Hot-runner specialist Mold-Masters Ltd. of Georgetown, Ontario, has taken another step toward becoming a full-service provider.
It recently acquired PMS Systems, a Hereford, England-based supplier of hot-runner temperature controls. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to a Mold-Masters news release, the combined businesses create “one of the world's largest hot-runner controller manufacturing companies and the global leader in hot-runner control technology.”
The Oct. 12 announcement came a month after Mold-Masters announced a move into PET preform molds through a partnership with Abba Systems Ltd., a precision machining company in Brantford, Ontario.
To gain maximum publicity, Mold-Masters issued both press releases just before two major trade shows: Drinktec, held September 14-19 in Munich, and Fakuma, held Oct. 13-17 in Fried-richshafen.
Mold-Masters will retain PMS Systems' Hereford plant, which will be the company's European manufacturing facility and the global development headquarters for controllers, said Bruce Catoen, Mold-Masters' vice president of marketing and product development.
Mold-Masters and PMS Systems have worked together in the past to develop and supply microprocessor-based temperature controllers, according to Jon-athon Fischer, president and CEO of Mold-Masters.
“This seamless working relationship has enabled our two companies to take the next natural step and become a single company. We believe strongly in the strengths of PMS, and together we will create additional value for our growing customer base,” he said.
Mold-Masters will retain the PMS distributor network, including Innovative Manufacturing Solutions Inc. of Lynnfield, Mass.
“Distributors such as IMSI and others bring significant knowledge and relationships in hot-runner controls. Combining the strength of this network with the industry's most advanced controllers is a powerful combination of technology and experience,” Patrick Bennett, executive vice president of sales for Mold-Masters, said in the release.
PMS was founded in 1974 by Iain Nunn, Andrew Reed and Stephen Kench. PMS Systems claims to be the largest manufacturer of hot-runner controllers in the United Kingdom.
Reed and Kench will remain with the company under the new ownership. Nunn will retire, a company spokesman said.
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