Off-road vehicle component maker LMC Technik Ltd. is raising its specialty reaction injection molding capacity 50 percent by buying the assets of failed British molder Polymer Engineering Ltd.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England-based LMC, part of England's Thompson Plastics Group, acquired the trade and assets of Polymer Engineering of Crewe, England, from administrators for an undisclosed sum.
Polymer Engineering, like LMC, produces large, complex vehicle moldings, such as hoods. It also makes doors for the housing market. Polymer Engineering employed 50 at its Crewe plant. With annual sales of £3 million ($5.5 million), the firm served customers that included Caterpillar Inc., CNH Global NV and Terex Corp.
Early in February, the troubled processor was taken into administration by accountants Baker Tilly of Manchester, England. Thompson Plastics announced the asset takeover soon after, on Feb. 23.
Production, including the resin transfer molding process, will continue at the site and Polymer Engineering's former management team will run the operation, according to Thompson of Hull, England.
``Polymer Engineering's process, product and customer base is the same as ours. The sale of its trade and assets was a good opportunity for us to strengthen our technical base, our capacity and our ability to develop this process further,'' said Nick Pascoe, managing director of Thompson's vehicle products division.
``We have no plans at the moment to make any changes [at Polymer Engineering],'' he said when asked if Thompson plans to expand the Crewe facility or integrate its production at LMC's site.
Thompson also supplies manufacturers of agricultural, construction and passenger transport vehicles. Processes include thermoforming and rotational molding. The company reported 2004 sales of about £40 million ($73 million).
Earlier this year, Thompson revealed plans for its vehicle products division to hire 20 workers at its Hessle plant in Hull. Thompson is investing £2 million ($3.7 million) over nine months to expand and add equipment to several sites, to meet a surge in component demand for off-road vehicles.