Kickstart: Building a foam platform

It looks like there's another M&A roll-up on the way in an unexpected corner of the industry. First it was new action in rotomolding. Now it's in foam.

Wynnchurch Capital LP just made its third acquisition of an expanded foam company in about two months, marking more M&A news out of the foam side of the business than we'd normally see.

And in announcing its acquisition of Insulation Corp. of America — in addition to its acquisition of Huntington Foam and Drew Foam in late 2020 — Wynnchurch says it wants to buy more.

"Drew, Huntington and ICA will combine to form a market-leading foam products provider focused on customer service and quality," Erin Murphy, managing director at Wynnchurch, said in a news release. "We are excited about the future opportunities for this growing investment platform."

The three companies have expanded polystyrene and expanded polypropylene production, serving a range of end markets such as construction and marine. Insulation Corp. also produces foam for custom projects such as art installations.

The shakeout continues from the Jan. 6 riot that saw pro-President Donald Trump supporters overtake the U.S. Capitol.

Dow Inc. is among major corporations that will halt some donations from political action committees. It told the website Popular Information that it is "immediately suspending all corporate and employee political action committee (PAC) contributions to any member of Congress who voted to object to the certification of the presidential election."

The action will extend for two years for U.S. House of Representatives members and six years for senators.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., was among eight senators who followed through with an objection to vote certification even after the mob stormed the Capitol. Popular Information said Dow had donated $2,000 to Kennedy's reelection in 2020.

You probably saw that the North American International Auto Show has now been canceled for 2021. Instead, they're now planning a smaller outdoor event, Motor Bella, at a track in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Mich.

The auto show has always been about more than just the cars being introduced — just as NPE is more than new equipment debuts.

So I'll close with my favorite story from the Detroit auto show. It was 2001 and Honda had just introduced a concept car that would become its Element small SUV.

The designers who worked on the project bragged that it was designed for harsh treatment, saying that a wet dog could shake itself dry inside and not damage anything.

Since the show is one of the few times I get a chance to talk to designers, I asked them for details.

"The wet dog test makes it sound like you're planning on a lot of plastic for the interior." I said. "What kind of material are you planning on?"

"SKP," one of them answered.

SKP? I puzzled. I know PVC and ABS and even PET. Finally I asked.

"What's SKP?"

"Some kind of plastic," the designer replied. "We'll give it to the engineers and let them decide."

For the record, the engineers went with thermoplastic polyolefin.