A&R Logistics Inc. has made its second deal of the year, this time buying Pacific Chemical Distribution Corp. for an undisclosed price.
The purchase completes A&R's goal of having ``a strong presence on both coasts,'' A&R President Jeff O'Connor said in a May 15 phone interview. Earlier this year, Morris, Ill.-based A&R bought a defunct plant from resin maker Nova Chemicals Corp. in Chesapeake, Va.
Pacific Chemical Distribution — based in Buena Park, Calif. — operates a bulk resin transportation business that's similar to that of A&R, O'Connor said. PCD employs 85 in a 250,000-square-foot warehouse in Buena Park, which is in the Los Angeles area. The firm also owns and operates a fleet of 85 trucks and vans.
``The reason we were interested is because of their strong regional packaging and warehouse presence in Southern California,'' O'Connor explained. ``We also were attracted by their people and by the high quality of services they provide to customers.''
The deal includes PCD's Pacific Bulk Transportation Co. Inc. unit, also in Buena Park. PCD owners Jim Tausz and Tim Inzana — who founded the firm in the late 1970s — will remain with the company.
PCD also will give A&R more access to resin brokers and compounders, in addition to the major resin makers that A&R already works with, O'Connor said. PCD distributes commodity resins such as polypropylene and polystyrene and also does work in engineering resins. The firm's main geographic territory includes California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and a small portion of Mexico.
In Chesapeake, A&R has added some rail capacity and is ramping up the compounding lines that Nova had shut down in late 2006. A&R plans to use the site's six lines to do toll compounding work for resin makers. The 64-acre site now employs 15, but O'Connor said that A&R expects that number to reach 70. A&R already has relocated it regional trucking operations there from another site in Chesapeake.
Overall, A&R operates from 24 U.S. facilities, using a fleet of 700 semi-tractor rigs and 1,100 bulk and dry van trailers. The firm employs 930 but does not disclose sales data.