Hoboken, N.J.-based Newell Brands Inc. sold its Process Solutions business to New York-based private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners in a deal the seller expects to bring in $500 million after taxes.
Process Solutions produces plastic, nylon, monofilament and zinc products for the health care, consumer and industrial markets as well as governmental agencies, including copper-plated zinc penny blanks for the U.S. Mint.
Based in Greenville, S.C., Process Solutions saw net sales of about $640 million in 2018. The business has 19 facilities in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom that employ 1,700 people.
One Rock officials declined to comment on whether they purchased all facilities and business lines. Process Solutions is made up of several divisions broken down into plastic solutions, Lifoam brand coolers and ice packs, consumer table-top goods, zinc products and applied materials.
"Process Solutions develops a wide variety of high-quality products that serve diverse end markets and surround us every day. One Rock has substantial experience investing in specialty manufacturing businesses, and we intend to build upon the company's success in delivering highly engineered solutions for its blue-chip customers,” Tony W. Lee, a managing partner of One Rock, said in a March 18 news release.
Another One Rock managing partner, R. Scott Spielvogel, said the new owners would operate Process Solutions as a standalone business with plans to expand its offerings.
“Working together with management and our operating partners, we look forward to growing the company through strategic acquisitions and operational and technological improvements," Spielvogel said in the release.
Process Solutions CEO Chuck Villa called the new owners partners for the business's next phase of growth.
“With One Rock's vision and strategic resources, we look forward to continuing to provide innovative products to both our longstanding and new customers," Villa said in the release.
Meanwhile, Newell CEO Michael Polk is retiring at the end of the second quarter, when the transaction is expected to close. The search for a new CEO is underway.
Newell has been struggling, in part because sales of its Graco baby products fell off after Toys ‘R' Us liquidated. The downbeat outlook continued in February, with the company forecasting lower-than-expected sales and profit for its fiscal 2019 year.
Newell ranks as the fifth largest injection molder in North America with estimated sales of $1 billion in the region, according to Plastics News' latest ranking. Newell has total corporate sales of $14.7 billion.
