European semifinished-plastics distributor Vink Holding BV added United Kingdom and Irish markets with its May 1 acquisition of Comco Plastics Ltd. from GE Polymershapes. Terms were not disclosed.
Comco employs 50 and operates four distribution facilities in Slough and Manchester, England; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Dublin, Ireland, that will continue under the Comco name.
Typically, the sites can cut, drill, sand or bevel plastic sheet, rod and tube as needed for industrial, construction and sign applications. The company has annual sales of about 17 million euros ($15.3 million).
Noting that it plans to expand, Vink said Comco has market shares of about 20 percent in Ireland and 5-10 percent in the United Kingdom.
Vink began its trade and distribution business in 1954, employs about 1,000 and, before the acquisition, had more than 45 outlets in 14 countries. Vink said it is Europe's leading distributor of semifinished plastics. It also distributes GE Plastics' Lexan sheet line, among other products.
Zeist-based Vink is a unit of Kendrion NV, which is traded on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
GE Polymershapes of Huntersville, N.C., continues to operate about 116 distribution sites, including 80 in North America. Pittsfield, Mass.-based GE Plastics formed GE Polymershapes from the 2000 acquisitions of Commercial Plastics & Supply Corp. and M.A. Hanna Co.'s Cadillac Plastics unit.
GE said the four facilities being sold constituted a small part of GE Polymershapes' business and were not positioned by themselves to grow in Europe.
GE Polymershapes retains former Cadillac film conversion sites in Swindon, England, and Enkhuizen, the Netherlands, GE Polymershapes spokesman Patrick Brennan said by telephone.