Acquisitions, new materials widen offerings for distributors

North American resin distributors have taken multiple steps to grow their businesses within the last year.

Formerra of Romeoville, Ill., pushed into new markets and deeper into Mexico with the acquisition of Suministro de Especialidades. Mexico City-based Suministro also has locations in Guadalajara and Escobedo, Mexico.

"This investment underscores our commitment to expanding Formerra's leadership position in engineered materials and the strategic Mexico market," said Robert Jang, managing director of Formerra owner HIG Capital.

"Suministro represents an exciting step into new product adjacencies with the addition of elastomers, adhesives and other performance additives," Formerra CEO Cathy Dodd said.

Formerra also recently opened a new warehouse in Malmo, Sweden. Officials said the new location strengthens support for health care customers in Scandinavia and Europe with specialized material solutions.

They said the new site "marks a significant step in [Formerra's] global expansion strategy" and the facility will support existing customers with an emphasis on serving the growing production demands of medical device and equipment production in Europe.

The new warehouse will complement Formerra's existing presence and warehouses in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The firm acquired those locations when it bought distributor Total Polymer Solutions in April 2023.

On its line card, Formerra now offers nylon resins and sustainable materials made by Evonik Industries AG to customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. In a news release, Formerra Operations Vice President Doug Zupan said, "Joining forces with Evonik empowers us to supply top-tier materials for critical applications in automotive, aerospace and industrial sectors."

Evonik is a global materials supplier based in Essen, Germany. The firm employs more than 33,000 worldwide and posted sales of more than $16 billion in 2023.

Global distribution firm Vinmar Group acquired the team and some assets of e-commerce firm BluePallet and has renamed the business Vailent. Officials with Vinmar in Houston said Vailent is "an innovative digital platform provider" for the plastics and chemicals industry.

They added that the acquisition will operate as a subsidiary of Vinmar focused on deploying digital commerce technologies across Vinmar's polymer and chemical distribution businesses.

"We look forward to sharing this new capability with our suppliers and customers," Vinmar CEO Vishal Goradia said.

Vailent President Patrick Salome, formerly of BluePallet, added the acquisition "marks a significant inflection point for our business that will propel us to new levels of innovation and growth."

Vinmar first invested in Austin, Texas-based BluePallet in 2021. The acquisition is Vinmar's third in the last three years.

Chase Plastic Services Inc. added engineering materials from Envalior to its distribution lineup. Officials with Chase in Clarkston, Mich., said Envalior is "focused on providing innovative and sustainable solutions that enable future-proof product designs." They added the firm has a global presence and supplies many key markets, including mobility, electronics/electrical and consumer goods.

"Envalior's shared dedication to exceptional service, along with their impressive product range, complements our existing engineering and specialty engineering offerings," Chase President Adam Paulson said. Chase now distributes Envalior's full line of materials, including Stanyl-brand nylon 4/6, Pocan-brand polybutylene terephthalate and PBT alloys, and Akulon-brand nylon 6 and 6/6.

Envalior was formed in 2022 from a combination of the engineering resins businesses of Lanxess AG and Royal DSM NV. Lanxess and private equity firm Advent International of Boston combined to buy DSM's engineering resins unit and create Envalior, which is based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Chase previously had worked with both Lanxess and DSM.

Chase also recently expanded its CP Pryme product line to include CP Pryme ECO resins. Officials said the new materials, like other CP Pryme resins, are made from reprocessed materials and can be used with less stringent applications.

"Chase Plastics has offered [post-industrial and post-consumer] recycled products for over 30 years," Paulson said. CP Pryme ECO "will provide an environmentally friendly solution to applications across numerous industries, supporting our customers' growing desire to drive sustainability initiatives," he added.

Chase Plastics offers a wide array of sustainable products from domestic and international suppliers. For many years, the firm has operated in-house recycling programs, used recycled materials and reduced energy consumption in their facilities with resource-efficient lighting, water and HVAC solutions.

New York-based Aspect Co., an MGI International unit focused on sustainable resins, announced a strategic partnership with plastics recycler Tide Ocean SA of Switzerland. Aspect officials said the partnership is "aimed at fostering sustainable solutions in the plastics industry."

The collaboration converts plastic waste found near waterways into a raw material made entirely of socially sourced ocean-bound plastic. Those materials will be added to Aspect's product mix.

"Given the strong demand for recycled resin, we believe the ocean-bound material will allow brands to reach their sustainability targets while creating a circular economy by diverting waste from the ocean," President Marco Liuzzo said.

MGI launched Aspect in late 2022. Aspect offers sustainable materials from several suppliers, including AdvanSix Inc. and Danimer Scientific.

Tide Ocean has developed recycling methods for marine plastics. Granulates, threads, textiles and filaments made from Tide Ocean material are used in a wide variety of products. It sources most of its plastic in Southeast Asia, from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. The firm has set a goal of collecting the equivalent of 1 billion plastic bottles for recycling.

American market. Delrin Americas commercial leader Angad Kalsi said PolySource's "differentiated approach to problem-solving" provides a strategic fit with Delrin's focus on creating value through functional part design.

