GM Nameplate of Seattle acquired the assets of precision injection molder Fleck Co. Inc. of Auburn, Wash., effective Feb. 1.
``Fleck does a tremendous amount of business with our existing customers, [and] we can do more plastics for customers we are already with,'' Jerry Gallagher, GM Nameplate vice president of sales, said in a telephone interview.
GM Nameplate purchased the Fleck assets from Provident Bank of Cincinnati. Terms were not disclosed.
Dale Meyer continues to operate the facility, now known as the GM Nameplate Auburn Division. Meyer joined Fleck as president and chief executive officer June 11.
The Auburn operation principally molds precision parts for electronics and medical applications on 15 presses of 55-330 tons.
GM Nameplate will rehire as many people as necessary to serve the Auburn customer base. Gallagher estimated that at 50 of the 80 former Fleck employees.
Fleck's former owner, private equity investor Alistar Capital Group of Bellevue, Wash., discontinued operations in December, and the bank took charge of the assets.
A unit, Alistar Manufacturing Group Inc., acquired a controlling interest in Fleck in 1997. The Auburn molding operation opened in 1967.
GM Nameplate did not acquire another operation, Fleck de Mexico, in Guadalajara. Some presses were still running there as of Feb. 1, but Fleck de Mexico was proceeding through a controlled shutdown. The site opened in 1999 and, at one time, was operating 33 presses of 40-250 tons.
GM Nameplate designs and manufactures nameplates and graphic overlays. Formed in 1954, the private firm operated principally as a decorator of metal products.
``It got to a point in the early 1990s where people wanted plastics decorated,'' Gallagher said. ``We are a decorator who became a molder'' and moved toward the cosmetic processing of identification products.
Excluding the acquisition, GM Nameplate employs 870 and owns and operates plants in Seattle; Beaverton, Ore.; San Jose, Calif.; Monroe, N.C.; Surrey, British Columbia; and Singapore. Don Root is majority owner, chairman and chief executive officer.
The Oregon plant - GM Nameplate's initial molding site - operates 18 injection presses of 50-600 tons. The facility also has six compression molding machines that mold rubber key pads.
The firm's customers include makers of industrial controls, test measurement products and electronics, computers, aerospace vehicles and medical devices.