Entec Polymers LLC is merging with North America Group Inc. to create a massive plastics firm with more than $1 billion of annual sales in resin distribution, compounding and recycling.
The combined Entec-NAG company will distribute more than 1.6 billion pounds of resin annually and employ 88 sales representatives. Orlando, Fla.-based Entec first bought a one-third share of NAG in May.
The combined entity will operate under the Entec name in the United States and Canada, and under GeoChem International in Mexico and Central and South America. Previously, NAG had operated as Geochem in Latin America; Goldmark Distribution in the U.S.; and Pyramid Polymers in Canada.
Entec President David Der Hagopian said that the merger creates ``the most diverse distribution company in the Americas, with a breadth of products rivaling anyone.''
Newton, Mass.-based NAG was formed in early 2003 by industry veteran James Duffy, who gradually combined six smaller resin distributors. NAG distributes a range of commodity resins throughout the Americas.
Entec distributes engineering resins for BASF, Ticona, Chi Mei, Formosa Plastics and other suppliers. The 21-year-old firm also operates a compounding plant in Manchester, Tenn., a recycling plant in Hempstead, Texas, and major warehouses in Barberton, Ohio, and Plainfield Ill.
The commodity business will continue to be run from Newton and the merger will have no impact on either firm's management or employee counts, Duffy said in a telephone interview. The two firms ``have a great geographic fit with little overlap in sales, product offerings or supply lines,'' officials said in an April 3 news release.
Also in the release, Der Hagopian pointed out that market forces continue to push the resin distribution sector toward consolidation.
Both Entec and NAG have been active in that consolidation. Entec bought West Coast Polymers in 2003, while Duffy's shopping spree at NAG included Goldmark Plastics International Inc. of New Hyde Park, N.Y.; Pro Resins Inc. of East Kingston, N.H.; New York-based Parachute Polymers; Material Partnerships of Houston; Pyramid Polymers Inc. in Toronto; and Geochem International Corp. of Rowayton, Conn.
The merger makes Entec one of the largest resin distributors in North America.
Official numbers are hard to come by in the field, but Ashland Inc. of Ashland, Ky., estimates its annual resin distribution sales at $1 billion. GE Plastics of Pittsfield, Mass., also claims $1 billion in sales for its Polymerland resin distribution business, though its distribution for non-GE suppliers has diminished in recent years. H. Muehlstein & Co. Inc. reports a total distribution volume of about 3 billion pounds of resin per year, but the Norwalk, Conn.-based firm does not provide geographic details or disclose how much of that business is in prime resin. Muehlstein's distribution volume includes rubber products.