"Our shared vision of go-to-market strategy coupled with PolySource's already robust presence in the wear and friction segment will no doubt result in an amazing partnership for years to come," PolySource Chief Development Officer Damien Couch said.

PolySource offers resins, compounds and concentrates from more than 25 suppliers. It topped Plastics News' Best Places to Work list in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Wilmington, Del.-based Delrin previously was owned by DuPont Co. In 2023, DuPont sold an 80 percent stake in Delrin to private equity firm TJC LP of New York.

In its second move, PolySource added engineered nylon materials made by Ascend Performance Materials in North America. PolySource now offers Ascend's Vydyne, Starflam, HiDura and ReDefyne nylon materials. These materials are designed for use in automotive, electrical and electronic, health care, and consumer and industrial applications.

"We find tremendous value in the strategic fit between Ascend and PolySource," Couch said.

"Like us, PolySource is focused on delivering value to their customers by offering both materials and technical expertise," Ascend America Senior Sales Director Kathy Marker added.

Ascend of Houston ranks as the world's largest fully integrated maker of nylon 6/6 resins. In recent years, the firm has broadened its portfolio with long-chain nylons, mechanically recycled nylon 6 and 6/6, and multiple flame-retardant nylons.

PolySource also is the sole distributor for Asaclean purging compounds in the U.S. Officials said the collaboration "will significantly enhance availability and technical support for Asaclean products across the market." Asaclean's purging compounds are used by manufacturers in more than 70 countries. They include mechanical, chemical and concentrate grades for injection molding, blow molding and extrusion.

Asaclean is part of Asahi Kasei Plastics North America. The business has appeared on PN's Best Places to Work list every year since 2015.

M. Holland Co. of Northbrook, Ill., now offers thermoplastic elastomers made by Enplast Americas. Officials with M. Holland said Enplast "offers an extensive portfolio of products covering a wide range of elastomeric properties suitable for most applications and markets."

M. Holland now carries Enplast's EZPrene-brand thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) and Enflex-brand SEBS-based and overmolded TPEs. Enflex materials are designed for applications requiring long-term sealing performance at elevated temperatures as well as other requirements of high-performance elastomers.

Enplast, headquartered in Houston, operates more than 220 million pounds of global production capacity. Enplast and M. Holland both are units of Ravago Group, a global distributor, recycler and compounder. Ravago acquired a majority stake in M. Holland in August 2023.

After that deal, M. Holland sold its 3D Printing Group. Interfacial Consultants LLC acquired the business, which specializes in integrated additive manufacturing technologies for injection molding. The 3D Printing Group provides prototype services, parts, mold production, contract manufacturing, training and consultation.

Interfacial Consultants is part of Nagase Group, a chemical trading firm based in Japan that owns more than 100 companies around the world. Nagase makes and distributes materials including chemicals, plastics, and food and pharmaceutical ingredients.

"This acquisition accelerates our efforts and provides additional reach with M. Holland's extensive customer base," said Jeff Cernohous, chief operating officer at Interfacial. "M. Holland has assembled a strong team and a successful consultative business development model to drive 3D printing adoption."

Nickel City Polymers Inc. of Buffalo, N.Y., now distributes specialty compounds for Silon, a materials firm based in the Czech Republic. Silon products available from Nickel City are Taborex-brand cross-linked polyethylene compounds, Taboren-brand industrial compounds and Tabocab-brand cable compounds. Taboren and Tabocab compounds both can be based on PE or polypropylene.

Nickel City owner Larry Welnowski said that, as partners, his firm and Silon "can use the marketing channels and sales team of [Nickel City] to target the correct applications and extended the product lines into areas needed."

"We both believe that this partnership will help grow Silon's sales in the U.S.," he added. Adding Silon's compounds to Nickel City's product line also will help Nickel City "provide plenty of options for current and potential customers," Welnowski said.

Silon opened a $20 million compounding plant in Peachtree City, Ga., in 2017. The site includes manufacturing, warehousing and storage. Silon was founded in 1950 and is based in Prague.

In early 2023, Nickel City added several types of reprocessed material to its product line. That expansion included high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), copolymer PP and ABS in reprocessed black pellets. The firm also added HIPS and copolymer PP in reprocessed natural pellets.

From the material supplier side of the market, Celanese Corp. expanded its distribution network to include Amco Polymers, Channel Prime Alliance and Entec Polymers. Those three firms now distribute engineering resins for Dallas-based Celanese in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Amco, Channel Prime Alliance and Entec all are units of Ravago.

Formerra will continue to distribute resins for Celanese in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Celanese also will continue to work with CCC Plastics as a distributor in Canada and with Resinas Colores y Compuestos as a distributor in Mexico.

Celanese officials said the shift is "intended to enhance customer satisfaction and convenience" by providing a broader range of distributors and locations for materials sourcing. They also said that the selected distributors "are well-qualified to provide technical support and logistics solutions" for the company's specialty Engineered Materials portfolio.

Celanese is integrating the majority of DuPont Co.'s Mobility and Materials business, which it acquired in an $11 billion all-cash deal in early 2022. Prior to the acquisition, Formerra had been a major distributor of the materials made by the DuPont units sold to Celanese. Ravago had distributed for Celanese before the deal.

Acquisitions, new materials widen offerings for distributors