The family that owned thermoformer Rohrer Corp. has sold its controlling interest to ShoreView Industries, a Minneapolis-based private equity firm.
Financial advising firm Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc. of Chicago announced the deal Jan. 25. Terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 1973 by brothers John and David Rohrer, Wadsworth, Ohio-based Rohrer manufactures thermoformed blister packaging as well as paper card stock for blisters and folding paper cartons. Rohrer's operations consist of plants in Wadsworth; Buford, Ga.; and Huntley, Ill.
The firm had estimated thermoforming sales of $16.5 million in 2008 and employed about 60. It processes materials including PET, glycol-modified PET, polystyrene and PVC.
“They've been a model company with a lot of innovation and have fared well in a tough time,” Rick Weil, Mesirow's investment banking director, said of Rohrer in a Jan. 26 telephone interview. He said the Rohrer family continues to own part of the company, but would not give details.
After a competitive marketing process, ShoreView offered the most compelling fit for Rohrer, Weil said. Rohrer did not return calls seeking comment. According to its Web site, ShoreView manages $600 million in equity capital. Its plastics-related businesses include World Wide Packaging Inc. of Florham Park, N.J., which imports Chinese-made cosmetics packaging; TMI International LLC of Pittsburgh, which extrudes flexible PVC for industrial energy-control and dock doors; automotive-parts extruder, dip molder and injection molder Caplugs, a division of Protective Industries Inc. of Buffalo, N.Y.; and injection molder Axygen Scientific Inc. of Union City, Calif., which makes pipettes, sealing mats, films, test tube racks, and other items for the medical research industry.
Copyright 2010 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved.