An international private equity firm has made a ``significant investment'' in Mold-Masters Ltd., a major producer of hot runners based in Georgetown.
According to an Aug. 8 news release announcing the investment by 3i Group plc, the deal ``will enable Mold-Masters to accelerate its international expansion in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, and consider acquisition opportunities both in the hot-runner segment and beyond.''
3i Group is based in London but employs 250 in 14 countries across Europe, Asia and the United States. Each year, 3i invests more than 2.7 billion euros ($3.7 billion).
Mold-Masters and 3i did not spell out the level of the investment. A Mold-Masters news release called 3i ``the world's leading growth capital investor.'' According to 3i's Web site, the 3i growth capital operation invests 10 million euros to 150 million euros a year ($14 million to $207 million) to acquire minority holdings in companies.
Officials of the companies were not available for immediate comment, but Toronto's The Globe and Mail newspaper reported 3i is buying 49 percent of Mold-Masters.
3i also does venture capital financing for young companies.
``We were fortunate to have some interesting alternatives in choosing a private equity partner, enabling us to pick 3i for all the right reasons,'' Mold-Masters President Jonathan Fischer said in a news release. ``We feel that 3i brings the right combination of industry knowledge, international capabilities and patient capital.''
Fischer is the son-in-law of Jobst and Waltraud Gellert, who founded Mold-Masters in 1963.
Mold-Masters' new chairman will be Hamdi Conger, an industrialist who held that post at several of 3i's portfolio companies.
Conger has international experience in Europe and Asia, two growth markets for Mold-Masters.
