Auto supplier ABC Technologies Holdings Inc. has agreed to acquire dlhBowles Inc. for about $255 million from Morgenthaler Private Equity Partners.
North Canton, Ohio-based dlhBowles makes camera and sensor cleaning systems for advanced driving, windshield washer systems, sunroof drains and thermal management for electric vehicles. Its plastics operations include injection molding, extrusion and thermoforming.
Toronto-based ABC Technologies is one of North America's largest injection and blow molders.
"The acquisition of dlhBowles further solidifies ABC Technologies' leadership position in the North American washer systems market, strengthening our product portfolio to … enhance the capabilities of our Fluid Management division, while improving ABC's process automation," Todd Sheppelman, president and CEO of ABC Technologies, said in a Jan. 5 news release.
"Certain changes to executive leadership ranks, already known by those individuals, will take place in the coming months," Sheppelman told Plastics News. "We do not anticipate changes outside of those select persons [or] any changes to the broader workforce."
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, the release said.
DlhBowles formed in mid-2015, when Morgenthaler Private Equity purchased Canton, Ohio-based DLH Industries Inc. and merged it with another company it owned, Bowles Fluidics Corp. in Columbia, Md.
The company has injection molding plants in Canton and Columbia and an extrusion, thermoforming and assembly operation in Reynosa, Mexico.
"We have known the ABC team for years as an important customer of dlhBowles, and we believe ABC's global reach and ability to cross-sell washer systems products to an even broader group of OEM customers will expand the growth opportunities of the combined businesses and enable us to deliver innovative solutions around the globe," dlhBowles President and CEO John Saxon said in the release.
ABC makes products for automotive HVAC systems, interiors, exteriors, fluid management and air induction systems, among others. It has 6,150 employees globally.
ABC is No. 14 in PN's ranking of North American injection molders with $500 million in sales in the region and No. 15 in PN's blow molders ranking with $396 million in sales.
