Private equity firm Wind Point Partners has acquired polyurethane sheet maker Argotec Inc. for an undisclosed price.
Greenfield, Mass.-based Argotec makes specialty PU film for surface protection, impact-resistant glass and other applications. Chicago-based Wind Point made the acquisition in partnership with industry veteran Guy Broadbent, who will become Argotec's chief executive officer. Argotec executives Bruce Wilby and Nick Filler will remain with the firm in senior leadership roles. Broadbent, Wilby and Filler also will own minority stakes in the business.
In a June 3 news release, Wind Point managing director Paul Peterson decribed Argotec as "a solid business that has performed well under [Wilby and Filler's] leadership."
The firm "provides a unique product…and we believe that [Broadbent] can leverage these key strengths to continue Argotec's growth," Peterson added.
In a June 3 phone interview, Peterson said that Wind Point "will be focused on driving organic growth" at Argotec.
Wind Point is buying Argotec from Richard Barnes and Steven Wolkenbreit, who founded the firm in 1988. Both Barnes and Wolkenbreit will retire after the sale.
Argotec employs about 150 at a plant covering more than 150,000 square feet and at a nearby research and development center. An expansion doubled the size of the plant in 2008.
Peterson declined to provide a sales estimate or growth rate for Argotec, but he said the firm has enjoyed consistent growth.
Wind Point is no stranger to the plastics market. The firm bought and acquired six compounding firms under the Citadel Plastics banner between 2008 and 2012 before selling that unit last year. Wind Point currently owns Hilex Poly Co. LLC, the Hartville, S.C.-based firm that ranks as North America's largest plastic bag maker and as one of the region's largest bag recyclers. Hilex Poly checked in at number 19 on Plastics News' most recent ranking of North American film and sheet makers, with annual sales of $470 million.
Wind Point bought Hilex Poly in November and already has used that firm to acquire part of the North American flexible packaging division of Clondalkin Group Holdings Ltd. That acquisition gave Hilex Poly plants in Ohio, Connecticut and Ontario.
The Argotec acquisition now gives Wind Point 16 firms in its portfolio, with total asset value of around $2.5 billion.