Investment firm Spell Capital Partners LLC has made its third plastic materials deal of the past 18 months. This time, Minneapolis-based Spell has purchased compounder Prime PVC Inc. of Marion, Ind., for an undisclosed amount.
Officially, the acquisition was made by PVC Compounders Inc., a Kendallville, Ind.-based compounder that Spell bought in February 2006. Spell then used PVC Compounders to buy Breen Color Concentrates Inc. of Lambertville, N.J., in December.
Prime PVC makes PVC-based compounds for several markets, including construction, furniture, automotive, consumer and medical. The firm employs about 100 at two buildings covering about 110,000 square feet in Marion.
In a deal announced May 29, Spell bought the 15-year-old business from majority owner Manoj Bhargava and minority owner Ed Snyder. PVC Compounders also employs about 100 at plants in Kendallville and in El Paso, Texas.
PVC Compounders President Rich Leary said in a news release that the acquisitions of Prime PVC and Breen ``will significantly enhance PVC Compounders' position as an industry leader in terms of customer support, service and innovation.''
Prime PVC and PVC Compounders are located about 90 minutes apart, but Leary said in a May 30 phone interview that the two firms were not competitors. Prime focuses on rigid PVC compounds, while PVC Compounders does works mostly in flexible PVC.
The deal gives Spell Capital six plastics firms in its nine-company manufacturing portfolio. Spell-owned firms have total annual sales of more than $1 billion.
Separate sales figures for Prime PVC and PVC Compounders were not disclosed. Breen's annual sales have been estimated at $15 million by industry sources.
Leary said the firm ``will look to grow organically, and by acquisition if the right deal comes along.''