Custom injection molder Mold-Rite Plastics Inc. of Plattsburgh, N.Y., will join private equity firm Irving Place Capital's portfolio of companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The transaction also will bring Phil Yates, formerly chairman and CEO of Graham Packaging Holdings Co. of York, Pa., to Mold-Rite as executive chairman.
Since June 2007, Yates has served as a senior adviser to New York-based IPC (formerly Bear Stearns Merchant Banking). He brings to Mold-Rite over 35 years of industry experience. According to Graham spokesman Donald Sarvey, Yates was Graham's CEO from 1998 to 2006, when he retired but stayed on as board chairman.
During his tenure at Graham, Yates drove its sales from $500 million to $2.5 billion and was responsible for initiating several new packaging technologies.
“Mold-Rite is a highly successful business in one of the most attractive sectors [caps and closures] of the packaging industry,” Yates said in a June 22 news release. “The company has substantial growth potential and I am confident that with IPC's deep industry knowledge and significant resources, we will be able to quickly execute a number of initiatives to further support the needs of our customers.”
Mold-Rite manufactures plastic caps, child-resistant closures, vials, and jars for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and personal-care markets.
In its 397,000-square-foot Plattsburgh plant, the firm runs about 100 presses with clamping forces ranging from 125-550 tons, as well as 500 molds and 35 cap-lining machines.
In 2009, Mold-Rite invested about $1.5 million to expand its custom injection molding capacity with additional machinery from KraussMaffei.
IPC's other plastics businesses are water-bottle maker CamelBak Products LLC of Petaluma, Calif.; packaging manufacturer Chesapeake Corp. of Old Amersham, England; and playground equipment maker PlayCore Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn. IPC also owns New York-based Multi Packaging Solutions. Inc., a printing and specialty packaging supplier.
“The acquisition of Mold-Rite is an exciting development for IPC's packaging effort,” Phil Carpenter, a senior managing director at IPC, said in the release. “We have been actively looking to invest in the caps and closures segment for some time and Mold-Rite is an exceptional platform.”
The acquisition is expected to close within 60 days.
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