Private equity firm buys film maker Troy
OLD GREENWICH, CONN. — Old Greenwich-based private equity firm Clearview Capital LLC has acquired decorative films manufacturer Troy Industries Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
The deal closed April 13.
Troy's products are used in plastic laminating applications for engraving stock, signage and window blinds, according to a Clearview Capital news release.
Trenton, N.C.-based Troy uses polyethylene films in its process, said Jim Andersen, co-managing partner of Clearview Capital, in an April 24 telephone interview.
“We're a relatively opportunistic buyer,” Andersen said. “This business has had a very strong position in engraving stock and now they're amassing position in new opportunities like window blinds. It's our job to help them do that.”
As part of the transaction, Clearview also assumes ownership of Algonquin, Ill.-based Innovative Plastics Inc., which will operate as part of Troy, the release said.
Clearview Capital is the former majority shareholder in Compression Polymers Group — the parent company of cellular PVC trim and decking extruder Azek Building Products Inc. of Moosic, Pa. Clearview sold its majority stake but remains a minority owner in Azek, according to Andersen.
Mold, tooling makers form auto coalition
ROLLING MEADOWS, ILL. — Tool and die associations and independent mold makers are joining forces to create the North American Automotive Tooling Coalition to speak with a unified voice for tool, die and mold makers in the auto industry.
The National Tooling & Machining Association in Fort Washington, Md.; the American Mold Builders Association in Rolling Meadows; the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association in Cambridge, Ontario; and the Precision Metalforming Association in Independence, Ohio, will work together through the coalition.
“We are much stronger if we unify and convey a common message to elected officials, industry representatives and policy makers that innovation is derived from this sector, and without tooling, production parts and components cannot be manufactured,” coalition members said in an April 20 news release announcing the group's formation.
The coalition will focus on five major issues:
* Encouraging President Obama's auto task force to meet with all parts of the auto industry.
* Work with key legislators in Canada and the U.S. interested in supporting the industry.
* Provide information for members on how to cope with a possible bankruptcy by either General Motors Corp. or Chrysler LLC.
* Continue existing talks with the auto task force on key issues facing tool and die makers.
* Discuss the concerns of toolmakers with local and national media.
NatureWorks opens PLA applications lab
MINNETONKA, MINN. — NatureWorks LLC has spent $1 million to convert a former pilot plant into a bioplastics application lab in Savage, Minn.
The recently opened lab can perform commercial-grade compounding, sheet extrusion, thermoforming, injection molding and fiber spinning of NatureWorks' Ingeo-brand bioplastic.
Some work done at the lab demonstrates Ingeo's processing characteristics to converters and allows the company to work side-by-side with brand owners to test their product concepts, NatureWorks President and CEO Marc Verbruggen said in an April 22 news release.
The new lab has the capability to melt-compound Ingeo-based formulations at a rate of up to 300 pounds per hour.
NatureWorks' Minnesota lab has co-operative research agreements in the state with the University of Minnesota, Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie and Interpoll Laboratories Inc. of Circle Pines.
NatureWorks operates a 150 million-pound-capacity plant making Ingeo — a corn-based polylactic acid — in Blair, Neb. Another 150 million pounds of capacity is slated to start there in June.
NatureWorks, based in Minnetonka, is a joint venture between Cargill Inc. of Minneapolis and Teijin Ltd. of Osaka, Japan.