In a deal between two northeast Ohio companies, PolyOne Corp. has acquired materials firm Rutland Holding Co. from Riverside Co. for an undisclosed price.
Pineville, N.C.-based Rutland makes plastisol compounds, specialty color products and screen printing inks. Its plastisols are mostly sold into automotive applications, while its inks are focused on the apparel market. The 55-year-old firm employs around 240 at plants in North Carolina, Peru and India.
Robert Patterson, chairman, president and CEO of Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne, said in a June 8 news release that the deal "is a natural extension of all that we do in color, from InVisiO design services to additive technologies that enhance product performance beyond their appearance."
"Color and technology play an increasingly pivotal role for our customers in the apparel industry who have demanding performance expectations for how products look and feel," he added.
Cleveland-based Riverside, a global private equity firm with more than 80 assets, had owned Rutland since 2013.
"Rutland was a solid company when we acquired the business, but significant upgrades … took the company to the next level," Riverside Partner Tim Gosline said in a news release.
"We delivered a number of operational enhancements that PolyOne can continue to build upon under its ownership," he added. Gosline cited support for research and development as another important element in Rutland's success.
Riverside supported significant investments in R&D at Rutland, officials said, leading to multiple new product introductions. Those included a PVC-free EKO product-line, high performance silicone inks and a recently introduced water-based high-solids acrylic line.
Rutland CEO Jeff Leone said in the release that Riverside's support "has made a real difference," describing Riverside as "great partners who shared our vision and provided the tools, know-how and financing to help us achieve it."
PolyOne ranks as North America's largest plastics compounder and concentrate maker and as one of the region's largest resin distributor. The Rutland deal is PolyOne's third acquisition of 2017. The firm earlier bought specialty colorants and additives makers Silcotec Inc. of La Porte, Ind., and Comptek Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH of Diez, Germany.
