckets and drums, plus flexible film and laminates for candy bar packaging. It also has a tube-manufacturing operation, producing packaging for the cosmetics industry.
VisyPak has 50 plants in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.
Harry Debney, chief executive officer of Visy Industries, said the company will integrate VisyPak into Visy Industries during the next three months.
"There are great opportunities to implement Visy's VisyFlow online automatic ordering and transaction e-commerce product to a broader customer base," Debney said.
Visy Industries has packaging operations in paper and corrugated cardboard boxes, but this is its first venture into plastics.
Southcorp will exit the plastic packaging business completely when it finalizes the sale of its North American division by the end of June. A Southcorp spokesman said the group would not comment on the sale until it is finalized.
Southcorp has 10 rigid plastic plants in the United States and Puerto Rico, manufacturing 70 million buckets a year.
Molinaro garners tooling contract
NEW CASTLE, PA. — Molinaro Tool & Die Inc. won a five-year contract to supply fabricated parts, molds and tools to a Portola Packaging Inc. subsidiary.
The previously undisclosed contract was part of a litigation-ending agreement Jan. 12 between Consumer Cap Corp. of New Castle and Portola's Northern Engineering and Plastics Corp. unit.
Nepco acquired certain Consumer Cap assets, and Consumer Cap admitted infringing on some Portola patents for tamper-evident plastic closures.
As part of the deal, "I received a supply contract to be a mold maker for them," said Luca Molinaro, president and chief executive officer of the New Castle-based toolmaker. "We will be doing some fabrication, mold work and tooling."
Molinaro founded his tool business in 1986 and established Consumer Cap in 1995.
Molinaro is prohibited from supplying tools to any processor competing with Portola's product lines. San Jose, Calif.-based Portola is a market-dominant player in the molding of plastic closures for dairy, fruit juice and bottled-water products.
Molinaro supplied tools to Northern Engineering and Plastics before establishing Consumer Cap, he said in a telephone interview. Molinaro Tool & Die employs 20 and has manufacturing operations in 12,000 square feet and offices in 4,500 square feet.
Luca Molinaro is Nepco's landlord in New Castle.
Volex's China plant to produce cable
WARRINGTON, ENGLAND — Volex Group plc is moving production of some power cords and electrical cables to a new, 82,000-square-foot plant in Zhongshan, China.
The Warrington-based company is shifting the work from the smaller of its two plants in Shenzhen, China. The company's Singapore-based subsidiary, Volex (Asia) Pte. Ltd., said the move will capitalize on rapid growth in the telecommunications sector in the area near Hong Kong.
"The facility in Zhongshan offers a better work environment for our employees and will improve our ability to respond to our customers' demands for flexibility and support," said Chris Yong, Volex Asia managing director.
Volex also is expanding its telecommunications capability centered on its Suzhou plant, south of Shanghai. Volex molds the assembly components with a string of small-tonnage injection presses.
Dairy Crest investing in 2 `super dairies'
SURREY, ENGLAND — Britain's largest dairy foods producer, Dairy Crest Group plc of Surrey, is investing 54 million ($79 million) to consolidate operations in two "super dairies."
Both plants, which are scheduled to open by September, probably will include automated blow molding lines for making high density polyethylene bottles, although the company would not provide details.
Construction work already has begun at the first plant in Chadwell Heath, near London. The facility will turn out about 104 million gallons per year when it starts in late 2001, eventually rising to 156 million gallons annually.
The second project, in Severnside, will pump out 130 million gallons annually. Severnside gradually will replace three smaller dairies.
Dairy Crest became the largest dairy company in the United Kingdom with its July acquisition of Unigate plc.
