IDEX buys fabricator Eastern Plastics
NORTHBROOK, ILL. - Plastics fabricator Eastern Plastics Inc. was acquired by IDEX Corp. of Northbrook in a deal that closed May 2. Terms were not disclosed.
EPI had sales of about $30 million last year, according to a news release from IDEX. Its products are used in medical diagnostics, analytical instrumentation and laboratory automation.
``EPI's expertise in advanced design in integrated fluidics applications builds on our existing expertise in medical diagnostics and devices and also moves our company into some completely new fields,'' said Larry Kingsley, IDEX chairman and chief executive officer, in an April 25 news release. He said IDEX has a growing presence in health and life-sciences products.
EPI will continue as a separate entity, keeping its name, and it expects to retain its top management, according to Susan Fisher, IDEX director of investor relations.
Eastern completed a major expansion in May 2005, boosting its overall space for plastic machining and assembly to 60,000 square feet at its Bristol, Conn., headquarters. At the time, it had about 200 employees.
IDEX, traded on the New York and Chicago stock exchanges, specializes in fluid-handling technologies for positive displacement pumps and metering products, dispensing equipment for color formulation and other engineered products. Among its products are fire suppression equipment, rescue tools and engineered band clamping systems.
Milacron elaborates on consolidation
CINCINNATI - Milacron Inc. has put a number on cost-cutting layoffs at its injection press factory in Malterdingen, Gemany - as many as 90 employees.
The German operation, Ferromatik Milacron Maschinenbau GmbH, had announced March 7 that it would reduce capacity and lay off workers. More details were given May 1, when Milacron announced its first-quarter results.
The Cincinnati plastics machinery maker said management and the union and the local Works Council in Malterdingen have agreed to restructure the business. The council ``is making several concessions, including a reduction of up to 90 employees.''
The plant employs 450. Plant workers are represented by Germany's industrial union, IG Metall.
Milacron also said its D-M-E mold parts business is moving ahead with consolidation efforts in North America and Europe. Milacron expects the restructuring to save about $15 million a year, of which $3 million to $4 million will come in late 2006.
The firm's first-quarter sales were $202.4 million, a 5.2 percent increase over the period in 2005. New orders rose 11 percent to $225 million, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2000.
But Milacron lost $9.6 million in the first quarter. In last year's first quarter, the company lost $9.1 million.
Ronald Brown, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said that although the first quarter is typically the weakest one, ``we are encouraged by the strong level of new orders, many of which reflect improved pricing.''
Michigan tool-zone slots still available
LANSING, MICH. - The state of Michigan is accepting applications for the last openings in its Tool and Die Recovery Zone program, which permits toolmakers to operate free of nearly all state and local taxes for up to 15 years.
Six of 25 zones still are available to individual companies and tooling coalitions. The state designated its first eight recovery zones - taking in 33 companies - in 2004. Last year it approved 11 coalitions representing 92 companies.
Toolmakers can apply individually or as regional groups. To qualify, the property must be used primarily for tool and die operations, have fewer than 75 employees and enter collaborative agreements to work with other shops in the program.
Information is available from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. in Lansing.
BASF buying part of Lustran business
LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY - BASF AG is buying part of the Lustran styrene acrylonitrile business from Lanxess AG for an undisclosed price. The deal includes customer lists, patent licenses and inventory in Europe and South America.
BASF will supply new customers from a Luran plant at its headquarters in Ludwigshafen. The business being sold to BASF accounts for about 31 million pounds of SAN annually.
