Film extruder Clopay Plastics Products Co. has purchased the remaining 40 percent share of a joint venture in Germany.
Mason, Ohio-based Clopay paid $82 million July 1 to buy the rest of Finotech Verbundstoffe GmbH & Co. KG, a film extruder and converter of hygiene and industrial products. The operation, based in Aschersleben, Germany, had been co-owned by BBA Group plc of London since its 1996 founding, said Clopay President Gary Abyad.
Clopay wants to align Finotech with Clopay's European expansion goals. While BBA also makes nonwoven films, the firms decided that Finotech is more closely associated with Clopay's operations, Abyad said July 6.
The operation, comprising two facilities on a larger campus in Aschersleben, makes breathable, strip-laminated and nonbreathable products such as back sheet for diapers, protective apparel and barrier membranes for roofing.
Finotech has an eight-color, flexographic printing press, added when the firm opened APA Advanced Printing Aschersleben GmbH in 2003. Finotech installed its fourth film extrusion line two years ago, hiking capacity more than 30 percent, Abyad said. The campus also includes other suppliers, including a maker of thermally bonded nonwoven and fiber materials.
The company wants to expand, especially in the hygiene area, throughout Europe and the Middle East, Abyad said. Finotech has about 250 workers.
Clopay had record sales of $411.3 million last year, Abyad said. The firm is owned by Griffon Corp. of Jericho, N.Y.
