Management buys Avon's auto division
MELKSHAM, ENGLAND - The management team of Avon Rubber plc's automotive division will buy the unit with backing from a New York private equity firm in a deal worth more than $100 million.
Avon Automotive, based in Cadillac, Mich., has annual sales of $349 million, producing both plastic and rubber auto parts from 12 facilities in the U.S., Europe, India and Turkey.
The $118.8 million deal, announced May 22, still must win the Avon Rubber board's final approval, expected in mid-June. Red Diamond Capital is backing the management-led buyout. Lee Richards, divisional managing director for Avon Automotive, will oversee the independent business.
The split will allow the auto unit to focus on its product lines while Avon Rubber of Melksham focuses on business in the dairy, aerosol gaskets and engineered fabrications markets.
For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, Avon Automotive generated operating profit of $16.6 million, according to financial data posted by Avon Rubber.
WinCup plans to close Florida facility
Phoenix, Ariz. - Disposable cup producer WinCup Holdings Inc. will close its Jacksonville, Fla., plant as part of a cost-cutting program under way at parent Radnor Holdings Corp.
Sixty-seven people will be laid off in Jacksonville on July 18, according to a Web site notice from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.
Radnor Holdings said in a May 19 news release that WinCup will consolidate the Jacksonville operation into other, unnamed facilities. Radnor Holdings aims to trim its total U.S. workforce by about 10 percent, cut production costs, improve manufacturing efficiencies and reduce nonoperating costs.
``Our goal is to restore profitability and drive improved performance at each of our business units,'' said Radnor Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Kennedy in a news release. Radnor Holdings had an operating loss of $43.3 million last year despite a 5.1 percent rise in sales to $464.6 million.
The Radnor, Pa., firm expects to save $16 million to $19 million annually from the cost-cutting program before implementation costs of about $2 million to $4 million.
WinCup, based in Phoenix, makes disposable plastic cups, bowls, containers, cutlery and lids. Its line includes trays, measuring cups and similar disposable items for medical uses.
Conwed acquires Polynet and cuts jobs
Minneapolis - Plastic netting manufacturer Conwed Plastics Inc. on May 19 announced that it had acquired Polynet Inc. of Palmer, Mass., and plans to integrate Polynet's operations with another company that Conwed owns.
Polynet extrudes netting for packaging of produce, meat, poultry, toys and specialty items. According to a news release, Polynet will be integrated with NSW LLC, which makes netting for filtration and packaging in Roanoke, Va.
The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Mass., reported that the 25 Polynet employees were notified May 15 of the sale and sent home. It also said the company's equipment was being dismantled. Calls to Conwed and Polynet were not returned.
Conwed, which is based in Minneapolis, has four worldwide manufacturing plants. It makes plastic netting for products ranging from consumer-packaged goods to building materials.
Tekni-Plex constructing plant in China
Somerville, N.J. - Tekni-Plex Inc., a diversified maker of plastics and rubber packaging and tubing, plans to open a manufacturing plant in China, aimed at several of the company's markets including pharmaceutical and medical products.
The Somerville-based company said the plant, to be built in Suzhou, also will serve its closure-liner and consumer product markets, and provide direct sales of PVC resins and compounds.
A company news release did not say when Tekni-Plex Technologies (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. will open nor provide manufacturing details, but it said the plant is being set up.
Tekni-Plex said Asia is an important base of operation for many of its multinational customers.
Privately held Tekni-Plex, which had an estimated $635 million in sales in 2004, operates 34 plants with 3,100 employees worldwide but does most of its business in the Americas.
