German extrusion machinery company Reifenhäuser Group has acquired blown film machinery supplier Plamex Maschinenbau GmbH, a move designed in particular to enable the group to expand its offerings to the medical packaging industry.
Renamed Reifenhäuser Blown Film Plamex GmbH & Co. KG., the company is now led by Maximilian Herchenbach, formerly managing director of Plamex, and Manfred Kurscheid of Reifenhäuser Polyrema.
Based in Kelberg, Germany, Plamex is a supplier of blown film lines and extrusion components, with core competencies in water-cooled and biaxially oriented films for the medical and food packaging industry.
Post-acquisition, it will work closely with Reifenhäuser Group's blown film machinery specialist Polymera, supplying tailor-made solutions for the packaging industry.
As a result of the purchase, Reifenhäuser will gain access to a new technology for flexible film production, thus expanding its blown film capabilities.
"The extremely efficient water cooling keeps the polymer in amorphous state and produces a particularly glossy and transparent film with remarkable puncture resistance and very good barrier properties,” explained Bernd Reifenhäuser, CEO of the Reifenhäuser Group.
"Water cooled blown film extrusion lines for medical applications, such as infusion bags, and biaxially oriented multi-layer films, have not been in the scope of the Reifenhäuser group yet,” said Manfred Kurscheid, managing director of Reifenhäuser Polyrema.
With the acquisition, the group can now offer water-quench, double and multi-bubble technologies to new customers groups, he added.
"It was particularly important to us that we can continue the Plamex success story with a strong partner at our side. Reifenhäuser Polyrema is the perfect match for Plamex, both in terms of corporate structure and business focus,” said Maximilian Herchenbach, commenting on the acquisition.