American Plastics buys two companies, faces issues from 2017 reorganization

American Plastics LLC has expanded its consumer storage products business through the acquisition of two Ohio-based injection molders.

Meanwhile, its predecessor company that reorganized under Chapter 11 in 2017, faces some legal obstacles.

American Plastics said April 18 that it acquired Centrex Plastics LLC of Findlay, Ohio, and sister company Creative Plastic Concepts of Sycamore, Ohio. The deal means American Plastics of Bridgeton, Mo., now has five manufacturing plants and 10 distribution centers in the United States.

Robert Guerra remains president and CEO of American Plastics while Nick Reinhart, former owner and president of Centrex and Creative Plastic, has been named chief innovation officer.

"With the added strength of the Centrex and Creative brands, American Plastics will be uniquely positioned to accelerate our sales, establish deeper partnerships with our customers, and acquire additional customers throughout the company," noted Guerra in a news release.

American Plastics said the deal expands its injection molding capacity and extends its clamp tonnage range to 90 to 2,000 tons. The deal also gives the company a bigger engineering team and 3D printing capabilities for product development.

Reinhart added that the purchase increases his former business's geographic coverage and will provide capital needed to accelerate growth.

The companies had a relationship prior to the latest deal. Three years ago, American Plastics' predecessor company, Katy Industries Inc., announced that it had purchased part of Centrex and the lease on Centrex's Tiffin, Ohio, manufacturing plant. The April 18 announcement covers the remainder of Centrex, including its Findlay facility as well as Creative Plastic Concepts.

A day after the acquisition announcement, the state of Texas filed an objection to the reorganization plan that led to the creation of American Plastics. Katy Industries emerged from Chapter 11 protection from creditors in May 2017 and reorganized to form American Plastics.

The Texas objection alleges the former Katy did not file a tax return for 2017. The state is seeking $2,733.29 in restitution. The Texas objection was filed three days after the U.S. Internal Revenue Service filed in Delaware court an objection to the reorganization. The IRS is seeking $10,000 for administrative expenses, but what Katy owes in taxes has not been determined.

An American Plastics spokeswoman told Plastics News that officials at the company and its majority owners Highview Capital and Victory Park Capital would not comment on these lawsuits. They also declined to comment on another, separate lawsuit filed by unsecured creditors against Highview and Victory Park Capital last year alleging they improperly funded the purchase of Katy with funds previously made available to Katy.

Another lawsuit against Katy was settled March 22. That lawsuit resulted in a settlement between Katy and its retirees after the retirees alleged Katy cut off retirement benefits.

Katy blamed the Chapter 11 last year on higher-than-expected expenses of relocating its Continental Commercial Products subsidiary from Bridgeton to Jefferson City, Mo., in 2015.

The company formed by the merger of American Plastics, Centrex and Creative is owned by Highview Capital, Victory Park Capital and Nick Reinhart.

American Plastics makes commercial cleaning and consumer storage products, with brand names including Continental Commercial Products, Contico, Wilen and Fundamentals.