Bericap spending $29 million to expand
COWPENS, S.C. — Caps and closures manufacturer Bericap North America Inc. is investing $29 million in an expansion that will double the size of its Cowpens plant.
Bericap immediately will begin installing new equipment at the facility, but doesn't plan to break ground on the 90,000-square-foot building expansion until the second half of 2013, according to a Jan. 10 news release.
The expansion should be complete by early 2014. Bericap plans to add 50 new jobs at the plant over the next five years.
The company will receive job-development credits from the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development when job targets are met.
Bericap, a unit of Bericap GmbH & Co. KG of Budenheim, Germany, opened the 90,000-square-foot South Carolina plant in 2007. The plant does secondary operations like printing and assembly.
Bericap North America is based in Burlington, Ontario, and has a plant in Ontario, Calif. The company had sales of $94 million in 2011, according to Plastics News' annual survey of North American injection molders.
Founder of Heise Industries dies at 90
EAST BERLIN, CONN. — Brooks B. Heise Sr., who founded blow mold maker Heise Industries Inc. in 1965, died Jan. 8. He was 90.
Heise served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in mechanical engineering. In 1946, he began working at Hartford Empire Co. and its Plax Corp. division, a pioneering blow molding business.
He remained at Plax for many years before leaving to manage Redmond Tool and Die Co. in New Haven, Conn. Soon after Redmond closed its doors, he bought the equipment and relocated the employees to East Berlin. Heise Industries was born.
In 2010, Heise earned the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Plastics Engineers Blow Molding Division. He was a leader in creating the division's student scholarship program.
Heise Industries is now into its third generation of operation. Brooks' son Tad is president. His grandson, Skip, is manager of the company, which makes blow molds for extrusion blow molded containers for consumer products such as shampoo and detergent, and the medical and automotive markets.
Vollrath buys dispenser maker Acry
SHEBOYGAN, WIS. — Vollrath Co. Inc. has acquired acrylic product manufacturer Acry Fab Inc. of Sun Prairie, Wis., according to mergers and acquisition adviser Generational Equity LLC.
Acry Fab was started about 30 years ago. The company designs and thermoforms food-accessory dispensing items, mainly for convenience stores. Among its product lines are the Lid Saver Lid Dispenser; bakery cases; countertop, in-counter and self-serve dispensers; as well as organizers, holders and accessories. The company also makes customized plastic items such as lab and medical equipment accessories and parts for OEMs.
The deal closed Dec. 20. Terms were not disclosed.
Sheboygan-based Vollrath has been making equipment and small-wares supplies for prepping and cooking food for 137 years. The company said it will continue to make acrylic products at the Sun Prairie facility.
The deal is Vollrath's second for a plastics company. It acquired injection molder Traex Co. of Dane, Wis., in April 2011.
Generational Equity is a Dallas-based adviser for middle-market businesses.
Private equity company acquires Webex
SAN MATEO, CALIF. — Bertram Capital Management LLC, a private equity firm that bought Extrusion Dies Industries LLC in 2010 and sold it less than two years later — has purchased Webex Inc., a supplier of precision rolls for web handling and film and sheet converting.
Bertram Capital, based in San Mateo, made an equity investment and also provided subordinated debt to finance the deal. The pact closed Dec. 24, but was not announced until Jan. 9. The seller was Rosemont, Ill., private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital Ltd. Terms were not disclosed.
Neenah-based Webex designs and makes web products including chill rolls, heating rolls, printing cylinders, coating and embossing rolls, and shaft idlers for a variety of markets.
Bertram Capital invests in middle-market companies, typically allocating $25 million to $100 million for each investment.