Jet Industries Inc, a longtime maker of disposable injection molded plastic cutlery, has new owners: MCG Capital Corp. of Arlington, Va., and Boyne Capital Advisors of Miami.
Trivest Partners LP of Miami announced the sale Sept. 25. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Jet Industries, which is also known as Jet Plastica, has more than 600 employees at its 300,000-square-foot headquarters in Hatfield, Pa. It also has a 160,000-square-foot facility in Fowler, Calif. The company makes cutlery, straws, tumblers and dinnerware.
``We see it as a stand-alone investment and we hope to see it grow independently. We're very pleased as it is. We think it has a good growth strategy and a good management team,'' said William Ford, senior vice president and a managing director of MCG, in a telephone interview.
He said MCG also is looking at a few other plastic-related companies for investment, and that his firm invests in a range of industries. MCG Capital is a publicly traded business development company that deals with small and midsize companies.
Jet Plastica was a pioneer in plastic cutlery when it started in 1947, and is now a major provider of disposable tableware to the institutional food-service, fast-food and paper distribution markets.
Boyne Capital is a new equity company and is affiliated with former Trivest partner Derek McDowell.
According to a Trident news release, it received cash for its 100 percent stake in Jet. Trivest acquired Jet in June 1997. The company said that the sales price to the new owners, along with a prior dividend recapitalization, generated a return that was three times its original investment.
Trivest's portfolio also consists of Atlantis Plastics Inc., a film and profile extruder and injection molder in Atlanta.