Clarion Technologies Inc. has gained a third custom injection molding facility by acquiring GTM Plastic Inc.'s assets out of bankruptcy.
GTM based in Garland, Texas, voluntarily filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 on Feb. 15, 2017 under the corporate name of Whicker Asset Management LLC. Clarion bought the assets of GTM under provision 363, Clarion President John Brownlow in a phone interview.
The Garland, Texas, molding facility is Clarion's third production plant. Clarion, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., also runs a plant in Anderson, S.C.
“We mainly bought GTM mainly for its geography,” Brownlow said in an Oct. 4 interview with Plastics News. The GTM location places Clarion in southwestern U.S. markets and also closer to customers in Mexico. Several years ago Clarion ran a factory in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, but the operation lost money and was subsequently closed.
The purchase lifts Clarion's annual sales to about $65 million, Brownlow said. It increases its number of injection molding machines to 31. Overall Clarion offers presses with clamps ranging from 25 to 2,000 tons.
GTM brings clients in HVAC markets, a new area for Clarion. Clarion mainly molds for automotive and appliance industries and also counts medical companies among its customer base.
Molding Business Services of Florence, Mass., advised GTM Plastics on the deal.
Brownlow said Clarion will spend about $2 million to upgrade the Garland operation. More than half the investment will be taken up with purchasing equipment like robots, chillers and cranes. The rest will be used to remodel and reconfigure the Garland facility, Brownlow explained.
GTM was a family business and some members of the family will continue with it under Clarion's ownership. GTM broke lending covenants, which led to its bankruptcy.