Solegear Bioplastic Technologies Inc. has made its second acquisition of 2016, this time buying the bioplastic unit of Lindar Corp. for about $625,000 in stock.
Lindar is a plastics thermoformer based in Baxter, Minn. In a Dec. 23 news release, Solegear CEO Paul Antoniadis said that Lindar “was one of the early innovators to embrace the important role packaging design can play in ensuring food safety.
“By combining Lindar's thermoformed packaging know-how with Solegear's commitment to engineering plant-based materials…this acquisition positions Solegear with the people, infrastructure, products and pricing to further scale our business at a faster rate,” he added.
Lindar President Tom Haglin added in the release that as his firm's bioplastic division becomes part of Solegear, Lindar “will be able to capitalize on this business association by introducing new and expanded products with greater capabilities.”
Vancouver-based Solegear and Lindar also have agreed to an outsourced operating agreement under which Lindar will provide certain management, operational, financing, marketing, sales, logistics, warehousing and other support services. Lindar will continue to market and sell bioplastic packaging, officials said, making the transition seamless for its existing bioplastic customers, including a wide range of U.S. retailers and food producers.
The purchased assets generated almost $1 million in revenue in 2015. In March, Solegear bought the bioplastics division of sheet extrusion firm Ex-Tech Plastics Inc. for about $1.3 million in stock. That business has annual sales of around $2 million. In early 2015, Solegear went public on Toronto's TSX Venture stock exchange and raised more than $3 million in financing.
Solegear has been developing polylactic acid-based bioplastics modified with what it terms as green additives to improve properties. The firm's main offering is Polysole, a recyclable and compostable material made from renewable resources.
Solegear's technology development partly stems from work it did with the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa beginning in 2012.
