Kickstart: Movie trivia and a surprisingly 'hot' M&A sector

Can you name more than one coming-of-age movie, released in January 2004 with a plastics connection that became a pop culture phenomenon?

The first one is easy, especially with the remake that's in theaters now. It's Mean Girls, obviously, and the plastics connection — or should that be Plastics — was the clique of popular rich girls.

But the second 2004 movie is harder. Do you remember Napoleon Dynamite? — Set in Preston, Idaho, the title character, 16-year-old Napoleon, has a completely different high school experience than Mean Girls' Cady Heron. Napoleon's drama is focused on lots of silliness, a student council election and a dance skit.

No one seems to remember that Mean Girls and Napoleon Dynamite both came out the same month. That could be because Napoleon Dynamite seems like it could have been from the 1980s or 1990s, based on the music and fashion selections. That's part of the joke — Idaho wasn't supposed to be on the cutting edge of style. (Although "Vote for Pedro" T-shirts quickly became a fad everywhere.)

So what's the plastics angle? Brothers Napoleon and Kip Dynamite had an Uncle Rico who dreamed of a career as an NFL quarterback and had lots of get-rich-quick ideas. One of them involved selling plastic containers. "Have you ever heard of nylon polymer?" Rico asked Kip at one point.

Someday, someone is going to tell me that they were inspired to pursue a career in plastics by that line.

We just published a special report on plastics mergers and acquisitions, where we highlighted the hottest trends and markets. Senior reporter Frank Esposito reported that after a challenging first half, the M&A market bounced back in the second half of 2023.

That's despite high interest rates and a sluggish manufacturing sector. There are still a lot of investors that are hot on plastics.

I'm intrigued by kind of an obscure one. Thermal Technology Distribution Solutions, a platform company created by Gryphon Investors, is quietly putting together a new distribution platform for thermal auxiliary equipment.

These are well-known brands in plastics manufacturing: Barber-Colman, Leister, Gefran, Tempco, Chromalox, Durex and Ogden. They provide hot-runner systems, barrels, screws, pressure transducers, temperature control units and other heat-related products.

Earlier this month, they added Proheat Inc. of La Grange, Ky., to the portfolio. Proheat distributes hot runners, heaters, sensors and controls.

If Gryphon rings a bell, then that may be because the company also owns Pacur and Techmer PM. Craig Nikrant is the operating partner; he spent years at GE Plastics and PolyOne Corp. This is a company to watch.

In journalism circles, there was a lot of attention last week on the latest layoffs at the Washington, D.C., bureau of a big daily newspaper. The Los Angeles Times announced it was laying off 115 people, including nearly half of the bureau's journalists.

The Columbia Journalism Review reported the news with the headline "The Death of the Washington Bureau." That prompted me to send an email to Steve Toloken, our Washington-based assistant managing editor, to reinforce what I consider the value and importance of having our own journalist in the nation's capital.

We've had a string of great reporters in D.C. over the years, and Steve's now been with PN for more than 25 years. Public policy issues are very important and well-read stories, and our readers benefit from his knowledge and experience.