Acrylic sheet giant Plaskolite LLC has expanded the scope of its business by acquiring the North American polycarbonate sheet unit of materials maker Covestro.
Officials with Plaskolite in Columbus, Ohio, said the deal transforms the North American sheet industry by combining the leader in acrylic manufacturing with the leader in polycarbonate manufacturing.
"This acquisition is transformational for Plaskolite and strengthens our industry leadership position," Plaskolite President and CEO Mitchell Grindley said in a March 22 news release. "It broadens our offering and further strengthens our partnerships."
Officials added that after the deal, Plaskolite will be the only manufacturer ever to offer a complete clear sheet product portfolio, including acrylic, polycarbonate, glycol-modified PET and ABS. They said this selection will be a benefit to customers who will be able to turn to one source for all their sheet needs.
The deal is expected to close Aug. 1. The transaction includes a production plant and warehouse in Sheffield, Mass., and a warehouse in Hebron, Ohio. Adding the Covestro unit will give Plaskolite a total of 950 employees.
The Covestro PC business has annual sales of around $170 million, according to a separate news release from Covestro. That release did not specify a sale price, but said that the amount was in "the high-double-digit million U.S. dollar range."
Officials with Covestro — based in Leverkusen, Germany, with U.S. headquarters in Pittsburgh — said that the sale was part of the firm's continued optimization of its asset base, and that its remaining regional outlets "are under review to optimize the portfolio."
Covestro CEO Patrick Thomas said that during the review process, "it became clear that our sheet business will not be a strategic fit to our polycarbonates business in the long term."
Covestro then decided that the PC sheet unit "can develop and grow better under a new owner, and we are happy to have found a great buyer for our U.S. outlet with Plaskolite," he added.
Plaskolite's customized sheet products are used in a variety of applications, including windows, doors, lighting, signs, point-of-purchase displays and bath products. PC sheet products made by Covestro are used in public transportation, roofing systems or signage applications.
In February, Plaskolite bought the continuous cast acrylic sheet unit of Lucite International Inc. The firm previously had bought Covestro's PETG sheet unit in 2012.
Adding in the Covestro and Lucite deals would give Plaskolite annual sales of at least $510 million, making the firm one of the 20 largest film and sheet makers in North America, according to Plastics News data.
