Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Bioplastics Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • PFAS Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
    • Europe - Virgin
    • Europe - Recycled
    • Europe - Feedstock
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
July 02, 2013 02:00 AM

Barnes Group: Synventive just first in plastics foray

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Barnes Group Inc.
    Patrick Dempsey, president and CEO of Barnes Group Inc.

    BRISTOL, CONN. — Barnes Group Inc. has made a "living" out of precision machining and fabrication of demanding components designed by customers — like parts for jet engines and car transmissions — but Barnes' purchase of hot-runner maker Synventive Molding Solutions Group signaled a change in strategy.

    Last year, Barnes spent $335 million to buy Synventive, a global hot-runner maker based in Peabody, Mass., from private equity firm Littlejohn & Co. LLC. The deal marked the largest acquisition in Barnes' history — and Wallace Barnes founded the company in Bristol in 1857.

    Synventive helps Barnes control its own destiny by owning a strong base of intellectual property, said Patrick Dempsey, Barnes' president and CEO. And now Barnes plans to use Synventive as a platform for building a plastics-related business through more acquisitions.

    "The injection molding industry — the area that Synventive is keenly focused on — that's an area where we'd like to continue to expand," Dempsey said.

    Dempsey and Synventive President Robert Davies talked about the plans, including broadening Synventive's market segments, during a May interview at Barnes headquarters in Bristol. Barnes still has some manufacturing in Bristol, at an Associated Spring plant that is one of its legacy businesses. Barnes has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1946. The Barnes family name is well-known around the town, located between Hartford and Waterbury.

    Bristol is home to sports network ESPN. But 156 years is a long time, prompting Dempsey to joke: "Usually if anybody asks, 'Do you know where ESPN is?' they say, 'Yes, that's in the same town as Barnes.' "

    Humor aside, Barnes figures to get a higher profile in the plastics industry. Synventive had been owned by a series of private equity companies before Barnes became a strategic buyer in August.

    Dempsey, a 12-year veteran of Barnes, played a key role in the Synventive deal. He was promoted from chief operating officer to the top spot this year when the former president and CEO, Gregory Milzcik, left the company.

    Private equity firms typically look to sell a company after three to five years of ownership, then pay back their investors. Demp¬sey said Barnes is a patient firm, with plans to grow in plastics.

    "As we look at the Synventive business, we're looking at how [we can] position the business for the long term. Barnes traditionally will make investments in our businesses that may not truly come to market for four or five years," Dempsey said.

    He cited parts Barnes made for an engine for the Boeing 777, where major investments didn't pay off for five years. That's typical for aerospace suppliers, Dempsey said.

    "We're prepared to make investments today with that type of time horizon. It's part of our DNA," he said.

    Future deals

    Barnes Group generated 2012 sales of $1.23 billion; Synventive contributed to this was based on $160 million of an annualized sales. In a first-quarter conference call with financial analysts April 26, executives said they expect Synventive to generate high-single-digit sales growth in 2013, better than the overall industrial segment sales of mid-single digits.

    Synventive employs more than 800, runs factories in Peabody, China and Germany and has 26 sales facilities around the world. Davies said automotive is its largest global market. But Synventive will be expanding into hot runners for premium consumer and electronic products — everything from high-end sunglasses to smartphones, made in molds in the range of one to eight cavities.

    "We've always been very strong in automotive. We want to take that knowledge and that application expertise, and apply it to what we consider a subclass of customers called premium consumer electronics," Davies said. "These are parts that have high cosmetic requirements, that use engineered materials, that do color-change, or two-color, with critical dimensions."

    Barnes plans to invest in new products at Synventive. And Barnes also can share advanced metalworking technology from its core businesses in industrial and aerospace.

    Barnes has a history of making acquisitions, many in the spring industry. Wallace Barnes started the company as a metal parts shop. Early product lines included springs and hoops for the fashion craze of the late 1800s, the hoop skirt. In fact, the company was renamed Associated Spring Corp. in 1923.

    In 1976, the company changed its name to Barnes Group.

    More acquisitions over the years helped Barnes expand into automotive and aerospace, and distribution. Barnes gained a reputation as a "build-to-print" supplier of highly complex components and subassemblies.

    "As an example, we would manufacture from a lot of different types of superalloys," Dempsey said. "If you take the jet engine as an example, even in there, we would focus on the hot section of the engine, because that's where the more exotic materials exist, and the parts which require the most complexity in terms of manufacturing expertise."

    That strategy created a stable business in which Barnes has racked up an amazing 79 consecutive years of dividends. But it also made the company vulnerable to economic swings of customers. And 62 percent of total sales comes from the Americas, with Europe and Asia accounting for a smaller portion.

    So about four years ago, senior executives began to create a comprehensive strategy for the business over the mid- to long-term. Goals included building up intellectual property owned by Barnes; picking end markets with sustainable, profitable growth; trying to moderate cyclical ups and downs; and becoming more global.

    Dempsey called Synventive a "perfect alignment" with the trans- formation to the new growth strategy.

    "I have buyer's delight," he said. "We're very excited to have Synventive as part of the Barnes portfolio."

    In April, Barnes completed the sale of its North American distribution business. That followed the sale of the European distribution operation in late 2011.

    Dempsey said the company used the proceeds from the North American distribution sale to pay down debt from the Synventive deal. Barnes also will buy back stock. The moves position the balance sheet for future acquisitions, he said.

    "We saw a clear strategic fit [with Synventive]," Dempsey said. "What we really liked about Synventive as an acquisition was highly engineered components and subsystems, a strong brand name in the marketplace [and] a strong global presence. We clearly placed heavy value on its IP portfolio, which is in the form of patents and process technologies."

    Barnes is a newcomer to plastics, but Synventive is just the start of a new business area. "The plastic injection molding market is something that — back to our original strategy — is that we see Synventive as a strategic platform and something that we want to continue to invest in, and grow as a key business within Barnes Group," Dempsey said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Documentary looks at how ‘we love to hate' packaging
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    An 8,000-ton dream for Milacron, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
    2
    US Merchants opens curtain on growing injection molding operations
    3
    Report: Tekni-Plex may be for sale
    4
    Plastics processors face automation needs, sustainability demands
    5
    Rising costs prompt delay in Corpus Christi PET plant construction
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Bioplastics Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • PFAS Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
      • Europe - Virgin
      • Europe - Recycled
      • Europe - Feedstock
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified