Illinois Tool Works Inc. is extending its European security-products operations with its takeover of the security businesses of England's Envopak Group Ltd.
Envopak Group, based in Sidcup, England, is a leading United Kingdom producer and exporter of reusable security packages and security seals through its Envopak and Envoseal divisions. Those units run plants in Altham and Sidcup, England, respectively. Envopak products include tamper-evident, sewn PVC/coated nylon security pouches for transit, protection and storage.
The firm processes molded plastic zipper and other components at the Altham site, which has six Demag and Negri Bossi injection presses with clamping forces of 25-350 tons. But about 85 percent of the company's parts are produced in China, according to Bob Kirby, Envopak Group managing director. ITW has appointed Kirby managing director of the expanded British security-products operations.
Envoseal manufactures polypropylene and nylon tamper-evident and barrier seals for a variety of applications, among them cargo trucks, airplane bars, fire extinguishers and supermarket security doors. Its Sidcup plant operates 18 presses of the same clamping forces, largely Demag and Negri Bossi, Kirby said.
Kirby said Envopak's security product operations are three times larger than the ITW business in Europe and export about 55 percent of their output to some 40 countries.
Under the deal, for an undisclosed sum, ITW will employ Envopak's 120-strong work force. The agreement excludes Envopak Group's other two divisions in England, one of them manufacturing mailroom furniture and equipment and the other supplying orthopedic office chairs.
In England, Glenview, Ill.-based ITW already makes a range of mainly plastics-based components and security products through ITW Fastex Security Products, an offshoot of its British unit ITW Ltd. U.K. Fastex makes security seals, fasteners and other components for products such as washing machine, computers and power tools. It operates from a 37,000-square-foot plant in Seaham, England.
The security-seal products complement Fastex's business, but Envopak's reusable security packages offer both firms an opportunity for further innovation and growth, Mark Udelhofen, vice president and general manager of ITW Security Products, said in a news release.