Creative Extruded Products, which makes plastic and rubber moldings for the automotive-glass market, was acquired by the private equity arm of Quilvest Group.
The transaction was announced March 1 but no terms were disclosed except that ownership transferred from Brian Wenrick, who founded Creative, based in Tipp City, Ohio, in 1979, to Quilvest Private Equity on Feb. 24.
Quilvest is a Luxembourg-based financial firm held by the same family for seven generations. The firm invests in small- and medium-sized privately held companies and assists with long-term development strategies. Creative has estimated sales of $27 million and ranks 90th among North American pipe, profile and tubing extruders, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.
Creative's management and employees will stay on to maintain customer relationships and roll out growth initiatives developed in the last year, including the introduction of an EPDM rubber product line.
A custom profile extruder, Creative uses EPDM and thermoplastic materials for parts and assemblies to serve automotive OEMs with moldings for windshields, sun roofs and wheel wells; the automotive aftermarket with moldings trademarked as FlexiTrim, RightTrim and GripFlex; and industrial customers needing moldings, seals and trim for garage doors and marine and other applications. The business has 36 patents, 250 employees, 100,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space, and engineering and sales staff in Detroit.
Creative President and CEO Timothy Mach said the acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for the company, which sells its products in North America and overseas and also offers engineering support and fabrication. He called Quilvest "the right partner for us" in terms of quality products and customer service as well as growth.
"Our growth strategy is to serve adjacent products and markets," Mach said in a telephone interview. "They're helping us go after and capture some new customers and new markets that we don't serve today."
Quilvest says it manages about $5 billion of assets with a team of about 100 professionals all over the world who bring global expertise and "the patience and values of a family office."
"We are pleased to announce our investment in Creative Extruded Products, a business with a strong track record of producing high quality products for the automotive and industrial sectors. We look forward to working with the management team to execute the company's future growth plans," Lawrence Neubauer, a Quilvest partner, said in a news release.
The Quilvest Group is held by the Bemberg family, which traces its business success back to a beer brewery in Argentina in 1888 and has 13 offices of investment professionals worldwide.