North American acrylic sheet leader Plaskolite LLC has acquired the continuous cast acrylic sheet business of Lucite International Inc. for an undisclosed price.
The deal includes general-purpose sheet, sanitary ware, spa and bath sheet and a manufacturing plant covering almost 94,000 square feet in Memphis, Tenn. Plaskolite and Lucite “have had a significant ongoing relationship” for 40 years, officials with Plaskolite in Columbus, Ohio, said in a Feb. 12 news release.
In a Feb. 15 phone interview, Plaskolite President and CEO Mitchell Grindley said that the acquisition will make Plaskolite the world's only acrylic sheet maker capable of making cast, extruded and continuous cast sheet.
He added that the Memphis plant employs 120 and that Plaskolite previously hadn't made or competed in the type of sheet products made there.
Plaskolite is Lucite's largest acrylic monomer customer. Lucite had been owned by Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. of Tokyo.
“With this acquisition we have taken another step forward in our leadership position while building on our long-term commitment to our American work force and facilities,” Grindley added in the release.
The acquisition will give Plaskolite a total of 800 employees at locations in Ohio, Texas, California, Mississippi, Tennessee and Mexico.
Plaskolite's sheet products are used in a wide variety of applications including windows, doors, lighting, signs, point-of-purchase displays and bath products. The firm's customers include distributors, OEMs and retailers.
The Lucite purchase is Plaskolite's first deal since February 2016, when it acquired the extruded lighting sheet business of Rotuba Extruders Inc., and its fourth deal overall since 2012.
Plaskolite ranked 25th in Plastics News' most recent ranking of North American film and sheet makers with annual sales of $340 million.