In other notable second-half plastics M&A deals:
• Davalor Mold Co. acquired Industrial Molding Corp. from publicly held NN Inc. in a $16 million all-cash deal. IMC was NN's only plastics products plant, officials with Davalor in Chesterfield, Mich., said. NN, based in Charlotte, makes high-precision components and assemblies. The Lubbock, Texas-based IMC unit also has a tool shop that makes complex tools and performs proprietary manufacturing processes.
IMC's product mix includes precision engineered injection molded industrial parts. The business specializes in tight-tolerance custom thermoplastic injection molding for industrial components, medical equipment and commercial and passenger vehicles. Davalor makes molded plastic products for auto suppliers, including Tier 1 firms. It is owned by private equity firm Blackford Capital of Grand Rapids, Mich. Financial firm Blaige & Co. of Chicago was the exclusive adviser to NN.
• Private equity firm Hoffmann Family of Cos. acquired Viking Plastics, which specializes in injection molded parts and assemblies for the automotive, HVAC and general industrial markets. Viking's customers include Ford, General Motors, Rheem and Saft.
"This acquisition positions us for the next phase of our growth, and we eagerly anticipate both continued success and strengthening relationships with our exceptional clients," said Kelly Goodsel, president and CEO of Viking Plastics.
The seller was Minneapolis-based private equity firm Spell Capital Partners LLC, which bought Viking in 2016. Chicago-based investment banking firm Stout, led by Managing Director David Evatz, advised Viking.
Corry, Pa.-based Viking operates more than 50 injection molding machines and multiple automated assembly cells across U.S. manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, Indiana and Pennsylvania. The firm ranked No. 164 in PN's survey of North American injection molders with estimated molding sales of $42 million. It is also ranked No. 112 in PN's mold makers list, with estimated tooling sales of $2 million.
• Pexco LLC made two second-half deals, first buying Precise Aerospace Manufacturing Inc. for an undisclosed price. PAM is a plastics processor based in Yorba Linda, Calif. The firm offers injection molding, compression molding and transfer molding, as well as assembly and contract manufacturing.
Officials with Pexco in Johns Creek, Ga., said the acquisition enhances the firm's injection molding and material science capabilities and increases its presence on the U.S. West Coast.
Pexco next bought K. Jabat Inc. for an undisclosed price. KJI is a plastics processor based in Green Brook, N.J. The firm makes custom extrusions, including ABS tubing, high density PE profiles, PS cores and custom tubes and profiles.
Pexco has made 15 acquisitions since 2018. With estimated sales of $350 million, the firm comes in at No. 20 in PN's ranking of pipe, profile and tubing producers in North America. Pexco employs more than 600.
• In the latest of a string of divestitures, Parker Hannifin Corp. of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, sold its North America Composites and Fuel Containment division to financial firm SK Capital Partners of New York. The division, headquartered in Erlanger, Ky., has annual sales of about $350 million and five additional locations across the U.S. and Mexico. It employs approximately 1,700.
• Creo Group Inc. made an acquisition only three months after being formed. Kissimmee, Fla.-based Creo purchased United Solutions Inc., an iconic 105-year-old injection molder based in Leominster, Mass. Creo is a horticulture packaging maker owned by private equity firm Mill Point Capital LLC of New York.
United Solutions is a producer of totes, storage containers and other household products. The firm traces its history to 1919, when Eugene Tourigny founded United Comb & Novelty Co. in Leominster.
United Solutions' annual sales were estimated at $105 million in PN's most recent ranking of North American injection molders. The firm had been owned by investment firm Camber Holdings of Boston since 2018. Prior to that sale, United was owned by Walter Zephir Jr., grandson of its founder.
As part of the transition, United Solutions CEO Dave Reilly will become CEO of Creo.
United Solutions' family of brands includes Rubbermaid. It purchased the Rubbermaid totes business from Newell Brands in 2017. The firm's products are sold into paint, consumer storage, pet, and lawn and garden markets.
Creo was formed in June 2024 from previous Mill Point acquisitions Nursery Supplies Inc. and Summit Plastics Co. Creo then rebranded Summit as Creo Greenhouse to focus on the greenhouse market. Creo offers blow molding, pressure forming, injection molding, vacuum forming, custom printing and in-house resin recycling. The firm has a combined annual recycling capacity of more than 150 million pounds.
• Lifoam Industries LLC, a maker of temperature-controlled packaging using expanded PS, was sold for the second time in five years. Jadex Inc., which had owned Lifoam since 2019, sold the firm to Altor Solutions Inc. Chesterfield, Mo.-based Altor paid $137 million in cash. Lifoam makes products used to keep items cool, including EPS containers and refrigerant gel packs for shipment of medicines.
• Film and sheet giant Inteplast Group was involved in a pair of second-half deals. The firm first acquired a paper packaging maker that will operate under Inteplast's Integrated Bagging Systems division. The acquired firm, Brown Paper Goods of Waukegan, Ill., has been renamed Brown Paper Products. It makes single-use bags, liners, wraps and self-opening style bags for grocery stores, quick-service restaurants and other foodservice customers.
