Diamond building Ariz. PVC pipe plant
GRAND ISLAND, NEB. - PVC pipe maker Diamond Plastics Corp. is building a new extrusion plant in Casa Grande, Ariz., near Phoenix.
It will be the Grand Island-based company's seventh plant in the United States.
Diamond is building the 75,000-square-foot plant on about 40 acres. The firm expects to employ about 65 at the new location.
Lori Gary, executive director of the Greater Casa Grande Valley Economic Development Foundation, said Diamond is finalizing the building plans now and will break ground after getting a building permit, probably in the next three months.
Diamond will extrude pipe for the water, sewer and irrigation markets, she said in a June 8 telephone interview.
Diamond officials declined to comment.
Plastics News estimates the firm sold about $322 million worth of pipe last year.
75-year-old Badger Plug acquires GMP
GREENVILLE, WIS. - Packaging component supplier Badger Plug Co. is celebrating its 75th anniversary by purchasing GMP-Genpak Inc., a custom spool maker based in Huntley, Ill.
No purchase price was disclosed in a recent news release from Greenville-based Badger, which bills itself as the world's largest manufacturer of roll suspension and protection products. Products made by both Badger and GMP are used in plastic wire and cable and film production.
Badger said the acquisition allows the firm to expand its spool line to serve all light- to medium-weight spooling applications. Badger's products include core plugs, end boards, sleeve plugs, pad plugs, tube closures and spool plugs.
``This is a small acquisition for us, but it dovetails nicely into what we do,'' Badger sales manager Tom Duffy said in a phone interview.
GMP opened in 1970 and produces custom spools from chipboard and hardboard. The firm employs six and claims that its Easy Reel brand is North America's most widely used spool suspension system for wire and cable products. GMP previously had been a customer of Badger's for some products, Duffy said.
Badger employs 180 at sites in Greenville and Walworth, Wis.
Watts Water nabs tube maker Calflex
NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. - Watts Water Technologies Inc. has acquired Calflex Manufacturing Inc., a Vernon, Calif., maker of tube and hose for the plumbing industry.
In the deal announced June 2, Watts Water purchased Calflex's assets from Barbour Corp. of Brockton, Mass. Terms were not disclosed. Calls to management at Barbour and Watts Water were not returned.
Watts said in news release that Calflex produces water connectors and complementary products that also are made by Watts in North America and Asia. It said Calflex markets its brands to the wholesale, original equipment manufacturing and do-it-yourself markets, with sales of about $7 million a year.
Barbour's Web site said Calflex has a 50,000-square-foot facility in Vernon, which is near Los Angeles, as well as an 80,000-square-foot operation in Ningbo, China.
Watts Water is headquartered in North Andover.
Barbour makes marine products, shoe welts, plumbing and fluid-conveyance systems.
GeoChem buys Mexico's Technoplast
NEWTON, MASS. - GeoChem International has purchased Technoplast srl, a resin distribution company based in Mexico City.
No purchase price was disclosed. GeoChem is the Latin American resin distribution arm of North America Group Inc., a major distributor based in Newton. After the acquisition, GeoChem's annual sales will be more than $180 million.
``Technoplast diversifies GeoChem's supply and customer base, allowing the company to be less dependent on what was a narrow product offering,'' NAG President James Duffy said in a news release.
Technoplast is a branded distributor for DuPont Co., Dow Chemical Co. and Indelpro SA. The firm also distributes BASF Corp.'s nylon 6 resin in Mexico and does a smaller amount of work in wide-spec and off-spec material.
The firm has annual sales of about $40 million.