NEX Performance, Charter Films merge
MILTON, WIS. — Film extruders NEX Performance Films Inc. and Charter Films Inc. have merged and will now do business as Charter NEX Films. Charter NEX will be led by members of both company's management teams.
NEX and Charter “serve similar markets; have outstanding industry reputations, complementary areas of specialization and a long history of mutual respect,” the firms said in a news release.
Charter NEX plans to invest in additional extrusion capacity in the near future to serve growing demand.
NEX, based in Milton, makes monolayer, coextruded and barrier films for flexible packaging. The firm has plants in Rhinelander, Wis., and Turner Falls, Mass., and reported annual sales of $110 million, according to the most recent Plastics News ranking. NEX is owned by Milwaukee private equity firm Mason Wells.
Charter of Superior, Wis., extrudes blown film for agriculture, automotive, consumer goods, and food and beverage packaging.
Charter NEX will continue producing monolayer, coextruded and barrier films for a variety of high-performance film applications and will continue to operate its plants in Superior, Rhineland, Milton and Turners Falls.
Constar shuttering plant, shifting focus
TREVOSE, PA. — Constar International LLC will close an injection molding plant and consolidate operations at another facility in response to the end of a bottling contract business.
The closure at Jackson, Miss., will cut 40 jobs by the end of January, the Trevose-based specialty plastic packing firm said in a Dec. 21 press release. Another 40 jobs will end in Havre de Grace, Md., by the end of March.
“With a large contract to supply commodity [carbonated soft drink] products expiring at the end of 2012, we had to choose between devoting more resources to low-value-adding activity, or reducing that activity significantly and sharpening focus where we add greater value,” said CEO Andre Laus in a news release.
Jackson has injection molding operations, while Havre de Grace has both injection molding and specialty blow molding in two buildings. The operations in Maryland will be consolidated into one building as part of the restructuring.
Constar emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2011 as a private company.
The firm said it is focusing on specialty plastic packaging and “reducing its exposure” to the commodity carbonated soft drink bottling market. “The markets we serve are rapidly changing and we must change too,” Laus said. “Many of the assets that were formerly dedicated to supply of commodity CSD product can be retooled to support our growth in specialty markets, but we will also continue to invest in new machines and technologies.”
Saint-Gobain buys American Fluoroseal
AURORA, OHIO — Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. has purchased American Fluoroseal Corp. in a move that will allow Saint-Gobain to expand its product offerings for specific medical and pharmaceutical production.
American Fluoroseal has engineering and manufacturing in Gaithersburg, Md., and was a leader in the early design and use of fluorinated ethylene propylene bags. Its products are used in the medical industry and for sterile sampling systems for pharmaceutical products.
Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in Aurora will use AFC's products for specific cell-culture applications in biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing, the company said in a Jan. 2 news release. AFC's operations will become part of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics' fluid systems division. The companies did not immediately disclose terms of the acquisition.
UFP purchases Packaging Alternatives
GEORGETOWN, MASS. — UFP Technologies Inc., a maker of custom packaging and specialty component products, has acquired Packaging Alternatives Corp., a Costa Mesa, Calif., full-service designer, converter and distributor of foam plastic products.
Packaging Alternatives specializes in technical polyurethane foam for the medical market and had sales of about $10 million in 2011, according to a news release.
The acquisition will expand Georgetown-based UFP's medical business and improve its coverage in the West, said R. Jeffrey Bailly, UFP's chairman, CEO and president, in the release.
UFP designs and makes products using foams, plastics, composites and natural fibers. It had 2011 sales of $127.2 million.
