Carson Industries LLC has moved into rotational molded water-meter boxes with its Oct. 1 purchase of Mid-States Plastics Inc.
``We're growing and this is one of many acquisitions we hope to do over the next few years,'' Richard Gordinier, Carson president and chief executive officer, said in an Oct. 6 telephone interview. ``We are in constant discussions. Our business is very healthy right now.''
Carson bought Mid-States from Extrusion Technologies Inc., a unit of Minneapolis pipe maker PW Eagle Inc. Under terms of the deal, Mid-States will move out of the space it leases from ETI in Conroe, Texas, within a year and find a new home in that city, just north of Houston. It will maintain its leased facility in Mount Sterling, Ky.
The transaction gives Carson - a Glendora, Calif.-based injection molder - a national presence in the municipal water-meter market. Carson's products primarily are used in Southern states, where frost is not a concern, officials said. Mid-States, on the other hand, molds heavy-duty, polyethylene meter boxes via a patented rotomolding process. Mid-States has about 80 ovens and employs 100. Its oldest markets are in the Midwest.
With the acquisition, Carson will have more than 200 product offerings, officials said. The firm operates injection molding sites in Flora, Miss.; La Verne, Calif.; and Napoleon, Ohio, and has one facility in Roscommon, Ireland.
Gordinier did not elaborate on potential acquisitions for Carson, which is owned by Norwest Equity Partners in Minneapolis.
In other news, Carson recently relocated its polymer concrete operation from a 15,000-square-foot site in Etiwanda, Calif., to a 25,000-square-foot site in Colton, Calif.
Gordinier said the move was necessary to keep pace with sales growth. In that sector alone, Carson has experienced growth of more than 50 percent during the past two years.
According to the Plastics News 2003 ranking of injection molders, Carson reported $75 million in total corporate sales, with $68 million in injection molding. The firm employs 350 and has 33 presses.
