Plastic sheet leader Plaskolite LLC has made its third acquisition of 2018 by purchasing the profile lighting business of Rotuba Extruders Inc.
The deal includes a Rotuba manufacturing site in Linden, N.J., where it's based. Rotuba will continue to make cellulosic compounds at another site in Linden and injection molded pens at a site in Garwood, N.J.
The transaction closed June 30, with no purchase price disclosed. In a July 2 news release, officials with Columbus, Ohio-based Plaskolite said that the Rotuba business being acquired is a leader in the custom extruded profile segment of the lighting industry.
They added that the acquisition “expands Plaskolite's already thriving profiles business and positions the company as the clear leader in the profiles lighting segment.” It's the second time that Plaskolite has acquired part of Rotuba in the last three years. In early 2016, the firm acquired Rotuba's extruded lighting sheet business.
Rotuba President Adam Bell will stay on to lead the renamed Plaskolite Rotuba Profiles business while continuing to run Rotuba's cellulosics compounds business. Bell's family founded Rotuba in 1945.
In the release, Plaskolite President and CEO Mitch Grindley said that “adding Rotuba's extensive custom extruded profile experience to the Plaskolite portfolio gives our customers the best and most extensive options available in the market.”
Bell added that by joining Plaskolite, Rotuba customers “will now have access to expanded extrusion capabilities and the benefits of a much larger manufacturing footprint.”
The acquisition will increase Plaskolite's head count to 1,100 at eight plants in the U.S. and once in Mexico. The 68-year-old firm's customized products are used in a wide variety of applications including windows, doors, lighting, signs, point-of-purchase displays and bath products.
Earlier this year, Plaskolite acquired the North American polycarbonate sheet unit of materials maker Covestro and the continuous cast acrylic sheet unit of Lucite International Inc. Plaskolite now has made 16 acquisitions in the last 11 years.
Sales data for the Rotuba business was unavailable. Adding in the Covestro and Lucite deals gave Plaskolite annual sales estimated at more than $550 million, making the firm one of the 15 largest film and sheet makers in North America, according to Plastics News data.
