Accel Plastics Inc. has acquired about half of the former Elixir Industries Custom Thermoformed Plastics business.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Accel, based in Auburn, Wash., recently took delivery of molds from Elixir's plant in Vancouver, Wash. Molds for the remaining half of Elixir's thermoforming business are being returned to customers.
Accel General Manager John Crawford said in a telephone interview that the molds Accel accepted are for industries including medical devices, trans- portation, materials handling and point-of-purchase displays.
“Accel Plastics has been in business for more than 20 years, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to diversify and grow our business in one of the worst economies in recent memory,” Crawford said in a news release.
On Jan. 30, Mission Viejo, Calif.-based Elixir, a custom fabricator of plastic and metal parts for numerous end markets, closed the doors on its thermoforming business and sent the machinery to an undisclosed location.
Plastics News estimates Elixir's thermoforming sales were about $2.5 million in 2007, as the firm lost contracts in the heavy-truck industry and its customers moved production out of the Pacific Northwest.
Accel runs eight thermoforming stations with dimensions as large as 6 feet by 10 feet. It has seven numerically controlled trimming machines and employs 35. The family-owned company manufactures products for a variety of markets, except packaging.
Stopol Business Services LLC of Solon, Ohio, helped Elixir and Accel conclude the transaction. Don Kruschke, Stopol's executive vice president, said in an interview that such deals could multiply.
“Certain smaller operations can't sustain themselves in today's economic climate,” Kruschke said.