Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
July 04, 2005 02:00 AM

Swiss firm Quadrant to purchase Poly Hi

Joseph Pryweller
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Quadrant AG has agreed to buy shapes maker Poly Hi Solidur Inc., setting up a global giant in the production of engineered plastic parts.

    The sale will join Poly Hi, a U.S. maker of semi-finished parts from ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene, with Quadrant, a Swiss maker of stock parts from high-performance and high-temperature engineering plastics. The deal is to be completed by early August.

    The acquisition fills some gaps in Zurich, Switzerland-based Quadrant's product portfolio and meshes two like-minded companies, said Kress Schwartz, spokesman for Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products, the company's U.S. subsidiary. Quadrant bases its U.S. operations in Reading, Pa., in the same state as two Poly Hi plants, Schwartz said.

    Quadrant, a publicly held company on the Swiss Stock Exchange, will pay $82 million in cash to create the engineered-plastics powerhouse. The company also is assuming $3 million of capitalized leases from Poly Hi, financing those from existing funds and bank credit, Quadrant officials said.

    Including the Poly Hi business, the Swiss company expects to record sales this year of almost 700 million Swiss francs ($556 million), Quadrant officials said in a news release. About 80 percent of that total comes from processing high-performance engineering plastics. The combined operations will employ 2,300.

    The companies should be far ahead of any competitors for semi-finished parts from specialty materials, said Poly Hi Solidur Americas President Harold Epps. Poly Hi already is considered the largest worldwide maker of machinable UHMW PE parts, Epps said.

    ``We're putting together two leading companies, with No. 1 brands for engineered plastic parts,'' Epps said in a telephone interview June 27, the date the deal was announced. ``I think we did well in forming this marriage.''

    Menasha Corp. of Neenah, Wis., has owned Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Poly Hi since 1973. The Wisconsin holding company decided earlier this year to look for a buyer and focus more attention on its growing returnable-packaging business, said Menasha spokesman Michael John. Menasha also owns Orbis Corp. of Oconomowoc, Wis., a leading North American maker of plastic materials-handling systems.

    The Poly Hi business was a large plum and attracted much attention, John said. Richmond, Va.-based investment firm Harris Williams & Co. solicited bids for the company and found a good match in Quadrant, John said. The business never went to auction after Quadrant moved aggressively to buy Poly Hi, he said.

    Poly Hi has built a strong global presence, establishing a European base in Vreden, Germany, not far from Quadrant's headquarters in Zurich, Epps said. The company also has plants in France, England, Japan and South Africa, according to John.

    The company also has three U.S.-based operations, including a recently expanded facility in Fort Wayne and plants in Delmont and Scranton, Pa., Epps said. The UHMW PE parts maker recorded sales of $169 million last year and has more than 1,000 employees, almost half of them in North America, he said.

    Poly Hi is a major provider of machinable industrial parts, including gears, bearings and liners for tanks and silos. The company also makes a range of engineered products from PE, UMHW PE and polypropylene, including food-processing equipment and front skis for snowmobiles. Its Meditech unit, which make shapes for prosthetic devices and orthopedic implants, was boosted in February by a $2.5 million investment. The company works with a range of specialty machinery, performing compression molding, fabrication and ram extrusion. Poly Hi claims to have the largest ram-extrusion operation in the world, at its Fort Wayne site.

    Poly Hi and Quadrant both are strong in industrial channels, Epps said. Quadrant supplies engineered products for conveying and packing lines and was one of the first companies to provide stock machinable parts in North America, Schwartz added. The companies plan to sell some products through similar channels, Epps said.

    Quadrant has 1,300 employees at 27 sites, including North American production in Reading, Wytheville, Va., and Guelph, Ontario, Schwartz said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    One killed, two injured in shooting at WeatherTech facility
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Pandemic-prompted reshoring creates growth for medical injection molders
    2
    Lego to build $1B US molding plant
    3
    Boston Group consolidating, growing in Ohio
    4
    Atkore buys HDPE pipe maker United Poly, continuing M&A push
    5
    Numbers that Matter Live - June 2022
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified