ITW buys plastic packaging firm BagCo
GLENVIEW, ILL. - Diversified manufacturer Illinois Tool Works Inc. of Glenview has acquired reclosable plastic packaging company BagCo Inc. of Kennesaw, Ga.
BagCo is privately held with roughly $13 million in sales, ITW officials said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction closed July 17.
According to court documents, BagCo's owner is Nossi Taheri. An operator at BagCo said July 19 that Taheri currently is out of the country.
BagCo imports bags from Asia, according to one ITW official. BagCo has been a nonexclusive licensee of ITW's Color Line trademark, ITW's method for closing zippered bags.
An issue related to ITW's trademark recently put the two companies in court against each other. According to documents from U.S. District Court in Atlanta, ITW filed a civil suit against BagCo in 2004, alleging that BagCo had breached a limited, non-exclusive license to use ITW's trademarks.
In April of this year, the companies voluntarily dismissed the complaint and all counterclaims, according to court documents. It is not clear if ITW's purchase of BagCo is related to that case. Lawyers for the companies said they could not comment, and company officials did not return telephone calls to answer questions related to the lawsuit.
Cadence reports possible plant closings
TROY, MICH. - Auto supplier Cadence Innovation LLC has told workers at four Michigan facilities that the plants may close by the end of the summer.
On July 5, the Troy-based firm sent official notice to the state of Michigan that it would close its Grand Blanc plant by Aug. 31 if it does not find a buyer for the site. A day later, it sent notice that three other plants - in Fraser, Sterling Heights and Troy - could close Sept. 6 without a buyer.
Cadence officials did not respond to requests for comment on the closures.
The company, created in 2005 from the assets of the former Venture Holdings Co. LLC, has been restructuring. It also is seeking a buyer for four facilities in France.
O-I, LCTH team up for specialty molding
TOLEDO, OHIO - Toledo-based Owens-Illinois Inc. has created a joint venture with LCTH Corp. Berhad of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to make specialty molded parts.
The venture will operate as O-I Plastics Malaysia Sdn Bhd, O-I said in a July 13 news release. It will begin operations next year from a factory owned by a subsidiary of LCTH.
The joint venture replaces manufacturing that O-I originally handled through a wholly owned facility in Singapore. It initially will make parts for inkjet printer cartridges.
LCTH is a 65 percent-owned subsidiary of Fu Yu Corp. Ltd. of Singapore, which manufactures and assembles plastic parts for the electrical and electronics industries.
Fabri-Kal unit brings extrusion in-house
KALAMAZOO, MICH. - Thermoformer Fabri-Kal Corp. is bringing in-line extrusion in-house for its XP Express Packaging Solutions division in Kalamazoo.
One new line will be installed in August to run polylactide and PET, President Mike Roeder said in a July 19 telephone interview. Fabri-Kal will invest $2 million in the project, and the company is seeking a six-year tax abatement.
``We'll have a wider range of flexibility with in-line extrusion,'' Roeder said. ``It's more about shorter lead times, better cost position and better service flexibility.''
Fabri-Kal, which is based in Kalamazoo, will add about 10 employees with the expansion. It currently employs 100 at that site.
The Kalamazoo City Commission will hold a public hearing on Fabri-Kal's personal equipment tax abatement request, commission officials said in a July 19 telephone interview.
Through its XP division, Fabri-Kal handles small-volume thermoforming packaging runs for applications including focus groups, test markets, promotions, sales samples and regional launches.
Fabri-Kal operates thermoforming sites in Hazleton, Pa., and Greenville, S.C. Each of those locations already is equipped with in-line extrusion, Roeder said.