Inteplast next grew even bigger when it acquired CoolSeal USA LLC, a maker of PP corrugated sheeting and boxes made from those sheets in Perrysburg, Ohio. CoolSeal now comes under Inteplast's World-Pak division.
Andy Chen, general manager of World-Pak, said CoolSeal's work in producing PP corrugated boards fits with Inteplast's existing business serving produce, warehousing, packaging and storage. CoolSeal USA serves the agricultural, fish, construction, automotive, horticulture, education, pharmaceutical, recreation, and meat and poultry segments.
• In the business marketing field, Trefoil Group merged with BrandStar. Officials with Trefoil in Milwaukee said the deal "marks BrandStar's flagship B2B agency investment." They added that Trefoil "delivers multichannel strategic marketing programs that accelerate business performance."
Officials said Trefoil, founded by CEO Mary Scheibel in 1991, is a "go-to marketing agency for private equity firms' portfolio companies that must meet stakeholder expectations in condensed time frames." The firm's client base covers manufacturing, medical device, logistics, health care and consumer packaged goods.
• Packaging and promotional products maker Garyline LLC moved into a new Florida facility after relocating from New York and partnering with a private equity firm. Garyline, previously known as Gary Plastic Packaging Corp., partnered with an affiliate of Mill Street Capital LLC of New York.
Garyline, an injection and blow molder, said in late 2023 that it would lay off 543 employees at its Bronx facility and auction off equipment as its lease expired. In August 2024, the firm said 60 employees made the move to Florida and Garyline hired 500 new workers for the Spring Hill, Fla., plant.
Founded in 1963, Garyline makes spray bottles, clear and decorated PS boxes and containers for collectibles and memorabilia, beverage tumblers and travel cups. Its products are used in markets including medical, pharmaceutical, food and automotive, and many are made from recycled materials.
• A Washington state injection molder that made a name for itself by making high-end keyboard keys and keyboards found a new owner. Signature Plastics LLC of Custer, Wash., was sold to a Portland, Ore.-based investment group led by Will Clark, a self-described keyboard enthusiast. The move allowed owner Bob Guenser to retire, but also give Melissa Petersen, his daughter and minority owner, an opportunity to remain with the firm.
• Knowlton Development Corp. Inc. bought a makeup packaging maker in Italy in a move the company said will help provide additional regional service. Longueuil, Quebec-based Knowlton creates beauty, personal and home care products that other companies market as their own.
Buying Laffon srl expands Knowlton's manufacturing footprint at a time customers are looking for partners closer to home. Laffon provides injection molding, decoration, assembly and printing services.
• German auto supplier Grammer AG sold Toledo Molding & Die Inc. for $40 million, six years after buying the firm for $271 million. Ursensollen, Germany-based Grammer signed the deal in September 2024. Jifeng Co. Ltd., a Ningbo, China-based automotive supplier that owns 84 percent of Grammer, said Grammer sold the business to APC Parent LLC. TMD makes door panels, glove boxes, pillars and center console parts as well as functional, nonvisible parts.
• Building products maker Carlisle Cos. bought expanded PS insulation maker Plasti-Fab for $259.5 million in cash, a move Carlisle said will expand its retail channels and lead to cost savings by adding resin manufacturing. Carlisle said adding Calgary, Alberta-based Plasti-Fab and its 11 EPS plants in Canada and the U.S. will save it $14 million over three years and expand its footprint in the $1.5 billion North American EPS insulation market. Carlisle's Insulfoam subsidiary makes EPS rigid foam insulation.
• Uniphase LLC, an injection molder and toolmaker based in St. Charles, Ill., acquired Janler Corp., a Chicago-based molder and tool builder. "We are thrilled about the synergy this partnership creates," said Janler President Carol Klingler Ebel.
Uniphase is owned by Sequel Holdings, a Dallas-based private equity firm founded in 2002. Sequel specializes in equity investments in middle-market businesses.
PN estimates Uniphase has annual molding sales of $20 million. Janler builds high-cavitation, high-precision molds. Josef Klingler, an innovator in mold design who's credited with developing the first unscrewing stack mold, founded the tool shop in 1952.
• TC Transcontinental sold its industrial packaging business to Hood Packaging Corp. in a $95 million deal. Officials with TC in Montreal said the business had sales of around $50 million in the year ended July 28.
The deal includes TC's packaging operations and building in Thomasville, N.C., which employs 138, as well as the firm's plant in Ontario, Calif. TC is a flexible packaging leader that has annual sales of almost $3 billion. It is No. 24 in PN's ranking of top North American film and sheet manufacturers.
Hood opened in 1978 as Southern Bag Corp. Today, the Madison, Miss.-based firm operates 22 plants across North America making plastic film and bags, woven polypropylene bags, coated and laminated materials and paper packaging. Hood ranked 43rd in the PN film and sheet ranking with annual sales of $220 million.
• Coca-Cola Co. bottler Fomento Económico Mexicano SAB de CV (FEMSA) sold its plastics processing operations to AMMI, a U.S. food and beverage conglomerate, for $157.8 million. An industry source told PN that the business being sold is called Plásticos Técnicos Mexicanos SA de CV (PTM). FEMSA claims to be the world's largest franchise bottler of Coca-Cola products by volume.