Extrusion equipment supplier Dynisco LLC has a new equity-firm owner, Audax Group, and a renewed focus on acquisitions to spur company growth.
In a deal completed July 12, Boston-based Audax purchased all the Dynisco businesses from equity group Madison Capital Partners of Chicago. The sale, for undisclosed terms, includes Dynisco's instrument and test equipment facility at its Franklin, Mass., headquarters, its extrusion-product unit in Hickory, N.C., and its European plant.
The Audax deal includes a $15 million investment in Dynisco from American Capital Strategies Ltd., a mezzanine investment fund in Bethesda, Md. The investment from American Capital comes in the form of senior and junior subordinated debt.
Audax, a middle-market investment group that looks to buy companies with sales between $5 million and $75 million, spelled out its plans for Dynisco in a news release. Both American Capital and Audax said they want to capitalize on the cyclical upturn in the plastics industry.
``It is our intention to aggressively pursue acquisitions using Dynisco's best-in-class manufacturing distribution as a platform,'' Audax Managing Director Keith Palumbo said in a news release. He could not be reached for comment.
The news was greeted well by both Dynisco and officials at Madison Capital. Dynisco wants to expand its base in extrusion equipment. An owner with deeper pockets than Madison Capital could ignite that growth, said Douglas Joy, Dynisco vice president of marketing.
``It will allow us to go out and look for other companies that will improve Dynisco's position in the market,'' he said.
According to several sources familiar with the company, Dynisco already is shopping for companies to acquire. Several deals already may be in the negotiation stage, sources said.
Dynisco, one of the largest auxiliary extrusion equipment makers in the world, had been owned by Madison Capital since November 2000. In the past few years, market share has grown, and Dynisco has added a small product line, Chicago-based Beringer, to its Dynisco Extrusion operation in Hickory, N.C., said Madison Capital President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Gies.
Audax can help propel the company further with products and global penetration, Gies said. ``In some ways, it's the perfect acquisition,'' he said. ``We've gained a nice return on our investment, and we've sold the company to someone who can build it further than we can do.''
Gies said Madison Capital will retain Synventive, the former Dynisco Hotrunners unit, which it purchased in 2003 from Berwind Group of Philadelphia.
Dynisco makes measurement and control devices and both pressure transducers and transmitters at its Franklin facility, under its Dynisco Instruments and Dynisco Polymer Test names. Other products include electrical power supplies and converters.
The company also has a plant in Heilbronn, Germany, called Dynisco Europe and owns Hickory-based Dynisco Extrusion, a maker of gear pumps, screen changers and other equipment for extrusion applications.
Dynisco has five sales and service offices in Europe and one in Japan, Joy said. The company, which started in 1953, has more than 200 employees worldwide. A majority of its equipment is used for the extrusion market, but the company also sells equipment for injection molding applications, Joy said.
Several top Dynisco officials will retain an ownership stake in the company.
Audax also owns a second plastics-related company, injection molder Thermotech of Hopkins, Minn. Audax bought Thermotech from Menasha Corp. in December.
