CMI buys Engineered Plastic Systems

Georgia-based plastic and aluminum marine wall and dock maker CMI Limited Inc. has purchased synthetic lumber maker Engineered Plastic Systems of Illinois in a bid to broaden its market profile.

Terms were not disclosed but CMI President and CEO Duane Bryant said in a statement the acquisition lets it expand into new markets as well as give it more capabilities in its core marine products business.

"Their mono-extruded HDPE decking boards, deck railing and fence railing add to our extrusion expertise, regional production footprint and ability to serve new and existing customers with a broader array of products," he said. "Additionally, EPS' products are designed to perform exceedingly well in the marine markets we serve."

EPS, in Elgin, Ill., makes plastic lumber for decking, railing and recreational facilities as well as outdoor furniture, with material that has at least 50 percent recycled content from things like milk jugs and detergent bottles.

CMI, which is based in Woodstock, Ga., said the EPS acquisition would become its third operating division.

It has a unit specializing in making vinyl, fiber-reinforced plastic and aluminum sheet piling for a variety of applications, and a unit making aluminum bridge, dock and gangway applications for marinas and boat docks.

Its vinyl, FRP and aluminum wall business makes products for retaining walls, flood protection and water control as well as chemical containment and groundwater applications.

The acquisition also gives it some geographic expansion, adding the Illinois location to CMI facilities in Georgia, Florida and Washington state.

It's the second acquisition for CMI since it was acquired in 2017 by Norwalk, Conn.-based private investment firm Capital Partners. It bought an aluminum ramp and gangway maker in 2018.

Capital Partners bought CMI from the Columbus, Ohio-based Crane Group, which at one time had substantial assets in plastics processing, including the TimberTech wood-plastics composites business and PVC fence, custom extrusion and siding businesses.

Capital Partners has other plastics assets, including Parkway Products, LLC, which last year bought Injection Technology Corp. and Littlestar Plastics.